Peptide basics
1,368 papers, nine trials: the pattern that repeats for every body-made peptide
On this page
Vasoactive intestinal peptide is a hormone produced in the human body and studied intensively as part of normal physiology.
It has 1,368 indexed publications over ten years and 9 verified registered trials enrolling 1,031 people.
It reached phase 3 and has no FDA-approved product.
The large literature is about what the molecule does inside the body. The nine trials are about what happens when it is administered — a much smaller and more relevant question.
This page reports the public evidence record for vasoactive intestinal peptide. It makes no claim about what it does or whether it should be taken, and contains no dose, schedule or route.
Why the literature is so large
VIP is made by the human body and participates in a wide range of normal functions. Any research programme studying those functions produces papers naming it, whether or not anyone is developing it as a treatment.1
So 1,368 publications describes how central the molecule is to physiology. It does not describe how much is known about administering it, which is what a reader considering a product actually wants.12
The clinical record
Nine registered trials verified as administering it, 1,031 participants, furthest phase 3, and no FDA-approved product. That is a genuine early-to-mid-stage record and it is a hundred and fifty times smaller than the literature suggests.23
Reaching phase 3 without approval means large trials ran and no product followed. The registry does not say why, and the reasons are as often commercial as scientific.2
The pattern, across the site
- Glutathione: 72,118 publications, 72 verified trials.
- NAD+: 15,777 publications, 71 verified trials.
- Oxytocin: 9,063 publications, 648 verified trials.
- VIP: 1,368 publications, 9 verified trials.12
Oxytocin is the exception that shows the rule — its trial count is high because it became a widely used medicine, not because it is endogenous. The other three have enormous literatures and ordinary clinical records.12
Common questions
Does the body making it mean it is safe to take?
No. Administering a hormone is a different thing from producing it internally in regulated amounts at particular sites, and the trials are what establish what happens.
Is 1,031 participants a lot?
It is more than most unapproved compounds tracked here have. It is also spread across nine trials studying different questions.
Why did development stop?
The registry does not record reasons. It records that phase 3 was reached and no approval followed.
Sources
- RegulatoryPubMed search — vasoactive intestinal peptideU.S. National Library of Medicine, 2026pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=%22vasoactive+intestinal+peptide%2 ↗↩ Back to text
- RegulatoryClinicalTrials.gov search — intervention: vasoactive intestinal peptideU.S. National Library of Medicine, 2026clinicaltrials.gov/search?intr=vasoactive+intestinal+peptide ↗↩ Back to text
- RegulatoryDrugs@FDA — approved drug products databaseU.S. Food and Drug Administration, 2026www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cder/daf/ ↗↩ Back to text