GHRP-2

GHRP-2 is a lab-made chain of six amino acids ^[13]. Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins. It copies ghrelin, a hormone that tells the body to release growth hormone ^[18]. Its drug name is pralmorelin ^[18]. One of its amino acids is not found in nature, which makes a product harder to check ^[1].

Researchers at a US university made GHRP-2 and related peptides ^[18]. A drug company tested it in the US for growth hormone shortage, but that work seems to have stopped ^[18]. A 2004 drug profile says it was awaiting approval in Japan as a test of the pituitary gland ^[18]. That is a gland at the base of the brain that makes growth hormone. Today GHRP-2 is sold online as a research compound for body shape and sports ^[17].

GHRP-2 has no approved use in the US: FDA says it is in no approved drug and does not meet the rules for pharmacy compounding ^{[6] [2]}. That means no pharmacy may lawfully make it. Work on it as a test in Japan does not change its US status ^[18]. Its shots and nasal sprays are also on Category 2, FDA's list of substances that may present significant safety risks ^[1]. Checked 25 October 2026.

FDA keeps lists for two kinds of compounders. A pharmacy is covered by section 503A of the law. An outsourcing facility is covered by section 503B ^{[3] [5]}. On FDA's pharmacy list of 14 May 2026, GHRP-2 is in Category 3 ^[2]. That category holds substances nominated without enough support for FDA to review them ^[2]. FDA says it may act against a pharmacy that compounds one ^[3].

On FDA's outsourcing list of 21 March 2025, GHRP-2 shots and nasal sprays are in Category 2 ^[4]. FDA added them on 29 September 2023 ^[1]. Other forms are in Category 1 on that list ^[4]. FDA says it does not plan to act against an outsourcing facility that makes a Category 1 substance under the policy's conditions ^[5]. That is a choice not to act, not approval ^[5].

GHRP-2 was studied as a test for growth hormone shortage ^[18]. It is sold to build muscle and change body shape ^[17]. A law firm and a pharmacy magazine expected it to stay restricted after a February 2026 federal announcement on peptides ^{[8] [19]}. Neither changes FDA's own lists, which this page follows ^{[2] [4]}.

The evidence grade is limited-human: small studies in people show GHRP-2 raises growth hormone and hunger, but none tested the uses it is sold for ^{[10] [11] [12] [17]}.

In eight people, GHRP-2 raised growth hormone far more than arginine, a standard test, both before and during treatment with prednisone, a steroid ^[12]. In 19 healthy adults, lean and obese, GHRP-2 given under the skin raised growth hormone and made them eat more at lunch ^[11]. In ten children short of growth hormone, GHRP-2 by mouth for a year raised appetite in seven of them early on ^[10]. Their weight for their height did not change by a meaningful amount ^[10]. In 33 men with long critical illness, GHRP-2 alone did not bring the helpful effects on body breakdown that a mix of three hormones brought ^[9].

In rats, GHRP-2 slowed muscle breakdown after burns ^[13]. In rats with arthritis, it blocked genes tied to muscle wasting ^[14]. In rats with lung injury, it reduced lung swelling ^[15]. In rat muscle and in muscle cells grown in a lab, it lowered two genes tied to muscle wasting ^[16]. These are animal and lab results, not results in people.

A rise in growth hormone on a test is a lab marker. It does not show more muscle or faster recovery ^[17]. A 2026 review says the benefits for sports and body shape are uncertain ^[17].

No approved drug in the US contains GHRP-2, and no pharmacy may lawfully make it ^{[6] [3]}. No shot or nasal spray of GHRP-2 has a legal route ^{[1] [4]}.

One narrow route exists. An outsourcing facility may make GHRP-2 in forms other than shots and nasal sprays, if it meets the conditions of FDA's policy ^{[4] [5]}. That does not make GHRP-2 approved, and FDA may take a substance off Category 1, for example over safety ^[5].

Any open trial would appear in the trials block below, with the date the official registry was last checked.

Two ways of getting GHRP-2 show up in the records ^{[6] [17]}. The first is pharmacies that make it although the law does not allow it. FDA has sent warning letters to pharmacies that made drugs from GHRP-2 ^{[6] [7]}. One pharmacy told FDA it had dropped GHRP-2 from its products ^[7].

The second is online sellers that market it as a research compound. A 2026 review says what these products hold, and how strong they are, is uncertain ^[17]. FDA says a product meant to affect the body is a drug, and a new drug needs FDA approval ^[6]. No GHRP-2 product has it ^[6].

FDA warns that compounded GHRP-2 shots may carry impurities that set off the immune system ^[1]. FDA also knows of serious harms in people given GHRP-2, though it has not shown that GHRP-2 caused them ^[1].