Regulation

Are peptides legal? It depends where you are standing.

In one paragraphThree peptides — semaglutide, tirzepatide and liraglutide — are approved medicines almost everywhere and prescription-only. Nearly everything else sold online is an unapproved drug: supplying it for human use is an offence in the EU, UK, Australia and Canada, and in the United States it is unapproved and, for most compounds, not yet permitted for pharmacy compounding either. In sport, almost all of them are banned at all times. The pages below give each jurisdiction's rules with dates and sources.

United States

Are peptides legal in the United States?

Approved peptides — semaglutide, tirzepatide, tesamorelin, bremelanotide — are prescription drugs. Most others are not approved for anything.

European Union

Are peptides legal in the EU?

Semaglutide, tirzepatide and liraglutide are authorised, prescription-only medicines across the EU. Almost every other peptide discussed online has no marketing authorisation, so supplying it for human use is an offence under the medicines laws of every member state.

United Kingdom

Are peptides legal in the UK?

Licensed peptides — semaglutide, tirzepatide, liraglutide — are prescription-only medicines. Everything else on LYO is an unlicensed medicine under the Human Medicines Regulations 2012: selling or supplying it is a criminal offence, and the MHRA is prosecuting.

Australia

Are peptides legal in Australia?

In Australia peptides are prescription-only substances. Registered ones (semaglutide, tirzepatide) are Schedule 4 medicines; unapproved ones (BPC-157, TB-500, CJC-1295, ipamorelin and the rest) are also Schedule 4 but not on the Register, so they can only be obtained on a prescription, compounded for that patient, or imported under the Personal Importation Scheme with a prescription.

Canada

Are peptides legal in Canada?

Semaglutide, tirzepatide and tesamorelin are authorised prescription drugs in Canada. The research-market peptides are not authorised at all — Health Canada has not assessed them for safety, efficacy or quality — and "selling unauthorized drugs is illegal in Canada".

Sport (WADA)

Which peptides are banned in sport?

Under the 2026 Prohibited List, nearly every peptide discussed online is banned at all times, in and out of competition: growth-hormone releasing factors and secretagogues (sermorelin, CJC-1295, ipamorelin, tesamorelin, GHRPs), growth-hormone fragments (AOD-9604), thymosin-β4 (TB-500), MOTS-c, kisspeptin, and — under S0 — anything not approved for human use anywhere, which covers BPC-157, epitalon, retatrutide and cagrilintide. Semaglutide and tirzepatide are not on the list..

Matrix

Every compound, every jurisdiction

Status at a glance. Open a compound for the notes and sources behind each cell; open a region for the rules that produce them.

Compound	United States	European Union	United Kingdom	Australia	Canada	Sport (WADA)
D BPC-157	Not approved; compounding under review	Unauthorised medicinal product	Unlicensed medicine	Schedule 4, unapproved	Not authorised	Prohibited at all times
A Semaglutide	Approved, prescription-only	Approved, prescription-only	Licensed, prescription-only	Registered, Schedule 4	Authorised, prescription-only	Not prohibited
B Retatrutide	Investigational; cannot be compounded	Investigational; not authorised	Unlicensed; illegal to sell	Unapproved	Not authorised	Prohibited at all times
A Tirzepatide	Approved, prescription-only	Approved, prescription-only	Licensed, prescription-only	Registered, Schedule 4	Authorised, prescription-only	Not prohibited
B Tesamorelin	Approved (Egrifta), prescription-only	Not authorised	Not licensed	Not registered	Authorised (Egrifta), prescription-only	Prohibited at all times
C Ipamorelin	Not approved; compounding barred	Unauthorised medicinal product	Unlicensed medicine	Schedule 4, unapproved	Not authorised	Prohibited at all times
C GHK-Cu	Cosmetic; injectable not approved	Cosmetic ingredient; no medicinal authorisation	Cosmetic; injectable unlicensed	Cosmetic; injectable unapproved	Cosmetic; injectable not authorised	Not named
D Epitalon	Not approved; compounding under review	Unauthorised medicinal product	Unlicensed medicine	Schedule 4, unapproved	Not authorised	Prohibited at all times
D TB-500	Not approved; compounding under review	Unauthorised medicinal product	Unlicensed medicine	Schedule 4, unapproved	Not authorised	Prohibited at all times
B Cagrilintide	Investigational; cannot be compounded	Investigational; not authorised	Unlicensed	Unapproved	Not authorised	Prohibited at all times
D Semax	Not approved; compounding under review	Unauthorised in the EU	Unlicensed medicine	Schedule 4, unapproved	Not authorised	Not on the list
D Selank	Not approved	Unauthorised in the EU	Unlicensed medicine	Schedule 4, unapproved	Not authorised	Not on the list
A PT-141	Approved (Vyleesi), prescription-only	Not authorised	Not licensed	Not registered	Not authorised	Not on the list
C Sermorelin	Discontinued brand; compounded on prescription	No current authorisation	Unlicensed medicine	Schedule 4, unapproved	Not authorised	Prohibited at all times
C CJC-1295	Not approved; compounding barred	Unauthorised medicinal product	Unlicensed medicine	Schedule 4, unapproved	Not authorised	Prohibited at all times
D AOD-9604	Not approved; compounding barred	Unauthorised medicinal product	Unlicensed medicine	Schedule 4, unapproved	Not authorised	Prohibited at all times
D MOTS-c	Not approved; compounding under review	Unauthorised medicinal product	Unlicensed medicine	Schedule 4, unapproved	Not authorised	Prohibited at all times

Last checked against the regulators' own pages on 2 September 2026. Legal status changes; LYO records every change on the region pages. This is a reference, not legal advice.