Reference

Compare peptides

Two to four compounds, field by field: identity, United States regulatory status, and what kinds of documents are on file. The table records differences. It does not rank them.

Compound 1

Compound 2

Compound 3 (optional)

Compound 4 (optional)

No winner, no score, no recommendation. Counts describe how many documents of each kind Therapept has indexed — not how well a compound works, and not how much has been published overall.

Link to this comparison: /compare?peptides=ghk-cu,ahk-cu

Side-by-side comparison of GHK-Cu, AHK-Cu
Identity
	GHK-Cu	AHK-Cu
Class	Copper(II) complex of the tripeptide glycyl-L-histidyl-L-lysine. Cosmetic ingredient under the INCI name Copper Tripeptide-1	Copper(II) complex of the tripeptide L-alanyl-L-histidyl-L-lysine; a structural analogue of GHK-Cu in which glycine is replaced by alanine
Also listed as	Copper tripeptide-1, Prezatide copper, Copper peptide	Copper tripeptide-3, Ala-His-Lys copper, AHK copper complex
Molecular formula	C14H23CuN6O4+ (prezatide copper, PubChem CID 71587328)	Not recorded
Molecular weight	402.92 g/mol (as prezatide copper)	Not recorded
CAS	89030-95-5 (copper complex) · 49557-75-7 (uncomplexed GHK)	Not recorded
PubChem CID	71587328	Not recorded
Sequence length	Described structurally, not as a residue list	Described structurally, not as a residue list
Data caveat	PubChem holds three non-equivalent records and no neutral 1:1 complex: prezatide copper (CID 71587328, cationic), copper tripeptide (CID 139035031, anionic), and bisprezatide copper (CID 9831891, a 2:1 complex). Full caveat	AHK-Cu is not GHK-Cu. Full caveat
United States regulatory status
Status	No FDA-approved product	No FDA-approved product
FDA application	None recorded	None recorded
Compounding	FDA nomination withdrawn; the published entry is scoped to injectable routes.	No FDA compounding entry recorded
WADA	Not named in this record	Not named in this record
Research profile
Research purpose	Copper-peptide skin and follicle biology	Copper-peptide follicle biology
Proposed mechanism	Proposed to deliver copper to skin cells and modulate collagen, elastin and matrix-metalloproteinase activity. Much of the mechanistic work is in vitro or in animal models.	Proposed copper-dependent effects on dermal papilla cells and follicle growth. The published evidence is ex vivo human follicle culture and cell culture, not a human trial.
Human evidence	Topical cosmetic studies exist, but they are small and formulation-specific. Therapept indexes no approved drug product and no large clinical trial for hair growth.	One directly relevant published study: human hair follicles ex vivo and cultured dermal papilla cells. No human clinical trial is indexed.
Evidence tier	Preclinical models; no human efficacy trial indexed	No human data indexed
Known safety concerns	FDA's withdrawn compounding nomination is scoped to injectable routes and cites immunogenicity and limited human data. Topical cosmetic use has a different risk profile from injection. No approved product; the injectable route is not a lawful consumer category.	No approved product and no registered human trial identified. Copper peptide cosmetics have a topical-use history; injectable use is a different and unapproved route. Human safety for hair-growth use is uncharacterised.
Evidence gaps	Well-powered human trials with hair-count or pigmentation endpoints. Whether topical delivery reaches the follicle at meaningful concentrations. Any evidence that graying is reversible.	Any human trial with hair density or shedding endpoints. Whether the ex vivo effect survives topical delivery in vivo. A verified identity standard for commercial material.
Head-to-head evidence	No published controlled comparison of GHK-Cu against AHK-Cu, minoxidil or finasteride for hair outcomes.	No controlled comparison with GHK-Cu, minoxidil or any other hair treatment has been published.
Named pathways	Copper transport · Collagen synthesis · Matrix metalloproteinases · Dermal papilla biology	Copper transport · Dermal papilla proliferation · Apoptosis signalling
Evidence on file
Records	4Open evidence file	1Open evidence file
Human-interventional records	0	0
Human-observational records	0	0
Animal records	0	0
In-vitro records	0	1
Reviews	3	0
Regulatory documents	1	0
Earliest indexed	2008	2007
Latest indexed	2026	2007

Every identity and regulatory value above is taken from the compound’s record, where its sources are listed. Evidence counts are derived from the published evidence file at build time. A missing class means no document of that kind is indexed — not that none exists.

Overlapping pathways

Named in the mechanism discussion for at least two of these compounds: Copper transport.

Shared biology is not shared evidence. No claim of synergy is made here, and overlapping pathways do not mean the compounds have been studied together.