Reconstitution is arithmetic wrapped in a procedure, and both halves are described in public documents. The procedure is on the labels of approved lyophilized peptides, which come with step-by-step instructions written for patients. The arithmetic is the same for every vial: mass divided by volume gives concentration, and a U-100 syringe reads that concentration in hundredths of a millilitre. This page sets out both, with worked tables, and then reports the dosages that labels, trials, clinics and vendor pages state for the compounds people ask about, each with its source and date. It reports; it does not prescribe. What a given laboratory does with a vial is a matter for its own protocol, and how brands appear on this site is set out on our disclosure page.
The procedure, as an FDA label describes it
The most authoritative description of reconstituting a lyophilized peptide is a prescribing-information document, because approved products must include one. EGRIFTA WR (tesamorelin), a growth-hormone-releasing peptide sold as a lyophilized powder with a 30 mL vial of Bacteriostatic Water for Injection, USP, in the kit, describes the process in section 2.2 of its label, revised March 2025 (FDA label):
- "Use only the diluent provided, Bacteriostatic Water for Injection, to reconstitute EGRIFTA WR."
- "Reconstitute 1 vial of EGRIFTA WR lyophilized powder with 1.3 mL of diluent (8 mg per mL). Move the vial in a circle (swirl) to mix all the powder and liquid. Do not shake."
- "Parenteral drug products should be inspected visually for particulate matter and discoloration prior" to use.
- "One reconstituted EGRIFTA WR vial provides daily doses for 7 consecutive days. One dose of EGRIFTA WR is 1.28 mg in 0.16 mL of the reconstituted solution."
- "Store reconstituted EGRIFTA WR at room temperature at 20 °C to 25 °C (68 °F to 77 °F). Discard unused solution of EGRIFTA WR 7 days after mixing. Do not freeze."
The earlier single-vial formulation, EGRIFTA SV, uses Sterile Water for Injection instead: 0.5 mL per 2 mg vial, rolled gently for 30 seconds, not shaken, with 0.35 mL (1.4 mg) drawn immediately and the remainder discarded (2019 label). The contrast between the two is instructive: with a preserved diluent the label allows seven days at room temperature; with an unpreserved one it allows no storage at all.
The sequence is the same in every reconstitution guide, clinical or otherwise: a measured volume of diluent introduced through the stopper, gentle mixing without shaking (shaking foams and can denature a peptide), a visual check for particles or colour, and dated storage. What the label supplies and a research-peptide vial does not is the volume, the concentration, the storage condition and the discard date, all of which a manufacturer has validated for the approved product and nobody has validated for the research one.
CDC's injection-safety guidance adds the aseptic rules the labels assume: "Always use aseptic technique when preparing and administering injections"; "Use a new sterile syringe and needle for each patient. Once used, the syringe and needle are both contaminated and must be discarded"; "Do not enter a medication vial, bag, or bottle with a syringe or needle used on another patient"; and draw up medications "in a designated clean medication preparation area" away from sinks and water sources (CDC). Our syringe page covers the device, and our bacteriostatic-water guide the diluent's label.
The arithmetic
Three quantities, one relationship:
Concentration (mg/mL) = peptide in the vial (mg) ÷ diluent added (mL).
Everything else follows. Multiply by 1,000 for mcg/mL. A U-100 insulin syringe is graduated so that 100 units is 1 mL, so one unit is 0.01 mL and the peptide in one unit is the concentration in mcg/mL divided by 100. The number of units for a given quantity is that quantity in mcg divided by the mcg per unit. The number of such quantities in the vial is the vial's total mcg divided by the quantity.
A worked example, the one Medibact's calculator page uses: a 5 mg vial plus 2 mL gives 2.5 mg/mL, which is 2,500 mcg/mL and 25 mcg per unit; 250 mcg is therefore 0.1 mL, or 10 units, and the vial holds 20 such portions (Medibact reconstitution calculator). The calculator takes vial mass, diluent volume, a target quantity and a syringe size, and returns concentration, mcg per unit, volume, the unit reading and portions per vial; it is the quickest way to check any row below.
Concentration and mcg per unit by vial size and diluent volume
| Vial | 1 mL diluent | 2 mL | 3 mL | 5 mL |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 mg | 2 mg/mL · 20 mcg/unit | 1 mg/mL · 10 mcg/unit | 0.67 mg/mL · 6.7 mcg/unit | 0.4 mg/mL · 4 mcg/unit |
| 5 mg | 5 mg/mL · 50 mcg/unit | 2.5 mg/mL · 25 mcg/unit | 1.67 mg/mL · 16.7 mcg/unit | 1 mg/mL · 10 mcg/unit |
| 10 mg | 10 mg/mL · 100 mcg/unit | 5 mg/mL · 50 mcg/unit | 3.33 mg/mL · 33.3 mcg/unit | 2 mg/mL · 20 mcg/unit |
| 15 mg | 15 mg/mL · 150 mcg/unit | 7.5 mg/mL · 75 mcg/unit | 5 mg/mL · 50 mcg/unit | 3 mg/mL · 30 mcg/unit |
| 30 mg | 30 mg/mL · 300 mcg/unit | 15 mg/mL · 150 mcg/unit | 10 mg/mL · 100 mcg/unit | 6 mg/mL · 60 mcg/unit |
Units on a U-100 syringe for common quantities
| Quantity | at 25 mcg/unit (5 mg in 2 mL) | at 50 mcg/unit (5 mg in 1 mL or 10 mg in 2 mL) | at 100 mcg/unit (10 mg in 1 mL) | at 150 mcg/unit (15 mg in 1 mL) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100 mcg | 4 units (0.04 mL) | 2 units | 1 unit | 0.67 unit, not readable |
| 250 mcg | 10 units (0.10 mL) | 5 units | 2.5 units | 1.67 units |
| 500 mcg | 20 units (0.20 mL) | 10 units | 5 units | 3.3 units |
| 1 mg | 40 units (0.40 mL) | 20 units | 10 units | 6.7 units |
| 2.5 mg | 100 units (1.0 mL) | 50 units | 25 units | 16.7 units |
| 5 mg | exceeds a 1 mL syringe | 100 units (1.0 mL) | 50 units | 33.3 units |
Two things the tables show. First, why guides describe adding enough diluent to put a typical quantity in the middle of the syringe scale: at 150 mcg per unit, 100 mcg is two-thirds of one unit and cannot be read; at 25 mcg per unit it is 4 units. Second, why the vial size and the diluent volume are the two numbers that matter and the product name is not: the same 250 mcg is 10 units, 5 units or 2.5 units depending only on those two choices. A quantity stated in units without the concentration behind it is meaningless, and a surprising number of forum posts state one.
Syringe barrel sizes bound the useful range: a 0.3 mL syringe reads to 30 units, often in half-unit steps; a 0.5 mL to 50; a 1 mL to 100 in two-unit steps. Our syringe page has the cleared ranges.
The doses sources state
This section reports figures, each with its source and date. The sources are of very different weight, and the table says which kind each is: an FDA-approved label is a validated schedule; a trial protocol is what a company tested; a clinic guide is what one practice publishes; a vendor page is marketing. None of it is a recommendation from this site.
| Compound | Figure as stated | Kind of source | Source and date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Semaglutide (Wegovy injection) | "Initiate at 0.25 mg once weekly for 4 weeks. Then follow the dosage escalation schedule ... titrating every 4 weeks to achieve the maintenance dosage"; "The usual recommended maintenance dosage of WEGOVY injection is 2.4 mg once weekly"; a 7.2 mg strength exists | FDA-approved label | Wegovy label, revised 06/2026 |
| Tirzepatide (Zepbound) | "The recommended starting dosage of ZEPBOUND for all indications is 2.5 mg injected subcutaneously once weekly" for 4 weeks, then 5 mg, increasing in "2.5 mg increments, after at least 4 weeks on the current dose"; "The maximum dosage of ZEPBOUND for all indications is 15 mg injected subcutaneously once weekly" | FDA-approved label | Zepbound label, revised 02/2026 |
| Tesamorelin (EGRIFTA WR) | 1.28 mg once daily, as 0.16 mL of an 8 mg/mL reconstituted solution | FDA-approved label | EGRIFTA WR label, 03/2025 |
| Retatrutide (investigational) | 4 mg, 9 mg and 12 mg once weekly, with escalation, in TRIUMPH-1 (2,339 adults, 80 weeks) and the other Phase 3 trials; not approved anywhere | Trial protocol, company release | Lilly, 2026-05-21 |
| Retatrutide, tirzepatide, semaglutide as sold by a research vendor | Schedules "up to 12mg weekly", "15mg weekly" and "2.5mg weekly", quoted by FDA from the seller's site as evidence the products were intended as human drugs | Vendor page, as quoted in a warning letter | FDA letter to Mile High Compounds, 2026-03-31 |
| BPC-157, the one human study | A single intra-articular knee injection of "2 cc of 2000 mcg/mL solution", 4 mg, in 12 patients, 7 reporting relief beyond 6 months; no control group | Retrospective series, via a systematic review | HSS Journal 2025 |
| BPC-157, animal studies | "6 μg/kg to 20 mg/kg" by intramuscular, intravenous, intraperitoneal and oral routes | Preclinical, via the same review | Same |
| BPC-157, clinic and vendor pages | "Commonly discussed BPC-157 dosages range from 250 to 500 mcg per day" subcutaneously, with the note that "there is no universally accepted human dosage" (clinic, 2025-10-30); "doses in research typically range from 200 to 800 mcg per day" with "250 mcg twice daily" described as the most common protocol and 5 mg in 2 mL as the reconstitution (vendor, updated 2026-08-30) | Clinic guide; vendor guide | Tucson Wellness MD; FormBlends |
| TB-500, clinic page | "TB-500 2–5 mg weekly" in a combination protocol with BPC-157 | Clinic guide | Tucson Wellness MD, as above |
| CJC-1295 (no DAC) with ipamorelin, clinic page | "100 mcg of each peptide per dose, injected subcutaneously once daily at bedtime on an empty stomach, five days per week", titrated to "200–300 mcg of each per dose", in "8–12 weeks" cycles; a 5 mg/5 mg blended vial in 2 mL gives 25 mcg of each per unit, so 100 mcg is 4 units; CJC-1295 with DAC "1–2 mg once or twice weekly" | Clinic guide | Beverly Hills Rejuvenation Center, 2026-07-24 |
Three things to hold alongside the table. The approved-label rows are the only ones with dose-finding trials behind them; the schedules were set by studies designed to find them. The retatrutide row is a trial protocol for a drug that is not yet approved; the trial doses are what Lilly will ask FDA to approve, not what anyone can lawfully be prescribed today. The BPC-157, TB-500 and CJC-1295/ipamorelin rows have no human dose-finding study behind them at all, which both the clinic and the vendor pages acknowledge in their own words; their figures are conventions that circulate between clinics, vendors and forums, and a convention is not evidence. The animal range for BPC-157, 6 mcg/kg to 20 mg/kg, spans more than three orders of magnitude, which is what "no established dose" looks like in numbers. Our wolverine-stack page on MuscleLedger counts the human evidence for BPC-157 and TB-500; our warning-letter tracker shows what FDA has done with vendor dosing schedules.
Storage after reconstitution
For an approved product the label answers this: EGRIFTA WR, seven days at room temperature, then discard; EGRIFTA SV, immediately, no storage. For a research peptide nobody has validated an answer. The peptide-synthesis houses' guides say that solutions have a very limited shelf-life, recommend −20 °C single-use aliquots, and prefer not storing solutions at all; Medibact's calculator page reports a "commonly reported usable window ~2–4 weeks" refrigerated, and labels it as commonly reported rather than as a manufacturer figure. The 28-day figure that vendor pages attach to reconstituted peptides is CDC's discard rule for the opened multi-dose vial of bacteriostatic water, not a stability measurement of any peptide. Our storage page lays out what each source says and where each is silent.
What this page is and is not
It is a description of a procedure as an FDA label states it, the arithmetic that any vial obeys, and a sourced record of the doses that labels, trials, clinics and vendors state. It is not a protocol. It does not tell any reader what to reconstitute, at what concentration, or what quantity to draw. Where a figure has a trial behind it the table says so; where it has only a clinic's page or a vendor's blog behind it the table says that too.
Sources and dates
Opened 2026-09-05: FDA labels for EGRIFTA WR (revised 03/2025) and EGRIFTA SV (2019), Wegovy (revised 06/2026) and Zepbound (revised 02/2026); CDC injection-safety guidance (2024-03-26); Medibact's reconstitution calculator page; the HSS Journal 2025 BPC-157 systematic review (PMC12313605); Lilly's TRIUMPH-1 release (2026-05-21); FDA's warning letter to Mile High Compounds (2026-03-31); Tucson Wellness MD's BPC-157 guide (2025-10-30); FormBlends' BPC-157 guide (updated 2026-08-30); Beverly Hills Rejuvenation Center's CJC-1295/ipamorelin guide (2026-07-24). Corrections, and better-sourced dose data than a clinic page, go to the contact page. Who we are is on the about page.