Peptide research, graded and cited.
Residue is a reference on peptide science for readers who want the primary source. Each compound is graded on its strongest verifiable human evidence, and every sentence links to PubMed, ClinicalTrials.gov, PubChem or FDA. No prices. No vendors.
Data edition of October 19, 2026: 25 monographs drawing on 16,627 indexed PubMed records and 1,436 registered studies.
Evidence scale
A Approved / regulatory-grade 7 compounds B Randomized human trials 5 compounds C Limited / early human data 9 compounds D Preclinical only 4 compoundsSemaglutide vs tirzepatide
In both head-to-head randomized trials, tirzepatide came out ahead on the primary endpoint. In SURMOUNT-5 (NEJM 2025; 751 adults with obesity), tirzepatide produced 20.2% versus 13.7% weight loss with semaglutide at 72 weeks1PubMedTirzepatide as Compared with Semaglutide for the Treatment of Obesity. Aronne LJ et al. N Engl J Med. 2025.. In SURPASS-2 (type 2 diabetes), every tirzepatide dose lowered HbA1c more than semaglutide 1 mg2PubMedTirzepatide versus Semaglutide Once Weekly in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes. Frías JP et al. N Engl J Med. 2021.. Semaglutide has a cardiovascular-outcomes trial in people without diabetes3PubMedSemaglutide and Cardiovascular Outcomes in Obesity without Diabetes. Lincoff AM et al. N Engl J Med. 2023..
The evidence index
Filter by grade or class; sort by the size of the record. A large literature is not the same as strong evidence.
| Grade | Compound | Literature | Registered studies |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | SemaglutideFDA-approved — Ozempic (2017), Rybelsus (2019), Wegovy (2021) | 5,706 | 785 · 366 active |
| A | TirzepatideFDA-approved — Mounjaro (2022), Zepbound (2023) | 2,640 | 300 · 199 active |
| A | ElamipretideFDA accelerated approval — Forzinity (2025) | 470 | 29 · 3 active |
| A | SermorelinApproved product discontinued (Geref) | 366 | 27 · 1 active |
| A | AfamelanotideFDA-approved (Scenesse implant) · Prescription | 121 | 23 · 1 active |
| A | BremelanotideFDA-approved (Vyleesi) · Prescription | 113 | 10 · 1 active |
| A | TesamorelinFDA-approved — Egrifta (2010) | 105 | 24 · 3 active |
| B | LL-37Not FDA-approved · FDA compounding nomination withdrawn | 2,412 | 20 · 2 active |
| B | Thymosin alpha-1Not FDA-approved · FDA compounding nomination withdrawn | 622 | 65 · 19 active |
| B | Kisspeptin-10Not FDA-approved · FDA compounding Category 2 (503A) | 317 | 36 · 5 active |
| B | RetatrutideInvestigational — not FDA-approved | 207 | 34 · 11 active |
| B | CagrilintideInvestigational — not FDA-approved | 121 | 44 · 18 active |
| C | Melanotan IINot FDA-approved · FDA compounding nomination withdrawn | 625 | 1 · 1 active |
| C | DSIPNot FDA-approved · FDA compounding nomination withdrawn | 463 | 0 |
| C | BPC-157Not FDA-approved · FDA compounding nomination withdrawn | 225 | 4 · 2 active |
| C | SemaxNot FDA-approved · FDA compounding nomination withdrawn | 209 | 0 |
| C | GHK-CuNot FDA-approved · injectable-route nomination withdrawn | 134 | 3 · 2 active |
| C | EpitalonNot FDA-approved · FDA compounding nomination withdrawn | 121 | 0 |
| C | SelankNot FDA-approved · FDA compounding nomination withdrawn | 68 | 2 |
| C | IpamorelinNot FDA-approved · FDA compounding Category 2 (503B) | 51 | 3 · 1 active |
| C | CJC-1295Not FDA-approved · FDA compounding nomination withdrawn | 35 | 1 |
| D | TB-500Not FDA-approved · FDA compounding nomination withdrawn | 1,157 | 20 · 3 active |
| D | MOTS-cNot FDA-approved · FDA compounding nomination withdrawn | 264 | 5 · 4 active |
| D | KPVNot FDA-approved · FDA compounding nomination withdrawn | 53 | 0 |
| D | AOD-9604Not FDA-approved · FDA compounding nomination withdrawn | 22 | 0 |
By class
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Incretin & amylin agonistsWhich incretin-class peptides have the strongest human evidence? A A B B
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Growth-hormone axis peptidesHow do GHRH analogs differ from ghrelin-mimetic secretagogues? A A C C D
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Tissue-repair & anti-inflammatory peptidesIs there human evidence for BPC-157, TB-500, GHK-Cu or KPV? C C D D
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Regulatory peptidesHow strong is the evidence for selank, semax, epitalon, DSIP and kisspeptin-10? B C C C C
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Melanocortin peptidesWhich melanocortin peptides are approved, and which are not? A A C
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Immune & host-defense peptidesWhat do the randomized trials show for thymosin alpha-1 and LL-37? B B
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Mitochondria-targeted peptidesWhat separates MOTS-c from elamipretide (SS-31)? A D
How Residue works
- Fetched. PubMed, ClinicalTrials.gov, PubChem and openFDA are queried at build time and cached, so every number can be reproduced.
- Cited. Each claim carries a marker that must resolve to a cached record, or the build fails.
- Checked. Statements are compared with the abstract, label or registry text they cite; unsupported ones are removed.
- Graded. A four-step scale with a published methodology, applied per compound and per effect.
References for the lead comparison
Every source below was retrieved from its official API or page and cached on the data-edition date. Numbers match the margin notes.
- 1 PubMed Aronne LJ, Horn DB, le Roux CW, et al. Tirzepatide as Compared with Semaglutide for the Treatment of Obesity. N Engl J Med 2025. PMID 40353578; doi:10.1056/NEJMoa2416394.
- 2 PubMed Frías JP, Davies MJ, Rosenstock J, et al. Tirzepatide versus Semaglutide Once Weekly in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes. N Engl J Med 2021. PMID 34170647; doi:10.1056/NEJMoa2107519.
- 3 PubMed Lincoff AM, Brown-Frandsen K, Colhoun HM, et al. Semaglutide and Cardiovascular Outcomes in Obesity without Diabetes. N Engl J Med 2023. PMID 37952131; doi:10.1056/NEJMoa2307563.