What is ?

01

What it is

It is one modified peptide chain, not a blend of separate peptides. The chain is 39 amino acids long and ends in an amide. Two of those amino acids, at positions 2 and 13, are Aib (α-aminoisobutyric acid), a building block not found in natural proteins. The lysine at position 20 carries a 20-carbon lipid chain (a C20 diacid), attached through a linker.

That attached lipid chain is why it is called lipid-linked. The developer’s paper reports that it lets the molecule bind albumin, a common blood protein.

The reference record lists the formula C225H348N48O68 and a molar mass of about 4,813 g/mol (PubChem CID 156588324). Because of the modifications, an amino-acid sequence alone does not identify it. The identity result on the COA, a measured mass, is what confirms a lot.

Sources: [1] PubChem · reference structure · [2] Molecular Metabolism · 2018

02

Where it came from

Its developer first described it in 2018, in a paper that covered its design, its activity at both target receptors in cell assays, studies in mice and the first studies in people. A larger phase 2 study was published later the same year.

Structural studies followed in 2022. Most of its early literature comes from its developer’s program, but not all of it: a 2024 cell study of receptor variants came from a university lab.

Sources: [2] Molecular Metabolism · 2018 · [3] The Lancet · 2018 · [4] Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · 2022 · [5] Frontiers in Pharmacology · 2024

03

How it differs from

is its closest relative in the catalog. Both are single modified peptide chains, not blends, and both are designed to activate more than one related hormone receptor. They differ in three ways:

• Targets: this peptide is designed to activate two related hormone receptors. is designed to activate three, the same two plus a third.
• Age: this peptide was first described in 2018 and in 2022, so its published record is four years longer.
• Structure: the reference formulas differ (C225H348N48O68 here, C221H342N46O68 for ), and so do the molar masses, about 4,813 and 4,731 g/mol. They are different molecules, not two strengths of one.

The two masses are about 82 g/mol apart, so the identity result on a COA, which reports a measured mass, tells them apart.

For the three-receptor compound, see What is ?

Sources: [2] Molecular Metabolism · 2018 · [7] Cell Metabolism · 2022 · [1] PubChem · reference structure · [6] PubChem · comparison structure

04

What researchers have studied

Published work falls into three groups:

• Receptor pharmacology: how strongly it activates each target receptor in cell assays. A 2024 university study tested two common variants of one receptor and found it favored one signaling route inside the cell, the cAMP messenger pathway, at both.
• Structural biology: a 2022 paper used cryo-EM (imaging flash-frozen samples with an electron microscope) to see its shape while bound to each receptor. The peptide coils into a helix, and its first amino acids reach deep into the core of each receptor. Computer simulations and modified test versions of the peptide suggested the lipid chain also shapes how it signals.
• Animal and clinical studies from the developer’s program, starting with the 2018 discovery paper.

Read each paper for its model and measurements rather than relying on summaries.

These are observations in laboratory models. They are not evidence about any use in people.

Sources: [5] Frontiers in Pharmacology · 2024 · [4] Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · 2022 · [2] Molecular Metabolism · 2018 · [3] The Lancet · 2018

05

Why identity testing matters for large peptides

Longer chains give synthesis more places to go wrong: missing or extra amino acids, protecting groups that were not fully removed, and other related impurities. A 2014 review catalogs them.

This peptide adds one more thing to check: the lipid chain and its linker. A chain that lacks either one has a clearly lower mass. HPLC purity shows how much of the sample is the main product; mass spectrometry shows whether that product has the right mass. Read both results.

Sources: [8] Journal of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Analysis · 2014 · [2] Molecular Metabolism · 2018

06

How it is supplied and stored

ships as a lyophilized (freeze-dried) powder in 20 mg or 40 mg vials. The powder is stable at room temperature in transit. For lab use it is reconstituted with bacteriostatic water such as .

Concentration is content divided by volume: 20 mg in 2 mL gives 10 mg per mL. The reconstitution calculator handles other combinations.

For storage before and after reconstitution, see how to store lyophilized peptides.

07

How to verify a batch

Every lot has its own certificate of analysis from an independent lab. Read three results separately:

• Identity: confirms the expected compound was detected.
• Purity: the share of the measured material that is the intended compound.
• Content: the amount measured, compared with the label.

Then match the lot number on your vial or bottle to the report, and use the report’s verification link to confirm it with the testing lab. Step by step: how to read a peptide COA.