Compare prices and buy hCG from 9 research peptide vendors - also called suppliers or sources. Updated daily.
Human chorionic gonadotropin (CAS 9002-61-3), a glycoprotein hormone made by the placenta and not a synthetic peptide. Its alpha subunit is shared with LH, FSH and TSH, while its beta subunit differs. It is an agonist at the LH/hCG receptor (LHCGR), with an action its labels call virtually identical to LH, one step below gonadorelin and kisspeptin-10 in the reproductive axis. Its US products (urinary Novarel, Pregnyl and a generic chorionic gonadotropin, and recombinant Ovidrel) are licensed as biological products, which FDA says are not eligible for the compounding exemptions in sections 503A and 503B. It is catalogued here because vendors sell it beside research peptides, and it is sold in International Units, so it has no price-per-milligram figure.
For research purposes only. Not medical advice.
Human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) is a glycoprotein hormone made by the placenta. It is not a synthetic peptide, and it is catalogued here because vendors sell it beside research peptides and because it acts on the same reproductive axis as two of them.
It has two subunits joined without a covalent bond. The Ovidrel label gives 92 amino acids for the alpha subunit and 145 for the beta, 237 in all, with two N-linked sugar chains on each subunit and four O-linked chains on the beta. The urinary hCG labels describe the alpha subunit as essentially identical to those of the pituitary hormones LH, FSH and TSH, while the beta subunits differ in amino acid sequence. Glycosylated, the molecule weighs about 36.7 kDa, roughly 30 percent of it carbohydrate (Rohayem, Endocrine Connections, 2025). Its CAS number is 9002-61-3.
hCG is an agonist at the LH/hCG receptor, LHCGR, on cells of the ovary and testis. The urinary labels call its action "virtually identical to that of pituitary LH", with a small degree of FSH activity as well. It stimulates Leydig cells in the testis to produce androgens and the corpus luteum to produce progesterone, and in pregnancy it keeps the corpus luteum active after LH secretion falls.
That places it at the bottom of a three-step chain.
Four hCG products are marketed in the US under current licenses, according to FDA's Purple Book (September 2026 data).
The three urinary labels list the same three indications: prepubertal cryptorchidism not due to anatomical obstruction, selected cases of hypogonadotropic hypogonadism in males, and induction of ovulation in anovulatory infertile women. Ovidrel's label is for women only, covering final follicle maturation in assisted reproduction and ovulation induction.
Each urinary label opens its indications with a statement, printed in capitals, that hCG has not been shown to be effective adjunctive therapy for obesity and has no substantial evidence of adding weight loss beyond calorie restriction. In 2011 FDA and the Federal Trade Commission sent seven joint warning letters to firms selling over-the-counter "homeopathic" hCG drops, pellets and sprays for weight loss as unapproved and misbranded drugs. FDA's guidance on that action adds that it has received reports of serious adverse events, including pulmonary embolism and cardiac arrest, tied to hCG injections used for weight loss.
The hCG products were approved under new drug applications until March 23, 2020. On that date a provision of the Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act deemed each approved application for a biological product to be a biologics license, and FDA's list of the transitioned applications includes all four.
That transition settles hCG's compounding status, so the 503A bulks-list and Category 2 process that decides the status of most research peptides does not apply to it. FDA's notice to compounders says transitioning biological products are not eligible for the compounding exemptions in sections 503A and 503B, and it names human chorionic gonadotropin among four bulk substances outsourcing facilities had reported using. FDA pointed instead to its 2018 guidance on mixing, diluting or repackaging licensed biological products outside their labelling.
hCG potency is defined by biological activity. The current WHO reference, the 5th International Standard for chorionic gonadotrophin (NIBSC code 07/364), carries dual unitage: 179 International Units per ampoule for calibrating immunoassays and 162 for calibrating bioassays of therapeutic preparations. The US urinary labels state potency in USP units. Ovidrel is labelled by mass in micrograms, and its label still determines activity with a rat bioassay.
Not in the sense the rest of this catalog uses the word. Human chorionic gonadotropin is a glycoprotein hormone made by the placenta, with two subunits of 92 and 145 amino acids carrying sugar chains, about 36.7 kDa in all. Its alpha subunit is essentially identical to those of LH, FSH and TSH, and its beta subunit differs. It is listed among research peptides because vendors sell it beside them and because it acts on the same reproductive axis as kisspeptin-10 and gonadorelin. Since March 23, 2020, the licensed US hCG products have been regulated as biological products.
Three urinary-derived products, Novarel, Pregnyl and a generic chorionic gonadotropin from Fresenius Kabi, are labelled for prepubertal cryptorchidism not due to anatomical obstruction, selected cases of hypogonadotropic hypogonadism in males, and induction of ovulation in anovulatory infertile women. The recombinant product, Ovidrel, is labelled for women only, for final follicle maturation in assisted reproduction and for ovulation induction. FDA's Purple Book lists all four as marketed in its September 2026 data. None is approved for weight loss.
No. Each US urinary hCG label states that hCG has not been demonstrated to be effective adjunctive therapy for obesity and that there is no substantial evidence it increases weight loss beyond calorie restriction. In 2011 FDA and the Federal Trade Commission sent seven joint warning letters to firms selling over-the-counter homeopathic hCG drops, pellets and sprays for weight loss as unapproved and misbranded drugs. FDA says it has received reports of serious adverse events, including pulmonary embolism and cardiac arrest, tied to hCG injections used for weight loss.
Not under the usual compounding exemptions. On March 23, 2020, a provision of the Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act turned the approved hCG applications into biologics licenses. FDA's notice to compounders says these transitioning biological products are not eligible for the exemptions in sections 503A and 503B of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, and it names human chorionic gonadotropin among the bulk substances outsourcing facilities had reported using. The 503A bulks list and Category 2 process that governs most research peptides therefore does not decide hCG's status.
hCG is sold by 9 research peptide vendors indexed on PeptideScouter, with 10 tracked listings compared per vendor in the table above. Pricing is normalized and refreshed daily.
7 of the 9 indexed vendors currently have hCG in stock. The comparison table marks out-of-stock listings, and stock state is refreshed daily.
Discount codes are issued per vendor rather than per peptide, so any code applies across that vendor's whole catalog. All 9 vendors listing hCG publish a PeptideScouter code, worth 10% to 50% off. These listings do not carry a comparable per-milligram price, so code availability is shown without a normalized effective price. Each vendor's code is shown beside its price in the table above.
9 research peptide vendors currently list hCG on PeptideScouter, with 7 in stock right now. We track 10 listings across size and kit variants.
hCG's CAS Registry Number is 9002-61-3. It is also sold as HCG.
