FDA-Approved Peptides: The Complete List

Peptide here means a drug whose active ingredient is a short chain of amino acids. It is short enough to be made by chemical or solid-phase synthesis rather than expressed as a folded protein. In practice that is roughly up to 40-50 amino acids.

Insulin (51 amino acids, made as two disulfide-linked chains) sits right at that edge. I treat it as a protein and leave it off this list, along with larger protein and glycoprotein hormones such as human growth hormone and hCG. I also leave off monoclonal antibodies and enzyme-replacement therapies, for the same reason.

I checked every drug below against Drugs@FDA this session for its application number, approval date and marketing status. The generic name in each row links to that record.

Foundayo (orforglipron), approved April 2026, is deliberately not on this list. It works on the same GLP-1 receptor as several drugs below, but it is a small molecule, not a peptide. That is the kind of case this definition exists to settle.

Metabolic and weight

Byetta and the extended-release Bydureon are both discontinued as branded products. A generic once-daily exenatide injection remains FDA-approved and marketed. I could not verify a generic on the market for Symlin or Zegalogue this session.

Hormonal and reproductive

Factrel (gonadorelin, 1982) and Geref (sermorelin, 1990) were both diagnostic hormone tests, for pituitary gonadotropin and growth-hormone response. Both are discontinued, with no generic I could verify.

Several GnRH agonists in this table (leuprolide, goserelin, triptorelin, histrelin) are also approved cancer treatments. I list each once, under its reproductive-endocrinology mechanism.

Bone

Cardiovascular

I could not verify a generic of Natrecor as currently marketed. Integrilin is discontinued as a brand, but a generic eptifibatide injection remains FDA-approved and marketed.

Gastrointestinal

Antimicrobial

* Vancomycin’s earliest record in Drugs@FDA’s electronic system this session dates to 1983. The drug has been in US use since the 1950s, before FDA kept electronic approval records, so I give the earliest verifiable date rather than an unverified older one.

Vancomycin, telavancin, dalbavancin and oritavancin are glycopeptide antibiotics. They are chemically related to, but a distinct subclass from, the cyclic lipopeptides in this table (colistimethate, polymyxin B, daptomycin).

Oncology and imaging

Octreotide and lanreotide are octapeptide analogs of somatostatin. The three imaging and therapy agents below them use the same eight-amino-acid scaffold carrying a radioisotope, so I group all five together rather than splitting imaging from treatment.

Rare disease

Dermatology and sexual health

Bremelanotide is the FDA-approved form of the compound sold in research circles as PT-141. See my PT-141 page for how the two relate.

Afamelanotide is the peptide sold online as Melanotan 1. See Melanotan 1.

Approved medicine versus research-labelled peptide

Every compound in the tables above went through FDA review for a specific product, dose and use, and has a public label to show for it. Being a peptide had nothing to do with earning that review. Plenty of unapproved compounds are peptides too, and this site covers dozens of them on its own safety pages.

The line that matters is regulatory status, not chemical class. An FDA-approved drug has been through trials FDA has seen and signed off on for that exact use. A compound sold “for research use only” has not, however similar its amino acid sequence is to something in the tables above.

My GLP-1 peptides guide and my research peptides and US law page cover that distinction and what it means for buying either kind of product. Read those next if you are trying to work out which side of the line something you have seen falls on.

Related

• Best GLP-1 for weight loss: the approved options compared
• Research peptides and US law: what the label means
• Semaglutide (Ozempic, Wegovy, Rybelsus)
• Tirzepatide (Mounjaro, Zepbound)
• Tesamorelin (Egrifta)
• PT-141 (bremelanotide/Vyleesi)
• Oxytocin
• Sermorelin
• hCG
• Are peptides safe?

Common questions

How many peptide drugs has the FDA approved?

More than forty distinct peptide active ingredients have current or historical FDA approval. They are sold under dozens of brand names. The categories are weight and metabolic disease, hormonal and reproductive conditions, bone loss, cardiovascular and gastrointestinal disorders, infections, oncology and imaging, rare diseases, and dermatology and sexual health. New ones are still being approved most years.

What counts as a peptide versus a protein drug like insulin?

This page counts single (or small multi-chain) peptides of roughly up to 40-50 amino acids, verified against Drugs@FDA. Insulin (51 amino acids, produced as two linked chains) sits right at that edge. Human growth hormone and human chorionic gonadotropin are larger still. I treat all three as proteins and leave them off this list for consistency.

Is semaglutide (Ozempic, Wegovy) FDA-approved?

Yes. Semaglutide is approved as Ozempic (2017, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular/kidney risk reduction), Rybelsus (2019, oral, type 2 diabetes) and Wegovy (2021, chronic weight management and cardiovascular risk reduction). Each brand has its own label and approved use.

Are "research peptides" like BPC-157 on this list?

No. Nothing sold as a research or research-use-only peptide is FDA-approved for human use, so none of them appear here. This page lists only compounds with a current or historical FDA approval, verified on Drugs@FDA.

Does a discontinued brand mean the drug is unsafe?

Not necessarily. FDA marks a brand or package "Discontinued" for business reasons as often as for safety. Several of the discontinued brands on this list have a generic version of the same approved drug. I mark discontinued products and note when a generic remains on the market.

Why are drugs like leuprolide and octreotide listed under one category when they treat several conditions?

Several peptide drugs have more than one approved indication across categories. Leuprolide, for example, treats prostate cancer, endometriosis and central precocious puberty. I list each drug once, under its primary or best-known approved use.

References (50 sources)

Show

Bibliographic detail is fetched from PubMed, not written by me - so a citation here cannot drift from the paper it names. Study design comes from PubMed's own tags rather than my judgement.

1. 1.Drugs@FDA - the FDA database of approved drug products, application numbers and approval history, used to verify every entry on this page.- US Food and Drug Administrationdatabase
2. 2.Semaglutide: approval record- US Food and Drug Administration (Drugs@FDA)database
3. 3.Liraglutide: approval record- US Food and Drug Administration (Drugs@FDA)database
4. 4.Tirzepatide: approval record- US Food and Drug Administration (Drugs@FDA)database
5. 5.Dulaglutide: approval record- US Food and Drug Administration (Drugs@FDA)database
6. 6.Exenatide: approval record- US Food and Drug Administration (Drugs@FDA)database
7. 7.Pramlintide: approval record- US Food and Drug Administration (Drugs@FDA)database
8. 8.Setmelanotide: approval record- US Food and Drug Administration (Drugs@FDA)database
9. 9.Glucagon (nasal): approval record- US Food and Drug Administration (Drugs@FDA)database
10. 10.Dasiglucagon: approval record- US Food and Drug Administration (Drugs@FDA)database
11. 11.Oxytocin: approval record- US Food and Drug Administration (Drugs@FDA)database
12. 12.Desmopressin: approval record- US Food and Drug Administration (Drugs@FDA)database
13. 13.Leuprolide: approval record- US Food and Drug Administration (Drugs@FDA)database
14. 14.Goserelin: approval record- US Food and Drug Administration (Drugs@FDA)database
15. 15.Nafarelin: approval record- US Food and Drug Administration (Drugs@FDA)database
16. 16.Ganirelix: approval record- US Food and Drug Administration (Drugs@FDA)database
17. 17.Cetrorelix: approval record- US Food and Drug Administration (Drugs@FDA)database
18. 18.Triptorelin: approval record- US Food and Drug Administration (Drugs@FDA)database
19. 19.Histrelin: approval record- US Food and Drug Administration (Drugs@FDA)database
20. 20.Degarelix: approval record- US Food and Drug Administration (Drugs@FDA)database
21. 21.Teriparatide: approval record- US Food and Drug Administration (Drugs@FDA)database
22. 22.Abaloparatide: approval record- US Food and Drug Administration (Drugs@FDA)database
23. 23.Calcitonin-salmon: approval record- US Food and Drug Administration (Drugs@FDA)database
24. 24.Bivalirudin: approval record- US Food and Drug Administration (Drugs@FDA)database
25. 25.Eptifibatide: approval record- US Food and Drug Administration (Drugs@FDA)database
26. 26.Angiotensin II: approval record- US Food and Drug Administration (Drugs@FDA)database
27. 27.Nesiritide: approval record- US Food and Drug Administration (Drugs@FDA)database
28. 28.Vasopressin: approval record- US Food and Drug Administration (Drugs@FDA)database
29. 29.Linaclotide: approval record- US Food and Drug Administration (Drugs@FDA)database
30. 30.Teduglutide: approval record- US Food and Drug Administration (Drugs@FDA)database
31. 31.Plecanatide: approval record- US Food and Drug Administration (Drugs@FDA)database
32. 32.Secretin: approval record- US Food and Drug Administration (Drugs@FDA)database
33. 33.Vancomycin: approval record- US Food and Drug Administration (Drugs@FDA)database
34. 34.Colistimethate: approval record- US Food and Drug Administration (Drugs@FDA)database
35. 35.Polymyxin B: approval record- US Food and Drug Administration (Drugs@FDA)database
36. 36.Daptomycin: approval record- US Food and Drug Administration (Drugs@FDA)database
37. 37.Telavancin: approval record- US Food and Drug Administration (Drugs@FDA)database
38. 38.Dalbavancin: approval record- US Food and Drug Administration (Drugs@FDA)database
39. 39.Oritavancin: approval record- US Food and Drug Administration (Drugs@FDA)database
40. 40.Enfuvirtide: approval record- US Food and Drug Administration (Drugs@FDA)database
41. 41.Octreotide: approval record- US Food and Drug Administration (Drugs@FDA)database
42. 42.Lanreotide: approval record- US Food and Drug Administration (Drugs@FDA)database
43. 43.Gallium Ga 68 dotatate: approval record- US Food and Drug Administration (Drugs@FDA)database
44. 44.Lutetium Lu 177 dotatate: approval record- US Food and Drug Administration (Drugs@FDA)database
45. 45.Copper Cu 64 dotatate: approval record- US Food and Drug Administration (Drugs@FDA)database
46. 46.Icatibant: approval record- US Food and Drug Administration (Drugs@FDA)database
47. 47.Vosoritide: approval record- US Food and Drug Administration (Drugs@FDA)database
48. 48.Bremelanotide: approval record- US Food and Drug Administration (Drugs@FDA)database
49. 49.Afamelanotide: approval record- US Food and Drug Administration (Drugs@FDA)database
50. 50.Difelikefalin: approval record- US Food and Drug Administration (Drugs@FDA)database

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