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Research compound · not FDA-approved

GHK-Cu

Also called GHK copper peptide, GHK or copper peptide.

GHK-Cu is a peptide three amino acids long holding a copper ion. It was pulled out of human blood plasma in 1973.

What matters first

Why people look it up
It is sold for skin — wrinkles, firmness, scars — and for hair regrowth, and now increasingly as an injection.
What the evidence shows
Almost everything published is a cream on the surface of the skin. Where that work was blinded and measured objectively, the copper peptide did no better than its control. A 2026 review of injectable peptides says the dose, the frequency and the indications for injecting this one all remain unknown.
Dose status
GHK-Cu is not FDA-approved, so no dosing label exists for it. The sections below explain what researchers tested and what remains unknown.

Medically reviewed by Kenneth Montecillo, MD2026-09-07open the primary sources

What is known about GHK-Cu

GHK-Cu is a three-amino-acid peptide holding a copper ion. Researchers first found it in human blood plasma in 1973; the copper-peptide pair is the active form. Blood levels fall from early adulthood into later life. Most published studies used it on the surface of the skin. In a small study after laser treatment, blinded skin assessments found no significant benefit over the control, while patients reported greater satisfaction.

GHK-Cu research and regulatory details: evidence quality, approval status, doses, handling, and presentation.
TopicValue
Strongest sourceindirect evidence
FDA approvalNot FDA-approved
Typical vials50 mg

Every row links back to a source listed below. These facts are for reference, not a personal recommendation.

What the evidence for GHK-Cu is

The number comes from reported practice or animal research, not a controlled trial in people. An animal dose converted by body weight is still not a tested human dose.

indirect evidence
What it establishes
It only shows what some people report using or what researchers tested in animals.
What it does not establish
It does not show that the amount works or is safe in people. Animal and human bodies can handle the same compound differently.

Treat the number as reported practice or animal research, not as a recommendation or a proven human dose.

Evidence snapshot and shareable image

Evidence snapshot

Practitioner protocol or estimate from animal research

The fastest way to see what kind of evidence this page is built on.

Regulation
Not FDA-approvedNo US prescribing label
Dose source
No dose listedSee the guide for evidence limits
Safety evidence
No safety findings listedAn empty list does not establish safety
Sources
10 cited sourcesMedical review complete · 2026-09-07
Open the shareable evidence image
GHK-Cu at a glance: practitioner protocol or estimate from animal research, dosing basis, regulatory status, safety coverage, and cited-source count. These details summarize the available sources; they are not treatment recommendations.

Where GHK-Cu is in clinical trials

No trial of this compound is registered on ClinicalTrials.gov.

That is worth sitting with. Nobody has registered a study to find out whether GHK-Cu works in people, so no result is coming and no date is worth waiting for. Sellers are not waiting for that work either.

We left one registration out of the count above. Registering a study does not prove it is running, and these did not hold up.

  • NCT07437586 — template batch: 7 of 8 studies from “Hudson Biotech” claim the same primary completion date 2027-02-14, all at Peking University Shenzhen Hospital; NCT07481734 declares itself an example

Check them yourself and disagree with us if you think we got it wrong.

A registered study means a sponsor filed a plan and started enrolling. It is not evidence the drug works, and most drugs tested in people never reach a pharmacy. Sponsors write and update these sources themselves; the National Library of Medicine publishes them without checking them.

ClinicalTrials.gov · retrieved 2026-09-27

Every compound we track, and what stage each one has reached →

Regulatory status

Under the name copper tripeptide-1, this molecule is a known cosmetic ingredient.

That framework reviews neither whether it works nor how much gets into the body. Its clearance says nothing about an injection. One US regulator has looked at this molecule, and only at the injection.

FDA’s entry covers injectable routes explicitly, citing aggregation, impurities and limited human data. Whoever asked for it later withdrew, so FDA files it under nominated but withdrawn. The route stays open: FDA has named GHK-Cu for a compounding committee meeting before the end of February 2027.

Full regulatory tracker →

Where to go next on GHK-Cu

The related pages keep each topic with its evidence.

GHK-Cu and the limits of animal findings

Animal research or practitioner reports behind the GHK-Cu safety page.

Doses per 50 mg GHK-Cu vial in the GHK-Cu dosage calculator

The nearest syringe line to the target, and the rounding error it introduces for GHK-Cu.

GHK-Cu and Australia’s Peptide products pathway

GHK-Cu beside it — 6 personal-import conditions are published as a checklist rather than a blanket permission.

GHK-Cu, then the formula-level skin evidence

Skincare formulas and injectable peptide therapy answer different questions. alongside GHK-Cu.

GHK-Cu and Canada’s Peptide products pathway

GHK-Cu beside it — 3 access routes separate marketed products, practitioner-only Special Access and clinical trials.

Where GHK-Cu sits among the skin compounds

3 compounds people take for skin, and what each was measured against, with GHK-Cu as one example

What GHK-Cu is doing in a KLOW vial

4 peptides in one vial, and 0 with a quantity a trial set, with GHK-Cu as one example

What GHK-Cu is doing in a GLOW vial

3 peptides in one vial, and 0 with a quantity a trial set, with GHK-Cu as one example

Where GHK-Cu sits among the longevity compounds

6 compounds people take for longevity, and what each was measured against, with GHK-Cu as one example

Compare the GHK-Cu schedule against the others

The 33 pages with no published schedule are on the table too, including GHK-Cu

Safety notes

  • The evidence base is topical and cosmetic; no controlled human trial supports an injected quantity
  • A 0.4% cream did not beat placebo on leg ulcers. A second trial found no clear benefit after laser treatment
  • Cream studies report a percentage, not the amount each person received. Those figures cannot be turned into a vial dose
  • Two injection studies covered almost 20,000 people but did not state the GHK-Cu dose
  • The 100 to 200 mg figure shared online came from animal studies. It is not a human dose
  • A 2026 review says there is no known dose or schedule for injection. It found no clinical support for muscle or joint use
  • Animal studies used several very different doses and routes. None of them tells us what a person should receive
  • The FDA’s category-2 entry for this molecule is scoped specifically to injectable routes, which is the form these vials take
  • This is a copper complex, and repeated injection raises a cumulative metal-load question that surface application does not
  • Copper homeostasis is tightly regulated, so exceeding it is a different class of risk from a peptide that is simply cleared
  • Cosmetic-ingredient status comes from a system that reviews neither whether it works nor what reaches the rest of the body

Questions about GHK-Cu

Is GHK-Cu FDA-approved?

No. There is no prescribing label for it, so no approved dose exists — the regulatory status section above has the detail.

How is GHK-Cu taken?

No completed controlled human trial has established a dose, frequency, or route, so no human schedule is published.

How does GHK-Cu differ from the other compounds in this class?

GHK-Cu has been studied in people, but it works through a different system from GLP-1 and amylin drugs. Its doses and results are not directly comparable with theirs.

What is not known about GHK-Cu?

It does not show that the amount works or is safe in people. Animal and human bodies can handle the same compound differently.

10primary sources, each with the day we read it — open the documents used on this page