{"id":"adipotide","name":"Adipotide","aliases":["FTPP","prohibitin-TP01","fat-targeted proapoptotic peptide","CKGGRAKDC-GG-D(KLAKLAK)2"],"url":"https://lyoresearch.com/compounds/adipotide","class":{"id":"longevity-compounds","name":"Mitochondrial, antioxidant and longevity compounds","url":"https://lyoresearch.com/classes/longevity-compounds"},"summary":"Adipotide is a two-part synthetic peptide: a homing sequence that binds a protein on the blood vessels of white fat, joined to a fragment that triggers cell death. Cut off the blood supply and the fat tissue shrinks. In obese monkeys it produced rapid weight loss and better insulin sensitivity — and dose-dependent, reversible kidney damage. A human phase 1 trial in prostate cancer was registered in 2010 and no result was ever published. It is sold online as a fat-loss peptide on the strength of the monkey study. It is not approved anywhere and is prohibited in sport.","overall_grade":"D","overall_grade_meaning":"no human evidence","human_trials":"0 published; a phase 1 in prostate cancer was registered and never reported","regulatory_status":"Not approved; investigational (stalled)","molecule":{"formula":"C111H206N36O28S2","molecular_weight":"2557.2","cas":"859216-15-2","pubchem_cid":163360068,"note":null},"pharmacokinetics":{"basis":"none","route":"Injected as sold; monkeys only","half_life":"No human pharmacokinetic data","licensed_regimen":null,"product":null,"source":null},"outcomes":[{"outcome":"Fat loss (humans)","grade":"D","grade_meaning":"no human evidence","effect_size":"not measurable","adverse":false,"human_studies":"0 published","evidence":"No human efficacy or safety data exists in the literature. The registered phase 1 (prostate cancer, not obesity) has no published result.","references":[{"citation":"Barnhart KF, Christianson DR, Hanley PW, et al. A peptidomimetic targeting white fat causes weight loss and improved insulin resistance in obese monkeys.","where":"Sci Transl Med, 2011","url":"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22072637/"},{"citation":"Searches of PubMed and ClinicalTrials.gov for adipotide in humans.","where":"LYO literature search, September 2026","url":"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=adipotide"}]},{"outcome":"Fat loss (obese primates)","grade":"D","grade_meaning":"no human evidence","effect_size":"not measurable","adverse":false,"human_studies":"Preclinical only","evidence":"Obese rhesus monkeys lost weight rapidly and improved insulin resistance, with imaging confirming loss of white fat — the result the product is sold on. Grade D because it is not human evidence.","references":[{"citation":"Barnhart KF, Christianson DR, Hanley PW, et al. A peptidomimetic targeting white fat causes weight loss and improved insulin resistance in obese monkeys.","where":"Sci Transl Med, 2011","url":"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22072637/"}]},{"outcome":"Kidney toxicity (primates)","grade":"D","grade_meaning":"no human evidence","effect_size":"not measurable","adverse":true,"human_studies":"Preclinical only","evidence":"At effective doses, monkeys of three species showed predictable, dose-dependent changes in proximal tubule function that reversed when treatment stopped. The mechanism — the homing sequence also binds in the kidney — is the reason development stalled and the reason human use without monitoring is reckless.","references":[{"citation":"Barnhart KF, Christianson DR, Hanley PW, et al. A peptidomimetic targeting white fat causes weight loss and improved insulin resistance in obese monkeys.","where":"Sci Transl Med, 2011","url":"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22072637/"}]}],"regions":[{"region":"European Union","status":"Unauthorised medicinal product","note":"No marketing authorisation anywhere. Supplying it for human use is an offence under national medicines law."},{"region":"United States","status":"Not approved","note":"Investigational; one registered phase 1 with no reported result. Sold as a 'research chemical'."},{"region":"United Kingdom","status":"Unlicensed medicine","note":"No MHRA licence."},{"region":"Australia","status":"Prescription-only / unapproved","note":"Not on the ARTG; imports are seized."},{"region":"Canada","status":"Not authorised","note":"No Drug Identification Number."},{"region":"Sport (WADA)","status":"Prohibited at all times","note":"As a non-approved substance it falls under the non-approved-substances class, prohibited in and out of competition."}],"faq":[{"q":"Does adipotide work for fat loss?","a":"In obese monkeys, dramatically. In humans, nobody knows: no result has ever been published. The monkey study also found kidney damage at effective doses."},{"q":"Is adipotide safe?","a":"The only safety data is from monkeys, where it caused dose-dependent kidney tubule damage that reversed on stopping. Whether that holds in humans, at grey-market doses, without monitoring, has never been tested."},{"q":"Why was it never developed?","a":"The kidney toxicity, most likely: the peptide that homes to fat vessels also binds in the kidney. A human phase 1 was registered in 2010 and no result appeared."}],"references":[{"cite":"Barnhart KF, Christianson DR, Hanley PW, et al. A peptidomimetic targeting white fat causes weight loss and improved insulin resistance in obese monkeys.","where":"Sci Transl Med, 2011","url":"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22072637/","note":"Rhesus and other monkeys; preclinical; reversible kidney toxicity reported."},{"cite":"Searches of PubMed and ClinicalTrials.gov for adipotide in humans.","where":"LYO literature search, September 2026","url":"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=adipotide","note":"Seven PubMed results, none clinical; the registered phase 1 (prostate cancer) has no published result."}],"last_reviewed":"2026-09-10","literature_searched_to":"2026-09-10","changelog":[{"date":"2026-09-10","note":"Initial publication. Grade D: primate data only; kidney signal recorded."}],"license":"CC BY 4.0 — cite as “LYO Research” with a link.","methodology":"https://lyoresearch.com/methodology"}