Category · 13 entries
Research & Experimental
Peptides in early research without established clinical use.
ACE-031
Acceleron's first-generation myostatin trap — Phase 2 development in Duchenne muscular dystrophy was halted in 2013 after epistaxis and telangiectasia adverse events, but the same scaffold concept led to successor programs at Acceleron, Regeneron, and Lilly.
Adipotide
A preclinical concept that killed white adipose tissue by inducing vasculature apoptosis in obese rhesus monkeys — dramatic weight loss, but also nephrotoxicity that stopped it from advancing to humans.
Dermorphin
⚠ Potent mu-opioid agonist — ~30–40× more potent than morphine; has been misused as a horse-racing doping agent and carries serious overdose/dependence risk. Included for reference and harm-reduction only. Not a therapeutic or "longevity" peptide.
Examorelin
An early synthetic GH-releasing hexapeptide (Europeptides) in the hexarelin family — never developed to approval, used principally as a research tool for characterizing the ghrelin receptor pathway.
Follistatin-315
The dominant circulating follistatin isoform in human serum — binds heparan sulfate proteoglycans avidly, concentrating at tissue surfaces rather than circulating freely, which limits its systemic reach compared to FS-344.
Follistatin-344
The longer of the two principal follistatin splice variants — binds tissues less avidly than FS-315 and therefore has broader systemic distribution, making it the form used in most gene-therapy and myostatin-inhibition research.
HGH Fragment 176-191
The lipolytic fragment that inspired AOD-9604 — binds a hypothesized non-GHR receptor to drive fat oxidation without growth-promoting effects, though human efficacy data are weak.
IGF-1 DES(1-3)
Deleting the first three amino acids of IGF-1 cripples IGFBP binding while preserving receptor activity — giving DES(1-3) roughly 10× the in vitro potency of native IGF-1 at promoting cell growth in IGFBP-rich environments.
IGF-1 LR3
A 13-amino-acid N-terminal extension plus Arg3 substitution gives IGF-1 LR3 roughly 2–3× the potency of native IGF-1 in bioassays — a research-reagent favorite that became a bodybuilding staple despite no human approval.
MGF
The native, non-pegylated splice variant of IGF-1 produced by skeletal muscle in response to mechanical overload — extremely short-lived in vivo and therefore superseded by PEG-MGF in research-chemical markets.
PEG-MGF
A pegylated fragment of a proposed muscle-specific IGF-1 splice variant — the underlying "MGF" biology remains scientifically contested, and PEG-MGF itself has no human clinical data.
PNC-27
An experimental anticancer peptide engineered to selectively disrupt cancer cell membranes that overexpress HDM-2 — preclinical research only.
Tesofensine
A triple-monoamine reuptake inhibitor (SNDRI) with Phase 2 anti-obesity data showing up to ~12% weight loss at 1.0 mg/day — development stalled over cardiovascular concerns; not a peptide and included here for cross-reference only.