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KPV

Melanocortin fragment — not dispensed

KPV is a three–amino-acid fragment of α-MSH. An advisory committee recommended it for the 503A bulks list 8–6 in July 2026; HHS has not acted, so no pharmacy may lawfully compound it from bulk today.

The evidence is animal work on inflammatory bowel disease, delivered to the gut. That is a different route, target and species from what is being sold.

Preclinical only

Almost all published data is from animal or laboratory work. No completed human efficacy trial has been published.

3

Amino acids — one of the smallest peptides sold in this category

Structure
8–6

Advisory committee vote recommending it for the 503A bulks list

PCAC, 23–24 July 2026
None

Published randomised controlled trials in humans

As of August 2026

What it is

KPV is a three–amino-acid fragment (lysine–proline–valine) of the tail end of α-MSH, the hormone your body already uses to damp inflammation. It is sold for gut inflammation and skin healing. Whealth does not dispense it.

How it works

The parent hormone α-MSH is anti-inflammatory, and KPV appears to keep that activity while dropping the pigment-related effects of the full molecule. In cell and animal work it is taken up by the PepT1 transporter in inflamed gut epithelium and reduces inflammatory signalling there.

What the evidence actually says

  1. 2008

    Mouse models

    The most-cited work showed anti-inflammatory activity in murine models of inflammatory bowel disease. Mice, with colitis — not people, and not injuries.

  2. 2016–17

    Delivery research

    Most work since has been about how to get KPV to the gut at all — nanoparticle and hydrogel delivery — which tells you the bottleneck is still pharmacology, not efficacy in people.

  3. 2026

    PCAC vote

    Recommended 8–6 for the 503A bulks list on 23–24 July. Advisory; HHS has not acted.

What the first months look like

  • TodayNothing from us. It is not on the 503A bulks list, so a compounding pharmacy may not lawfully make it from bulk.
  • If HHS actsIt becomes compoundable. It does not become studied — the human evidence would still be absent, and we would say so on this page.

Who this is not for

  • Anyone, from us, at present.
  • Note that the gut research used oral and targeted delivery. Injecting it is not the route the evidence was generated by.
Sources
  1. Kannengiesser K et al. Melanocortin-derived tripeptide KPV has anti-inflammatory potential in murine models of inflammatory bowel disease. Inflamm Bowel Dis 2008;14(3):324–31. PMID 18092346.
  2. Viennois E et al. Critical role of PepT1 in promoting colitis-associated cancer and therapeutic benefits of the anti-inflammatory PepT1-mediated tripeptide KPV. Cell Mol Gastroenterol Hepatol 2016;2(3):340–357. PMID 27458604.

Figures are quoted from the published trials and were last checked in August 2026. We update this page when the evidence changes.