Prescription strength. Every percentage disclosed.
Prescription-compounded GHK-Cu cream in disclosed 2% and 4% strengths, not a mystery cosmetic complex.
About 10 minutes. No charge unless your clinician approves.
Skin is tissue before it is a surface.
GHK-Cu has spent decades moving between serious skin research and increasingly enthusiastic cosmetic marketing. The molecule itself is more interesting than the hype around it.
GHK is a naturally occurring tripeptide that binds copper. In skin and connective-tissue research, the GHK-Cu complex has been studied in signaling related to collagen synthesis and tissue remodeling. That puts the peptide upstream of the way skin is usually marketed: not as another ingredient that sits on the surface, but as a molecule researchers have examined in the biology of the tissue underneath it.
The prescription version does not need to pretend every copper-peptide claim on the internet is true. Its value is more disciplined. Your clinician can look at your skin, your current actives, your sensitivity history, and the rest of your routine before deciding whether a compounded GHK-Cu cream belongs in it.
Your prescription states the actual 2% or 4% GHK-Cu concentration, and your clinician explains how the selected strength fits your skin, your current products, and the rest of your routine.
Read the evidence →For skincare that has become too informed for another impulse buy.
The Ingredient Reader
You already know what peptides, retinoids, vitamin C, and acids are supposed to do. You want the next decision based on your actual skin rather than another ingredient trend.
The Routine Graduate
You have built the over-the-counter basics correctly and are ready to ask whether a prescription-compounded option belongs in the plan. The point is not more steps. It is a more deliberate one.
The Sensitive Optimizer
Your routine works until too many active products start competing with each other. You want a clinician to look at sequencing, tolerance, and whether GHK-Cu adds something useful without turning the bathroom shelf into a chemistry experiment.
Compounded GHK-Cu cream is not an FDA-approved drug product. A licensed clinician evaluates it against your skin history and goals, and results vary.
This might not be the right fit if:
- Known copper sensitivity or Wilson’s disease
- Active skin infection at the application site
- Pregnancy, unless cleared by your provider ## Updated copy: Longevity and Wellness
Your intake screens for all contraindications. Every candidate is evaluated by a licensed clinician before any prescription is issued. No prescription is issued without clearance.
GHK-Cu Copper Peptide Cream, prescribed with care.
Compounded by a licensed 503A pharmacy. Prescribed by a licensed provider after clinical review.
- Compounded GHK-Cu facial cream prepared to your individual prescription
- Applied in the evening as directed by your provider
- Existing active skincare reviewed for sequencing and tolerance
- Prepared by a licensed 503A pharmacy
- Response and routine reviewed through your ongoing provider relationship
Prescription issued subject to provider judgment. Results vary. Not a guarantee of outcomes.
*Price reflects a 3 month commitment. Other billing options are shown at checkout.
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What the research shows
GHK-Cu stimulated collagen synthesis in fibroblasts at very low concentrations.
The detail
The mechanism is characterized in cell culture. In fibroblast cultures, the copper complex of the tripeptide glycyl-L-histidyl-L-lysine stimulated collagen synthesis at very low concentrations, with the effect beginning between 10 to the minus 12 and 10 to the minus 11 molar and reaching a maximum at 10 to the minus 9 molar, independent of any change in cell number.1
Injected GHK-Cu raised collagen and protein in rat wound chambers; a control tripeptide did not.
The detail
In rats carrying stainless steel wire mesh wound chambers implanted under the skin, sequential injections of GHK-Cu into the chamber produced a concentration-dependent increase in dry weight, DNA, total protein, collagen and glycosaminoglycan content, with type I and type III collagen messenger RNA increased, while a control tripeptide had no significant effect.2
Copper-GHK increased keratinocyte proliferation and raised p63 and integrin expression.
The detail
In monolayer keratinocyte cultures and in skin-equivalent models, copper-GHK increased keratinocyte proliferation and raised expression of proliferating cell nuclear antigen, p63 and integrins alpha6 and beta1.3
In diabetic neuropathic ulcers, GHK-Cu gel closed more wound area than vehicle.
The detail
The one randomized human trial of GHK-Cu is in wounds rather than in facial skin. A multicenter, randomized, evaluator-blinded, placebo-controlled study in patients with diabetic neuropathic ulcers found that a topical GHK-Cu gel raised median area percentage closure of plantar ulcers to 98.5 percent compared with 60.8 percent for vehicle, P less than 0.05, and lowered the incidence of ulcer infection to 7 percent from 34 percent, P less than 0.05.4
Copper from GHK-Cu crossed excised human skin and left a depot in the tissue.
The detail
Copper from GHK-Cu does move into skin in the laboratory. In flow-through diffusion cells using excised human skin, a 0.68 percent aqueous copper tripeptide solution applied for 48 hours delivered 136 micrograms of copper per square centimeter through dermatomed skin, with a further 97 micrograms per square centimeter retained in the tissue as a depot.5
What it does not show
No FDA-approved GHK-Cu product exists, and no study above tested a prescription facial cream.
The detail
There is no FDA-approved GHK-Cu drug product, and a compounded cream is not an FDA-approved drug product. None of the work above tested a prescription facial cream against visible aging in people.
A 2025 review found a surprising absence of clinical studies using GHK-Cu.
The detail
A 2025 review of topically applied GHK as an anti-wrinkle peptide concluded that, despite how widely the peptide is used in cosmetic products, there is a surprising absence of clinical studies using GHK-Cu. The human facial data the review was able to identify were a 1998 pilot study in 20 people who applied creams to the thigh for one month and two 2002 American Academy of Dermatology conference proceedings, none of them published as full randomized trials.6
Closing an ulcer does not establish a change in wrinkle depth or firmness on a face.
The detail
The randomized human evidence is in a different tissue state, a different formulation and a different endpoint: an open ulcer in a person with diabetes, treated with a gel, measured by wound closure. Closing an ulcer does not establish a change in wrinkle depth, skin density or firmness on a face.4
No published study reports what a cream in normal use delivers to living human dermis.
The detail
The collagen findings come from fibroblast cultures and from rat wound chambers dosed by direct injection, and the permeation data come from excised human skin mounted in diffusion cells. No published study reports what concentration of GHK-Cu reaches living human dermis from a cream in normal use, or what visible change follows when it does.1256
- Maquart FX, Pickart L, Laurent M, Gillery P, Monboisse JC, Borel JP. Stimulation of collagen synthesis in fibroblast cultures by the… FEBS Lett. 1988.
- Maquart FX, Bellon G, Chaqour B, et al. In vivo stimulation of connective tissue accumulation by the… J Clin Invest. 1993.
- Kang YA, Choi HR, Na JI, et al. Copper-GHK increases integrin expression and p63 positivity by… Arch Dermatol Res. 2009.
- Mulder GD, Patt LM, Sanders L, et al. Enhanced healing of ulcers in patients with diabetes by topical… Wound Repair Regen. 1994.
- Hostynek JJ, Dreher F, Maibach HI. Human skin penetration of a copper tripeptide in vitro as a function of… Inflamm Res. 2011.
- Mortazavi SM, Mohammadi Vadoud SA, Moghimi HR. Topically applied GHK as an anti-wrinkle peptide: advantages, problems… Bioimpacts. 2025.
Serious risks
- GHK-Cu delivers copper to the skin, so your provider asks about Wilson disease and other disorders of copper handling
- Known copper sensitivity
- Copper you already take in supplements
Commonly reported
- Redness
- Stinging
- Itching
- Dryness
- Occasionally allergic contact dermatitis, which with this formulation can also be a reaction to copper itself
Because it is a topical cream
- Your provider reviews the rest of your routine, since retinoids, acids and other actives are a common reason skin becomes irritated in the first place
Reported effects from a topical peptide cream are local. There is no FDA-approved GHK-Cu drug product, and controlled human safety data for topical copper peptides are limited, so the honest description is a well-studied molecule with a thin clinical safety file rather than a proven prescription therapy. The cream is compounded to your individual prescription by a licensed 503A pharmacy, and whether it belongs in your routine is a decision made with a licensed clinician who has your skin history in front of them.
Asked and answered.
You are not charged, and you are not left guessing. Your clinician explains the reasoning and, where it helps, what a better path might look like. Reviews are typically completed in under 24 hours.
The meaningful difference is the prescription process around it. This cream is compounded by a licensed pharmacy after a clinician reviews your skin, history, and existing routine. An over-the-counter serum does not come with that individualized prescribing decision.
Skin remodeling is gradual, and individual response varies. Your provider sets expectations from your skin and reviews what actually changes over time rather than attaching a guaranteed timeline to the ingredient.
Often yes, but sequencing and tolerance matter. Bring your current routine to your Assessment so your provider can decide how the products should fit together rather than asking you to experiment with the order on your own.