Very little. BPC-157 is a 15-amino-acid peptide first described from gastric juice, and almost all of its record comes from rats, mice and cell cultures. The human evidence is three small reports that share a first author, and none has a control arm. That gap is the whole answer, and the rest of this page shows where it comes from.
On this site BPC-157 sits under the recovery goal, as a research-only compound. It is on no FDA list that would let a pharmacy compound it, so it is covered here as research and nothing else.
What the systematic review counted
A 2025 systematic review searched PubMed, Cochrane and Embase from inception to June 3, 2024 [1]. It found 544 records and kept 36 studies after screening. Of those, 35 were preclinical and 1 was clinical. The authors graded the whole body of work as level IV and level V evidence, the two lowest tiers.
In animal models, the review reports better functional, structural and biomechanical healing in muscle, tendon, ligament and bone. It also reports that BPC-157 is metabolized in the liver with a half-life under 30 minutes. Preclinical safety studies showed no adverse effects. The same review found no clinical safety data at all.
A 2019 review of the soft-tissue work reached the same shape of conclusion. Most studies were in small rodents, efficacy was not yet confirmed in humans, and only a handful of research groups had studied the peptide in depth [2].
The three human reports
A 2025 narrative review counted three pilot studies in people [3]. Each is described below with its size, design and what it did not measure.
Knee pain, a chart review
A retrospective review at one Florida clinic followed patients who had received a peptide injection into the knee [4]. All 16 patients reached by phone had received BPC-157, and 12 had received it alone (n = 12). Eleven of those 12 reported significant improvement in knee pain. There was no control group, no standard pain scale, and follow-up was a phone survey six months to a year later.
Interstitial cystitis, a pilot
Twelve women aged 39 to 76 with interstitial cystitis received BPC-157 injected around the inflamed area of the bladder during cystoscopy [5]. The study used a total of 10 mg in a single procedure. Ten of 12 reported complete resolution on a global response questionnaire, and no adverse events were reported. There was no placebo arm, so the result cannot be separated from the procedure or from expectation.
Intravenous infusion, a safety pilot
Two adults, aged 58 and 68, received BPC-157 by intravenous infusion: 10 mg on day 1 and 20 mg on day 2 [6]. Blood markers for the heart, liver, kidneys, thyroid and glucose did not change, and no side effects were reported. Both participants had received the peptide before the study began. Two people over three days cannot establish safety, whatever the conclusion states.
What the FDA says
The FDA reviewed BPC-157 when it was nominated for use in compounding. Its summary states that compounded BPC-157 may pose a risk of immunogenicity for certain routes and may have problems with peptide-related impurities [7]. It adds that the agency lacks sufficient information to know whether the drug would cause harm in humans. The nomination was later withdrawn, and BPC-157 now appears on none of the three 503A categories.
On July 23, 2026, the FDA’s Pharmacy Compounding Advisory Committee discussed BPC-157 for the 503A bulks list [9]. The FDA’s own briefing document concluded that the balance of criteria weighs against listing it, finding the substance not well characterized [10]. The committee voted 8–6 to recommend listing it anyway, with one abstention [11]. The vote does not bind the FDA, and a listing would still need notice-and-comment rulemaking, so BPC-157 remains on no list.
The practical meaning of that status is covered in what is known about BPC-157 side effects, which reads the same reports for harm rather than benefit.
The first controlled trial
One randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase 2 trial is registered [8]. It plans to enroll 120 adults with an MRI-confirmed grade II hamstring strain. The protocol uses a daily subcutaneous injection or placebo for 14 days. Its primary outcomes are days to return to sport and injury volume on MRI. It was recruiting as of its last registry update, with completion estimated for 2027.
Until a trial like that reports, the honest description of BPC-157 in people is untested. The same pattern holds for its frequent companion, TB-500, which has even less human data. For a peptide whose regulatory status turns on the route, compare GHK-Cu on the skin and by injection.
How this site grades studies, and why an animal result never stands in for a human one, is set out in the methodology.