Every Peptide Shop product carries the label For research use only — not for human or veterinary diagnostic, therapeutic or consumption purposes. The line is not marketing copy. It defines what the material is sold as, what quality system it has been produced under, and what uses are out of scope.
What “research use only” defines
A peptide sold as RUO has been:
- Synthesised in a research-grade facility — not a GMP pharmaceutical manufacturing site.
- Quality-controlled by RP-HPLC purity, ESI-MS identity, water content and counter-ion percentage.
- Lot-released against the specifications shown on the certificate of analysis.
It has not been:
- Manufactured under GMP conditions for human or veterinary medicinal use.
- Subjected to the impurity, sterility and endotoxin specifications required for an active pharmaceutical ingredient (API).
- Reviewed by a national medicines regulator (MHRA in the UK, EMA in the EU, FDA in the United States) for safety, efficacy or quality as a medicine.
- Approved for in-vivo use in humans or veterinary patients.
In-scope uses
RUO material is appropriate for:
- In-vitro biochemical, cellular and tissue-level research.
- Method development and analytical reference work (mass-spec calibration, HPLC standards, immunoassay calibrators).
- Animal-model research conducted under an institutional licence (UK ASPA project licence, EU Directive 2010/63/EU authorisation, IACUC approval, etc.) — where institutional ethics and licensing cover the use.
- Educational laboratory teaching.
Out-of-scope uses
RUO material is not appropriate for:
- Human or veterinary medical use of any kind.
- Self-administration.
- Diagnostic decision-making.
- Resale as a medicine, food, cosmetic or nutritional product.
These limits are not a matter of conservative wording. RUO production is a different quality system from GMP API production; the process design, environmental controls, change control, deviation handling and lot-release criteria all differ. RUO material may meet specification on every measurable attribute and still not meet the unmeasured pharmaceutical-grade controls that medicinal use requires.
What this means for your order
When you place an order on Peptide Shop, you confirm that the material will be used in research applications consistent with the conditions above. Where applicable:
- Institutional procurement teams should record the RUO grade in their inventory.
- Animal-research projects should reference the institutional ethics or licence number on their lab record.
- Clinical-grade equivalents of any compound should be sourced from a GMP-licensed manufacturer; we are not that supplier and will not represent ourselves as such.