What it is

GHK-Cu is a copper tripeptide: a three-amino-acid sequence complexed with a copper ion. The copper is not an additive, it is part of the product, and that makes GHK-Cu a different kind of item from the plain peptides sold beside it.

It is also one of the more fragile sequences on the market, which matters more than usual for anything shipped a long distance.

What does the research on GHK-Cu actually show?

GHK-Cu has more human data behind it than most compounds on this site, and nearly all of that data is topical. GHK-Cu is a copper-binding tripeptide, glycyl-L-histidyl-L-lysine bound to copper, studied for decades in dermatology as a cream or gel. There is no completed human trial of injected GHK-Cu for any indication.

Both spellings are in common use. GHK-Cu and GHK Cu return different search results and different supplier listings, but they refer to the same tripeptide-copper complex.

What has been tested in humans	What has not
Topical GHK-Cu on CO₂ laser-resurfaced skin	GHK-Cu by injection, any route
Skin penetration measured in vitro across skin layers	Systemic dosing or pharmacokinetics in humans
Topical gel on acute wounds (trial recruiting, NCT07437586)	Systemic anti-ageing or organ-repair endpoints
Cosmetic dermatology endpoints: healing, appearance, tolerance	Hair growth or lung repair claims in humans

What the topical studies found

A controlled study of topical copper tripeptide complex applied to CO₂ laser-resurfaced skin reported improvement in healing and appearance versus control (Archives of Facial Plastic Surgery, 2006). Separate in vitro work measured how much GHK-Cu actually crosses each skin layer, which is the question that decides whether a topical claim is plausible at all. A trial of topical GHK-Cu gel on acute skin wounds is currently recruiting.

The wider GHK-Cu literature is largely mechanistic. A 2018 review in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences catalogued the gene-expression changes associated with the peptide, and a 2008 review covered its role in tissue remodelling. Both describe biology, not clinical outcomes.

What this evidence does not cover

Primary sources

• Effects of topical copper tripeptide complex on CO2 laser-resurfaced skin. Arch Facial Plast Surg, 2006 (PMID 16847171)
• Human skin penetration of a copper tripeptide in vitro as a function of skin layer
• Regenerative and Protective Actions of the GHK-Cu Peptide in the Light of the New Gene Data. Int J Mol Sci, 2018 (PMID 29986520)
• The human tri-peptide GHK and tissue remodeling. J Biomater Sci Polym Ed, 2008 (PMID 18644225)
• ClinicalTrials.gov NCT07437586: topical GHK-Cu gel for acute skin wound healing (recruiting)
• PubChem CID 71587328: Prezatide copper (GHK-Cu)
• Copper peptide GHK-Cu on Wikipedia

What it costs

Pricing is broad. Across the vendors we index, the average unit price sits near $9.91, with the full range running from cents to around $89 depending on vial size and grade.

At the low end, shipping stops being a rounding error. Costs of $15 to $35 per order are normal, and on a cheap vial that can exceed the price of the material itself. Compare landed cost, not catalogue price.

What to check on the documentation

A purity figure for the peptide portion does not tell you the copper is correctly complexed, and that is the property the product is bought for. Look for documentation that addresses the complex, not just the tripeptide sequence.

Transit conditions deserve more weight here than with sturdier compounds. Extended international shipping without cold-chain handling is a real degradation risk for this sequence, and a certificate issued at the point of manufacture says nothing about what survived the journey. The industry purity baseline has moved to a 99 percent minimum, so a lower figure on a current certificate is worth questioning.

Our GHK-Cu analysis

Reconstitution calculator

Work out the concentration and the units on the syringe from what is printed on your vial. Arithmetic only — it does not recommend a dose. More on how it works.