Skin & hair
GHK-Cu / KPV
GHK-Cu and KPV in one blended vial, named by its ingredients because no reliable shared product name is established.
At a glance
- Sold as
- One blended vial
- The evidence
- Neither component has human data by injection. Injectable GHK-Cu has zero human trial data, and FDA says it will hold an advisory committee meeting on GHK-Cu before the end of February 2027. The topical form is the one with twenty years of small trials behind it, and it is a different route. KPV has no human data of any kind. FDA searched in 2026 and found no clinical studies, no pharmacokinetics and no pharmacodynamics by any route. The blend of the two has been studied by nobody, and no composition for it is published anywhere we can cite.Combination-specific research is limited. Treat each compound’s evidence as separate unless a study of the combination itself is named here, and review the complete plan with a qualified clinician.
Running this stack, with the schedule, the vials it takes and a log of what you took, happens in the app: Claritide for iPhone.
Why people explore it
Common reasons for exploring it
- Adults noticing the collagen and elastin side of skin ageing: firmness, texture, crepey skin
- People who want an anti-inflammatory compound running alongside it, which is what KPV is used for
- People who want both by injection and understand that neither compound has human data by that route
- Anyone who already owns a vial with these two in it and wants to know what a draw delivers
- Anyone deciding whether a vendor blend is worth buying over the two compounds separately
Where clinician input matters
- Anyone who has not run these compounds individually. Two in one barrel removes any ability to attribute a result or a side effect.
- Anyone with Wilson's disease
- Active or recent cancer, or a significant family cancer history
- Drug-tested athletes
- Pregnant or nursing, under 25
The science
Read the compound mechanisms
GHK-Cu does two jobs at once: it signals, and it carries copper. As a signal, genomic work using the Broad Institute's Connectivity Map found it modulates expression of over 4,000 human genes, activating repair genes and suppressing genes tied to inflammation and tissue breakdown. That is an epigenetic effect rather than a surface one: it shifts the gene expression profile of aged cells toward patterns seen in younger tissue. As a carrier, it delivers copper to the enzyme lysyl oxidase, which cross-links collagen and elastin fibres into their functional, load-bearing form. Without copper, newly made collagen is structurally weak. It also directly stimulates fibroblasts to produce collagen types I and III, elastin and glycosaminoglycans, and coordinates the breakdown of damaged tissue with the deposition of properly organised replacement tissue rather than scar.
The story you will read everywhere is that KPV is a melanocortin receptor agonist, and FDA says that is probably wrong. In its 2026 briefing document FDA writes that several lines of evidence suggest melanocortin receptors are unlikely to be the molecular targets behind KPV, because KPV could not displace radiolabelled alpha-MSH binding in rat brain tissue, in murine melanoma cells or in MC1R-expressing macrophages, and did not raise cAMP in those macrophages. What FDA does consider plausible is inhibition of NF-κB, the master switch that turns on pro-inflammatory cytokine genes, plus inhibition of interleukin-1β effects. The third piece is transport: KPV is taken up into human intestinal epithelial cells and Jurkat T cells through PepT1, a peptide transporter that is upregulated in inflamed gut tissue. That last detail is the one that makes the gut argument mechanically coherent: the transporter that carries it in is more abundant exactly where the inflammation is.
No standard dose publishedRead the COA, not the name. This is a name printed on a vial rather than a protocol, and the composition changes by vendor. We publish no dose for it and the builder will not prefill one. Enter your own vial’s composition and derive each figure from it.
Components
| Compound | What it is here for |
|---|---|
| GHK-Cu | The collagen and repair component: copper carried to the enzyme that cross-links collagen and elastin |
| KPV | The anti-inflammatory component, studied in gut and skin inflammation |
- GHK-Cu: The collagen and repair component. GHK-Cu does two jobs at once: as a carrier it delivers copper to lysyl oxidase, the enzyme that cross-links collagen and elastin into their load-bearing form, and as a signal it was found in Connectivity Map work to modulate expression of over 4,000 human genes, activating repair genes and suppressing genes tied to inflammation and tissue breakdown. It also stimulates fibroblasts directly to produce collagen types I and III, elastin and glycosaminoglycans. All of that evidence is topical; the injected route this vial uses has none. We hold no reported milligrams for this pairing at all, so there is nothing to check your vial against except your own COA. Copper reference points, so the figure you read has something real beside it: the adult RDA is 900 mcg/day and the tolerable upper intake level is 10,000 mcg/day. A blend delivers copper-bound peptide at milligram doses by a route with no human trial data behind it.
- KPV: The anti-inflammatory component, and the other half of the split this pairing is built on. KPV is the last three amino acids of alpha-MSH. FDA considers the melanocortin-receptor story that circulates about it unlikely, and puts the plausible mechanism at inhibition of NF-κB, the master switch that turns on pro-inflammatory cytokine genes, plus inhibition of interleukin-1β effects. The rodent colitis and wound-healing data behind that is real and reasonably consistent. KPV has no human data of any kind, so there is no published dose to compare a derived one against. Whatever your COA says is the only number in play.
- Duration
- No cycle length is published for this pairing by anybody. We publish none either, rather than borrow one from a blend that shares a component.
Mixing each compound
Not established in available literature. Use the figures printed on your own vial.
Not established in available literature. Use the figures printed on your own vial.
Week by week
GHK-Cu
- Week 1–4 (topical)
Skin texture begins to smooth. Not visible yet: collagen gene activation takes time. Post-procedure healing after microneedling or laser is noticeably faster.
- Week 4–8 (topical)
First visible changes. Skin appears more hydrated and firmer, fine lines begin softening, tone becomes more even.
- Week 8–12 (topical)
Full results as measured in clinical trials: reduced wrinkle depth, increased skin density and thickness, improved elasticity.
- Month 3+ (topical)
Cumulative improvement. The longer it runs, the more collagen accumulates.
- Week 1–2 (injectable)
Wound healing effects appear earliest; reduced inflammation at injury sites.
- Week 4–8 (injectable)
Systemic effects reported: hair growth, joint recovery, skin quality. Note this route has no human trial support.
What it costs
- GHK-Cu: $30–80 per month (1–2% serum, 30 mL)
- KPV: Not established in available literature
The combined figure excludes KPV, for which our sources publish no price.
Cautions
- Read the COA, not the name. No composition for this pairing is published anywhere we can cite, so your own certificate of analysis is the only statement of what is in the vial.
- For KPV, sources disagree on bacteriostatic water, and Claritide takes the cautious side: plain sterile water, so the mixed vial keeps 24 hours, not 28 days. That is the most practical difference between this vial and a blend without KPV, and it changes how much you can mix at once.
- Wilson's disease rules this out entirely. It contains copper.
- The regulatory position of GHK-Cu got worse in 2026, not better. Non-injectable GHK-Cu was removed from Category 1 on 15 April 2026 and lost enforcement discretion; injectable GHK-Cu came off Category 2 the same day because the nominator withdrew, and FDA says it will hold an advisory committee meeting on it before the end of February 2027. Removal from Category 2 is not permission to compound.
- Never inject a topical skincare-grade GHK-Cu product. Cosmetic formulations are not sterile and are not endotoxin-tested.
- No stability study exists for these two peptides sharing a solution, and there is no sourced degradation rule, colour change or discard criterion for this blend.
- KPV is not named on the WADA list. We found no approval for KPV, so athletes should treat it as likely prohibited under S0. GHK-Cu is not named on the List, and we do not state a status for it.
Absence from this list does NOT mean safety. It means lack of research.
Every stack here is free to read, and it stays free. Your own schedule, vials and log live in the app: Claritide for iPhone.