Compounds / PEG-MGF

PEG-MGF

Mechano Growth Factor · IGF-1Ec · MGF

Mechano growth factor is a splice variant of IGF-1, known in humans as IGF-1Ec, produced locally in muscle after mechanical loading or damage. What is sold as "MGF" is usually a synthetic 24-amino-acid fragment of its C-terminal region rather than the full splice product, and PEG-MGF is that fragment with polyethylene glycol attached to slow its breakdown. Neither was developed as a pharmaceutical.

A pegylated fragment of an IGF-1 splice variant. Zero registered human trials — every trial a naive search returns is a different molecule.

Where the claims come from

The underlying muscle physiology is real and comes from Geoffrey Goldspink’s laboratory: loading a muscle increases IGF-1Ec expression, which activates the satellite cells involved in repair. Sellers extend that to injected muscle growth in healthy adults, which is a step the source research does not take.

What evidence exists outside the registry

The published work is cell culture and animal studies — periodontal ligament stem cells, chondrocytes, ACL fibroblasts in vitro, rat osteoarthritis models. A PubMed filter for human studies is misleading here: it returns work on human-derived cells, not on human subjects.

Sources for this section

Approved for, studied for, sold for

Three separate lists, kept by three separate processes: a regulator decides the first, researchers the second, and whoever is selling it the third. They are often not the same list, and the differences are the most useful thing on this page.

Approved for
US Food and Drug Administration

Not approved by the FDA for any use. Nothing has been reviewed for safety, effectiveness or manufacturing quality.

Studied for
ClinicalTrials.gov · interventional, human

No registered trial in ClinicalTrials.gov lists a studied condition for this compound. That is a gap in the registry, not a finding that it was tested and failed. See what evidence exists outside the registry below.

Marketed for
Claims made by sellers
  • Muscle growth
  • Recovery
  • Injury repair

Every trial on record

Every registered human study we can find for PEG-MGF. Click any ID to read the original record — we would rather you checked us than trusted us.

0On record
No registered human trials
We found no interventional human study for PEG-MGF in the registries we track. That does not prove it does nothing — it means nobody has properly checked, which is a different and important claim.
—Read this
A trial count is not a verdict
These numbers describe how much has been formally studied in humans, not whether something works or is safe for you. A compound can be tested for one condition and sold for another — which is usually the story. This page is automated aggregation from public registries; no physician has reviewed it. Take anything here to a clinician.

What regulators have said

Nominated for compounding, nomination withdrawn
Compounded drugs containing Mechano Growth Factor Pegylated (PEG-MGF) may pose significant risk for immunogenicity for certain routes of administration and may have complexities with regard to peptide-related impurities and API characterization. FDA has not identified human exposure data.
Source: US Food and Drug Administration Read the list

A withdrawn nomination means the substance was proposed for use in pharmacy compounding and the proposal was later pulled, so it is not on FDA's active list. FDA had published the concern above while it was under review. Neither the concern nor the withdrawal is a finding about whether PEG-MGF works.

Checked against FDA's published list on 2026-07-30. This list changes; the link goes to the current version.

Why you may see a different number

Some sources describe published research on this compound.

Published papers and registered trials are different things. A study can be written up without ever appearing on a trial registry — particularly older work, work done outside the US and EU, and animal research. We count registered human trials because they can be independently verified. A count of zero here means nobody has registered a human trial, not that no paper exists.

Common questions about PEG-MGF

How many human trials does PEG-MGF have?

None on ClinicalTrials.gov. We found no registered interventional study of PEG-MGF in humans. Published human research may still exist — registration only became standard in the mid-2000s — but it is not in the registry this count comes from.

Is PEG-MGF FDA approved?

No. PEG-MGF is not approved by the FDA for any indication. Compounded or "research use only" preparations are not FDA-approved and receive no premarket review for safety, effectiveness, or manufacturing quality.

Where does this data come from?

ClinicalTrials.gov, the US public registry of clinical studies. We count interventional human studies only — observational studies are not evidence of effect. Every trial on this page links to its original record so you can check us rather than trust us.

More on PEG-MGF: how many human trials it has · is it FDA approved · has it been studied for safety

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