Peptides for weight loss and metabolism, ranked by human evidence

Peptides studied for body weight, appetite, blood sugar and fatty liver — the category where the GLP-1 medicines sit, alongside many research compounds with far less human evidence. They are ranked by an evidence score that weighs the grade of the evidence, the human trials counted in PubMed, and regulatory status — shown in the columns so any rank can be checked. A high score means a peptide is well studied and often approved for something, not that it is right, safe or legal for this goal. Nothing here is medical advice, and Grey Peptides sells nothing and links to no vendor. See all goals or the plainer browse by goal map.

Evidence grade

Regulatory status

Search name

Has a human trial on this page

102 peptides · sorted by evidence score (click a column to re-sort)

Peptide	Grade	Human studies	RCTs	Max trial phase	Regulatory	Dose	Score
Regular human insulin	High	322,825	23,135	Phase 4	FDA approved	—	100
Insulin degludec / liraglutide (IDegLira)	High	4,323	758	Phase 4	FDA approved	—	100
Insulin glargine / lixisenatide (iGlarLixi)	High	3,511	959	Phase 4	FDA approved	—	100
Liraglutide	High	3,480	566	Phase 4	FDA approved	subcutaneous →	100
Semaglutide	High	3,327	313	Phase 4	FDA approved	subcutaneous (Ozempic/Wegovy); oral daily (Rybelsus) →	100
Insulin glargine	High	3,173	914	Phase 4	FDA approved	—	100
NPH insulin (isophane)	High	1,738	451	Phase 4	FDA approved	—	100
Tirzepatide	High	1,475	136	Phase 4	FDA approved	subcutaneous →	100
Insulin lispro	High	1,396	422	Phase 4	FDA approved	—	100
Lixisenatide	High	522	95	Phase 4	FDA approved	—	100
Insulin glulisine	High	315	85	Phase 4	FDA approved	—	100
Metreleptin	High	238	29	Phase 4	FDA approved	subcutaneous →	100
Etelcalcetide	High	114	17	Phase 4	FDA approved	intravenous →	100
Insulin icodec	High	113	33	Phase 4	FDA approved	—	100
Glucagon	High	37,659	3,587	Phase 4	FDA approved	subcutaneous, intramuscular, or intranasal →	90
Secretin	High	4,807	104	Phase 4	FDA approved	sourced dose →	90
Exenatide	High	2,991	398	Phase 4	FDA approved	—	90
Insulin aspart	High	1,385	469	Phase 4	FDA approved	—	90
Dulaglutide	High	874	153	Phase 4	FDA approved	subcutaneous →	90
Insulin degludec	High	784	224	Phase 4	FDA approved	—	90
Teduglutide	High	279	23	Phase 4	FDA approved	subcutaneous →	90
Setmelanotide	High	158	6	Phase 4	FDA approved	subcutaneous →	90
Vapreotide	High	137	4	Phase 3	In trials	—	90
Mazdutide	High	40	11	Phase 4	Approved abroad	—	90
Polyethylene glycol loxenatide	High	25	9	Phase 4	Approved abroad	subcutaneous →	90
Rusfertide	High	17	5	Phase 3	FDA approved	subcutaneous →	90
Efsubaglutide alfa	High	14	10	Phase 4	Approved abroad	subcutaneous →	90
Cholecystokinin	High	26,761	627	Phase 4	Diagnostic	IV (sincalide only) →	85
Insulin detemir	High	913	170	Phase 4	Discontinued	—	85
Pramlintide	High	404	67	Phase 4	Discontinued	subcutaneous →	85
Insulin peglispro	High	49	27	Phase 3	Discontinued	subcutaneous →	85
Dasiglucagon	High	36	13	Phase 3	Discontinued	subcutaneous →	85
Survodutide	High	58	10	Phase 3	In trials	subcutaneous →	80
Ecnoglutide	High	12	5	Phase 3	Approved abroad	subcutaneous →	80
Albiglutide	High	243	40	Phase 4	Discontinued	subcutaneous →	75
Avexitide	Medium	223	35	Phase 4	In trials	subcutaneous →	70
Retatrutide	Medium	136	10	Phase 3	In trials	—	70
Orforglipron	Medium	91	19	Phase 4	FDA approved	oral →	70
Ulimorelin	Medium	23	9	Phase 3	In trials	—	70
Efinopegdutide	Medium	9	3	Phase 2	In trials	—	70
Eloralintide	Medium	7	3	Phase 3	In trials	subcutaneous →	70
C-peptide	Medium	13,181	1,783	Phase 4	Research only	subcutaneous →	65
Hepcidin	Medium	4,148	237	Phase 4	Research only	—	65
Peptide YY	Medium	2,896	557	Phase 4	Research only	—	65
Pancreatic polypeptide	Medium	2,294	181	Phase 4	Research only	intravenous →	65
Bombesin	Medium	1,827	14	Phase 3	Research only	—	65
Gastrin-releasing peptide	Medium	1,616	5	Phase 3	Research only	intravenous →	65
Melanin-concentrating hormone	Medium	570	4	—	Research only	—	65
Des-acyl Ghrelin (Unacylated Ghrelin)	Medium	324	28	Phase 3	Research only	—	65
Oxyntomodulin	Medium	231	28	Phase 2	Research only	—	65
Uroguanylin	Medium	206	4	—	Research only	—	65
Xenin	Medium	38	2	Phase 1	Research only	intravenous →	65
Porcine Insulin Zinc Suspension	Medium	5	2	—	Veterinary	—	65
Cagrilintide	Medium	403	75	Phase 3	In trials	subcutaneous →	60
Beinaglutide	Medium	331	65	Phase 4	Approved abroad	—	60
Dapiglutide	Medium	1	0	Phase 2	In trials	—	60
GLP-1	Medium	19,633	2,316	Phase 4	Research only	—	55
GIP	Medium	6,652	768	Phase 4	Research only	—	55
Pentagastrin	Medium	2,164	167	Phase 4	Discontinued	—	55
GLP-2	Medium	1,210	185	Phase 4	Research only	—	55
Melanocyte-stimulating hormone beta	Medium	254	0	Phase 4	Research only	—	55
Pancreastatin	Medium	178	0	Phase 4	Research only	—	55
Neuromedin U	Medium	176	0	—	Research only	—	55
Insulin tregopil	Low	4,298	212	Phase 3	In trials	oral →	50
Gastrin	Low	9,845	459	Phase 4	Research only	intravenous →	45
Irisin	Low	1,637	103	Phase 4	Research only	—	45
Motilin	Low	1,150	180	Phase 4	Research only	—	45
Ceruletide	Low	1,051	50	—	Discontinued	—	45
Agouti-Related Peptide (AgRP)	Low	687	15	—	Research only	—	45
Nesfatin-1	Low	407	11	—	Research only	—	45
Obestatin	Low	356	13	Phase 4	Research only	—	45
Asprosin	Low	236	16	Phase 4	Research only	—	45
Glicentin	Low	161	10	—	Research only	—	45
PHM-27	Low	130	2	Phase 4	Research only	—	45
Spexin	Low	122	6	—	Research only	not applicable →	45
Preptin	Low	48	1	Phase 2	Research only	—	45
Enterostatin	Low	47	2	—	Research only	oral →	45
NERP-2 (Neuroendocrine Regulatory Peptide-2)	Low	27	2	—	Research only	—	45
WE-14	Low	21	2	—	Research only	—	45
AOD-9604	Medium	19	0	—	Research only	—	45
Livoletide	Low	4	2	Phase 3	Discontinued	subcutaneous →	45
Amylin	Low	3,602	213	Phase 4	Research only	—	35
Lypressin	Low	303	20	Phase 4	Discontinued	—	35
Adropin	Low	256	13	—	Research only	—	35
Neuromedin B	Low	203	2	—	Research only	—	35
Urocortin 3	Low	151	2	—	Research only	—	35
Prolactin-releasing peptide	Low	107	3	Phase 4	Research only	—	35
Neuropeptide AF (NPAF)	Low	54	2	—	Research only	—	35
Hemopressin (Hp)	Low	32	1	—	Research only	—	35
EM66	Low	18	0	—	Research only	—	35
GAWK (Chromogranin B 420-493)	Low	11	0	—	Research only	—	35
Galanin-like Peptide (GALP)	Low	481	0	—	Research only	—	25
Guanylin	Low	248	0	—	Research only	—	25
INSL5	Low	103	0	—	Research only	—	25
CART peptide	Low	66	0	Phase 2	Research only	—	25
QRFP (26RFa)	Low	61	0	—	Research only	—	25
Neuropeptide B (NPB)	Low	29	0	—	Research only	—	25
Neuropeptide W (NPW)	Low	29	0	—	Research only	—	25
TLQP-21	Low	24	0	—	Research only	—	25
Davalintide	Low	8	0	Phase 2	Discontinued	—	25
Pancragen	Low	8	0	—	Research only	—	25
5-Amino-1MQ	Low	3	0	—	Research only	—	25

Other goals: Healing, injury and recovery · Skin and hair · Focus, mood and the brain · Growth hormone and body composition · Heart and circulation · Sexual and reproductive health · Longevity and cell health · Immune defence and infection · Diagnostic and research tools · In development

How the evidence score works

Evidence score (0-100), a transparent ranking aid, not a verdict. grade: high=60, medium=40, low=20, ungraded=0. Human trial: an on-site read-and-cited randomized or clinical trial = +15, else any PubMed human-indexed record = +5, else 0. RCT literature: PubMed lists >=1 randomized controlled trial = +10. Regulatory: FDA-approved = +15, in trials / approved-abroad / in development = +5, else 0. Every component is stored on each record so the number can be re-derived; volume and grade are shown together so neither misleads.

“Human studies” and “RCTs” are PubMed record counts for the peptide (read 2026-11-07 from the counts behind the Evidence Explorer); a count is how much research exists and of what kind, never proof a peptide works. “Grade” is our editorial reading of the evidence — see how we grade evidence. The “Dose” column links to the entry for each peptide that carries a dose from a regulator’s label or a published human study — where the amount is shown with its source; the amount is never reprinted here without that source, and many research peptides have no human dose, shown as —. Of 660 peptides, 607 have at least one human-indexed PubMed record, 324 cite a human trial on their page, 124 are FDA-approved, and 271 carry a sourced dose.