What is known
Four states of human evidence
Each compound carries one of four marks for the evidence in people.
- none
- uncontrolled only
- registered, none reported
- controlled
The mark shows the strongest published evidence. Open a card for the detail.
More
- ○ None: no human study has been published.
- ◔ Uncontrolled: reports in people, without a comparison group.
- ◑ Registered: a trial is on a public registry and has not yet reported.
- ● Controlled: a randomised trial against a comparator has been published.
A registered trial that has not reported is listed on the card. It does not change the mark.
Look up registry numbers on ClinicalTrials.gov or the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry.
Each card gives the status in Australia, the evidence, the registered trials and what it means.
The ledger
BPC-157 ◔ uncontrolled human reports only
- Status in Australia
- Schedule 4 (prescription-only), Appendix D; not approved in Australia
- Human evidence
- No controlled human trial has been published. Three uncontrolled reports exist (17 knee charts, 12 people with bladder pain, 2 healthy adults given it intravenously); a 2026 systematic review rated their certainty very low.
- Registered trials
- NCT07437547: Phase 2, acute grade II hamstring strain, 120 people, Hudson Biotech. Status: recruiting; primary completion estimated February 2027.
- NCT07803250: Phase 1 pilot after rotator cuff repair, 30 people, University of Arkansas. Status: not yet recruiting; planned start January 2027.
- NCT02637284: PCO-02 safety and pharmacokinetics, 42 people. Status: unknown since 2015.
- What this means
- The most-cited claim, faster tendon and ligament recovery, rests on rodent studies. No tendinopathy trial is registered anywhere; the one tendon study is a 30-person US pilot after rotator cuff surgery, not yet started.
TB-500 ○ no published human evidence
- Status in Australia
- Schedule 4, Appendix D; not approved in Australia
- Human evidence
- No controlled human trial of the TB-500 fragment in musculoskeletal injury. Recombinant thymosin beta-4, a different product, has one Phase 2a cardiac trial.
- What this means
- Often sold beside BPC-157 as a recovery pair. There is no human evidence for that use.
GHK-Cu ◔ uncontrolled human reports only
- Status in Australia
- Not individually scheduled. Injectable forms are unapproved therapeutic goods; a topical cosmetic with appearance-only claims and 5% or less copper compounds sits outside the Therapeutic Goods Act
- Human evidence
- Small cosmetic studies on skin appearance after topical use. No controlled wound-healing trial in people.
- What this means
- The one compound here with a lawful form: a cosmetic. Anything injectable is not that.
Tesamorelin ● published controlled trials
- Status in Australia
- Schedule 4 through the growth-hormone-releasing-hormone group; not approved in Australia; approved in the United States for HIV-associated lipodystrophy only
- Human evidence
- Phase 3 trials support one narrow indication: excess abdominal fat in adults with HIV-associated lipodystrophy.
- What this means
- Real evidence, for a condition most people asking about it do not have. In Australia a doctor can apply to the TGA to use it for one patient or a class of patients, or it can be studied in an approved trial.
Retatrutide ● published controlled trials
- Status in Australia
- Regarded by the TGA as prescription-only under the Poisons Standard's derivative rule; not approved anywhere; the maker plans a US submission in early 2027
- Human evidence
- A large Phase 3 programme reported substantial weight loss against placebo; the first trial was published in the New England Journal of Medicine in September 2026 (NCT05929066).
- Registered trials
- NCT05929066: TRIUMPH-1, Phase 3, Eli Lilly. Status: completed; published September 2026.
- What this means
- The strong evidence belongs to the manufacturer's trials. Products sold online under this name have been found to contain a different drug; Victorian health authorities have linked them to liver injury.
Semaglutide ● published controlled trials
- Status in Australia
- Schedule 4; approved and on the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods for diabetes and weight management
- Human evidence
- Fully approved on the strength of large Phase 3 programmes.
- What this means
- A prescription medicine: it cannot be advertised to the public. Pharmacists have not been permitted to compound it since October 2024.
No compound we follow is in this state today.