# Peptide Med Group — Research Peptide Fundamentals research peptides

> Peptide Med Group compares ipamorelin, NAD+, thymosin alpha-1, and tirzepatide by how much clinical-trial evidence exists for each — cited literature, not marketing claims. A digest, not a vendor or clinic.

Ipamorelin, NAD+, thymosin alpha-1, and tirzepatide — read side by side by how much clinical-trial evidence actually exists for each.

## Start here

Research peptides are short chains of amino acids studied in labs and clinics for specific biological effects. This site tracks four of them: ipamorelin, NAD+, thymosin alpha-1, and tirzepatide. They work in different systems — growth hormone, cellular energy, immune defense, and blood sugar and appetite — but they share one thing. Each has been through real clinical trials, not just cell-dish experiments. Some trials succeeded. Some didn't. We report both.

Tirzepatide has the deepest trial record here: multiple large randomized trials, FDA approval, a direct head-to-head win over its closest rival. Thymosin alpha-1 has run a 1,106-patient Phase 3 trial that came back null. NAD+ has smaller but well-run human trials on absorption and biomarkers. Ipamorelin has one human trial, and it missed its goal.

This is a research digest. Not a pharmacy. Not a clinic. No dose mentioned here is a recommendation for a person — only a record of what a specific study tested.

## Ranked by trial depth

Every compound on this desk is called well researched. Trial depth is not equal across them.

Tirzepatide sits at the top. It carries multiple completed Phase 3 programs, an FDA approval since 2022, and a head-to-head trial against its main rival, semaglutide, that it won outright [16]. That trial record is the reason it leads this desk.

Thymosin alpha-1 has real Phase 3 data too. A 1,106-patient international trial (TESTS) tested it for sepsis in 2025 and found no mortality benefit [11]. An earlier, smaller trial found a signal right at the edge of significance [15]. Real trials. Mixed results.

NAD+ has no Phase 3 program of its own — it's a coenzyme, not a drug candidate — but multiple placebo-controlled human trials have tested its precursors (NMN, NR) for blood NAD+ levels, insulin sensitivity, and tolerability [7][8][10]. Trial quality is solid; the clinical-outcome case remains thin [6].

Ipamorelin has the least. One Phase 2 RCT exists — 114 patients, postoperative recovery — and it missed its primary endpoint [3]. Everything else is rodent work or unmonitored human use.

Four compounds. Four different answers to the same question: how much has actually been tested in humans, and what did the tests find.

## What are research peptides?

A peptide is a short chain of amino acids — smaller than a protein, built from the same building blocks. Some peptides are hormones the body already makes. Others are synthetic copies, or modified versions engineered to resist breakdown or hit a receptor more selectively.

'Research peptide' is a market label, not a regulatory category. It means the material is sold for laboratory or research use, not as an approved drug. Two compounds on this desk left that status behind: tirzepatide is an FDA-approved prescription medicine. Thymosin alpha-1 (thymalfasin) is approved as a drug in more than 35 countries, though not in the United States [12]. NAD+ circulates as a supplement and, in injectable form, a compounded wellness product. Ipamorelin has never been approved anywhere.

Approval status changes what a compound is, legally and factually. It does not change what the trials found. This desk reports the trials, not the marketing.

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This is a citation ledger, not a clinic — we report what the trials found and stop there.