Compare prices and buy GHK from 1 research peptide vendor - also called suppliers or sources. Updated daily.
The free-base tripeptide glycyl-L-histidyl-L-lysine (CAS 49557-75-7), found naturally in human plasma at levels that fall with age. It binds copper(II) to form GHK-Cu, and most authors attribute its reported effects to that copper binding. Cell-culture and animal studies report increased collagen and glycosaminoglycan synthesis and improved wound repair, and gene-expression analyses link it to tissue-repair and antioxidant pathways. The copper complex, used as a cosmetic ingredient, is indexed as a separate product. Not FDA-approved.
For research purposes only. Not medical advice.
GHK is the tripeptide glycyl-L-histidyl-L-lysine (Gly-His-Lys) with no metal bound. PubChem gives its molecular formula as C14H24N6O4 and its molecular weight as 340.38, under CAS 49557-75-7. FDA's substance registry, GSRS, files it under the name prezatide (UNII 39TG2H631E) and links it to separate records for prezatide monoacetate, prezatide copper and prezatide copper acetate.
The copper complex is a different substance with its own CAS number and its own hub, GHK-Cu. That page carries the background the two forms share: the peptide's discovery and plasma levels, the complex's proposed mechanism, its topical-gel trials and its compounding record. This page covers what differs for the free peptide.
PubChem lists the monoacetate salt as C16H28N6O6 with a molecular weight of 400.43, so that salt is about 85% peptide by mass. A milligram figure on a label that names no salt form does not say which of the two was weighed.
Lau and Sarkar measured copper(II) binding by Gly-His-Lys with potentiometric titration and visible-absorption spectroscopy (Biochemical Journal, 1981). They found several complex species in solution between pH 3.5 and 10.6, and reported that the amino group on the lysine side chain raised the stability constants of the complexes compared with those formed by Gly-His or Gly-His-Gly.
In equilibrium-dialysis experiments at pH 7.5 and 6 degrees C, the tripeptide competed with albumin for copper(II). With albumin and peptide at equal concentrations, about 42% of the copper was bound to the peptide. At concentrations of copper, albumin, histidine and peptide chosen as physiologically relevant, about 6% of the copper sat in the low-molecular-weight fraction, which the authors said could reflect complexes of copper with the peptide alone or with the peptide and histidine. They discussed a possible role for these complexes in moving copper from blood to tissues.
Campbell and colleagues (Genome Medicine, 2012) used the Connectivity Map to identify GHK as a compound that could reverse a gene-expression signature associated with emphysematous destruction in lung tissue. In human lung fibroblasts, GHK reproduced gene-expression patterns induced by TGF-beta, organized the actin cytoskeleton and raised integrin beta-1 expression. Adding GHK or TGF-beta restored collagen I contraction and remodeling by fibroblasts from COPD lungs, with fibroblasts from former smokers without COPD as the comparison. The methods list GHK from a reagent supplier, and the paper does not mention copper outside its reference list. These are cell-culture findings, not clinical outcomes.
An earlier fibroblast study of the copper complex (Maquart and colleagues, FEBS Letters, 1988) noted that the Gly-His-Lys triplet occurs in the alpha-2 chain of type I collagen and suggested that proteases at a wound might release the tripeptide there. Fibroblast work comparing the free peptide with the complex is covered on the GHK-Cu hub.
GHK is not an FDA-approved drug. As of October 21, 2026:
The ClinicalTrials.gov records that name the peptide or its derivatives test cosmetic treatments whose ingredient lists include the copper complex or a modified Tripeptide-1. The GHK-Cu entries on FDA's compounding lists, with their routes and dates, are covered on the GHK-Cu hub.
Tripeptide-1 is the INCI cosmetic name GSRS records for the free peptide. The EU's CosIng database defines Tripeptide-1 as a synthetic peptide containing glycine, histidine and lysine, and lists Tripeptide-1 Acetate and Copper Tripeptide-1 as separate ingredients, along with derivatives such as Palmitoyl Tripeptide-1 and Biotinoyl Tripeptide-1. Palmitoyl Tripeptide-1 is a different molecule, named on the Matrixyl hub, and how a "Tripeptide-1" label can leave copper content unclear is covered on the GHK-Cu hub.
Listings sell the free peptide in vials priced per milligram. A vendor title reads "GHK Basic" without defining "Basic", and its store listing gave no CAS number, formula or salt form when checked on October 21, 2026.
No. GHK is the free tripeptide glycyl-L-histidyl-L-lysine, molecular formula C14H24N6O4, with no metal bound. It binds copper(II), and the copper complex, GHK-Cu, is a separate substance with its own CAS number that PeptideScouter indexes as a separate product.
Prezatide is the name under which FDA's substance registry, GSRS, files free GHK (UNII 39TG2H631E). The registry links it to separate records for prezatide monoacetate, prezatide copper and prezatide copper acetate, and records Tripeptide-1 as its INCI cosmetic name.
In laboratory equilibrium-dialysis experiments reported by Lau and Sarkar in the Biochemical Journal in 1981, the tripeptide competed with albumin for copper(II) at pH 7.5. With albumin and peptide at equal concentrations, about 42% of the copper was bound to the peptide. At concentrations of copper, albumin, histidine and peptide chosen as physiologically relevant, about 6% of the copper was associated with low-molecular-weight components, which the authors said could reflect the peptide's copper complexes.
No. As of October 21, 2026, Drugs@FDA lists no application for GHK or prezatide, and ClinicalTrials.gov has no study that gives the free peptide as an intervention. FDA's Section 503A compounding category list names GHK-Cu, the copper complex, and does not name the free peptide.
GHK is sold by 1 research peptide vendor indexed on PeptideScouter, with 1 tracked listing compared per vendor in the table above. Pricing is normalized and refreshed daily.
All 1 indexed research peptide vendor currently have GHK in stock. Stock state is refreshed daily from each vendor's catalog.
Optima Chemical Supply currently lists GHK at $0.55/mg, the lowest listed price across 1 tracked research peptide vendor. With current vendor discount codes applied, the lowest effective price is $0.47/mg.
Discount codes are issued per vendor rather than per peptide, so any code applies across that vendor's whole catalog. All 1 vendor listing GHK publish a PeptideScouter code, worth 15% off. Applied, the lowest effective price falls from $0.55/mg listed to $0.47/mg at Optima Chemical Supply. Each vendor's code is shown beside its price in the table above.
1 research peptide vendor currently lists GHK on PeptideScouter. We track 1 listing across size and kit variants.
GHK's CAS Registry Number is 49557-75-7.
