Module · Peptides

GHK-Cu
Dosage

Mix a vial of GHK-Cu with bacteriostatic water and this gives the concentration, the syringe units for your dose, and what every mark on the syringe holds. Dose is something you enter, not something this suggests.

See the math behind this calculator

FDA status Under evaluation for compounding, non-injectable routes only, May 2026
Injection nominations Withdrawn. FDA says compounded injectable drugs may pose risk for immunogenicity
Size Three amino acids bound to copper

U-100 syringe
1 mL = 100 units

Milligram
= 1000 mcg

Water added
sets concentration

What GHK-Cu is

GHK-Cu is a small peptide bound to copper. GHK is three amino acids, glycine, histidine and lysine, and a 2008 paper describes GHK-Cu as the complex GHK forms with a copper ion. A 2015 paper says GHK is present in human plasma, saliva and urine.

Both papers list Skin Biology as their authors' affiliation. This page takes from them only what the substance is. None of the documents this page rests on gives a molecular weight or a formula for GHK-Cu, so this page doesn't either.

Where it stands with the FDA

The FDA documents behind this page don't describe any approved GHK-Cu drug. GHK-Cu is in the FDA's record because it was nominated for the list of substances pharmacies may compound with.

FDA's list of nominated substances, updated May 14, 2026, has an entry that reads "GHK-Cu (except for injectable routes of administration)" in category 1, which is the list's name for substances under evaluation. The list also says how the entry got there. It was removed from category 1 on April 22, 2026, because the nominations for GHK-Cu were withdrawn by the nominators. On May 5, 2026, one of them clarified that it meant to withdraw only its nomination for the injectable route and wanted to keep its nomination for non-injectable routes, and FDA said the entry would be added back.

So the entry FDA lists as under evaluation leaves injectable routes out. FDA's page on substances that may present significant safety risks, current as of April 22, 2026, lists "GHK-Cu (for injectable routes of administration)" among the substances that were previously in category 2 and were withdrawn by their nominators. Category 2 is where FDA put substances that may present significant safety risks. The page says compounded injectable drugs containing GHK-Cu may pose risk for immunogenicity due to the potential for aggregation and peptide-related impurities. It also says there are limited data in humans to inform safety-related considerations.

FDA has announced that it intends to consult its Pharmacy Compounding Advisory Committee about GHK-Cu before the end of February 2027. Its announcement of that meeting is current as of April 15, 2026, which is before the nominations were withdrawn, and its agenda lists GHK-Cu without naming a route. It said the time and location would be scheduled in the coming months. This page had no meeting date or vote to report when it was checked in October 2026.

Storing GHK-Cu

None of the documents behind this page gives a storage temperature for GHK-Cu, as a dry powder or mixed, and none says how long a mixed vial keeps. This page doesn't give a figure it can't trace to a source.

GHK-Cu dosage calculator questions

How do I turn a GHK-Cu dose into syringe units?

Divide the dose by the concentration to get millilitres, then multiply by 100. A 5 mg vial mixed with 2 mL is 2.5 mg/mL, so one unit on an insulin syringe holds 25 mcg and ten units hold 250 mcg.

How much bacteriostatic water goes in a 5 mg vial of GHK-Cu?

There's no single right amount. The water only sets the concentration, and the amount of GHK-Cu in the vial stays the same. With 5 mg, 1 mL makes 5 mg/mL, 2 mL makes 2.5 mg/mL and 3 mL makes 1.667 mg/mL. Choose the amount that puts your dose somewhere between about 10 and 40 units, where it's easiest to read.

Is GHK-Cu approved by the FDA?

The FDA documents behind this page don't describe any approved GHK-Cu drug. On FDA's May 14, 2026 list it's under evaluation for use in compounded drugs by non-injectable routes only. The nominations covering injections were withdrawn, and FDA says compounded injectable drugs containing GHK-Cu may pose risk for immunogenicity due to the potential for aggregation and peptide-related impurities.

Does this page tell me how much GHK-Cu to take?

No. None of the documents this page rests on gives a dose of GHK-Cu, so there's nothing official to point to. The dose box is empty until you fill it in, and the chart only converts.

Is GHK-Cu for injection under FDA evaluation?

Not on FDA's May 14, 2026 list. The nominations to compound GHK-Cu for injection were withdrawn, and the entry FDA lists as under evaluation leaves injectable routes out. FDA's safety page says compounded injectable drugs containing GHK-Cu may pose risk for immunogenicity due to the potential for aggregation and peptide-related impurities, and that there are limited data in humans.

More peptide calculators by name

The same instrument, set up one peptide at a time. For any other vial, use the peptide reconstitution calculator.

Show the working

Four divisions and a unit conversion, with your own numbers filled in below. If any of it looks wrong, it might be, so tell us what we got wrong.

Concentration after mixing mg per mL = vial mg ÷ water mL

What one syringe unit holds mg per unit = mg per mL ÷ 100

Volume to draw, and the units that's

mL    = dose mg ÷ mg per mL
units = mL × 100

Doses in the vial, and how long it lasts

doses = vial mg ÷ dose mg
days  = doses ÷ doses per day

Constants used

1000 micrograms in a milligram
100 units = 1 mL, the insulin syringe calibration, identical on 0.3, 0.5 and 1.0 mL barrels
10 to 40 units is the band this page treats as comfortable to measure. That's a judgement, not a standard

Note what isn't here. This page has no dose recommendation, potency assumption or half-life. The vial and water boxes start empty, because this page can't know what your vial holds, and the vial sizes in its examples are only examples. The math also treats the water you add as the final volume. Powder takes up a little room of its own, which matters for vials holding a lot of it.

The sources

The arithmetic on this page is exact and needs no source. Everything it says about GHK-Cu does. Where it stands comes from the FDA's own record, and what it is comes from two published papers.

FDA. Bulk Drug Substances Nominated for Use in Compounding Under Section 503A, updated May 14, 2026. The category GHK-Cu is in, the route that category leaves out, the date the entry was removed, the date one nominator clarified what it was keeping, and FDA's plan to consult its advisory committee.
FDA. Certain Bulk Drug Substances for Use in Compounding that May Present Significant Safety Risks. What FDA says about compounded GHK-Cu injections, and that the entry was previously in category 2 and withdrawn by its nominators.
FDA. Meeting of the Pharmacy Compounding Advisory Committee. That GHK-Cu is on the agenda of a meeting to be held before the end of February 2027, with the time and location still to be scheduled when the announcement was current, April 15, 2026.
Pickart L. The human tri-peptide GHK and tissue remodeling. J Biomater Sci Polym Ed. 2008. PubMed abstract. The three amino acids in GHK, and that GHK-Cu is its complex with copper.
Pickart L, Vasquez-Soltero JM, Margolina A. GHK Peptide as a Natural Modulator of Multiple Cellular Pathways in Skin Regeneration. Biomed Res Int. 2015. PubMed abstract. The amino acids in GHK, and that it's present in human plasma, saliva and urine.
Humulin R U-100 label - DailyMed, National Library of Medicine. The syringe scale this page converts into: 100 units per mL, the same on 0.3, 0.5 and 1.0 mL barrels.

None of these documents contains a dose recommendation that applies to you, and neither does this page. They're listed so every statement here can be checked against where it came from.