The World Anti-Doping Agency Prohibited List classifies many peptides into categories that determine their status in and out of competition. The rules apply to all athletes under the World Anti-Doping Code, implemented by national anti-doping organisations in each country.
This article maps the main categories, explains what they cover, and shows how the atlas records WADA status alongside regulatory approval and evidence grades.
The architecture of the Prohibited List
The WADA and sport page documents three categories that capture the vast majority of peptide substances relevant to the atlas.
Category S0 — Non-approved substances
S0 covers pharmacological substances that are not addressed by another section of the List and have no current approval by any governmental regulatory health authority for human therapeutic use. Both conditions must be established—a substance is not automatically S0 merely because it is unlisted elsewhere.
BPC-157 is explicitly listed under S0. Its monograph entry on the BPC-157 page records this status alongside its preclinical evidence tables and the absence of any identified FDA-approved or EMA-authorized product. The atlas's regulatory table for BPC-157 makes the distinction visible: no approval identified, WADA prohibited under S0.
Category S2 — Peptide Hormones, Growth Factors, Related Substances and Mimetics
S2 is prohibited at all times, but its subsections apply to materially different peptide classes.
S2.2.3 — Growth hormone fragments: Includes AOD-9604 and hGH 176-191. The AOD-9604 monograph records its WADA classification under S2.2.3 as a synthetic fragment of human growth hormone (hGH 177-191).
S2.2.4 — GH-releasing factors: Covers GHRH analogues such as CJC-1295, sermorelin, and tesamorelin; growth-hormone secretagogues including ipamorelin and macimorelin; and GHRPs including GHRP-2, GHRP-6, and hexarelin. The CJC-1295 and ipamorelin monographs both record explicit S2.2.4 listing with prohibition at all times.
S2.3 — Growth factors and modulators: Includes IGF-1/mecasermin and its analogues, mechano growth factors, FGF, HGF, PDGF, VEGF, and thymosin-beta-4 and derivatives such as TB-500. The TB-500 monograph documents this classification, and the molecular-weight ambiguity between the full 43-amino-acid thymosin beta-4 and the 7-amino-acid fragment is captured in both the monograph and the blend atlas entries.
S2.1.5 — Innate repair receptor agonists: Covers the class, with asialo-EPO and carbamylated EPO as examples.
S2.2.1 — Testosterone-stimulating peptides in males: CG, LH, GnRH (gonadorelin) and its agonist analogues, plus kisspeptin and its agonist analogues. The male-only qualifier is explicit in the List.
S2.2.2 — Corticotrophins and releasing factors: Includes corticorelin and tetracosactide (cosyntropin/ACTH 1-24), both recorded in their respective monographs.
Category S4 — Hormone and Metabolic Modulators
S4 covers aromatase inhibitors (S4.1), anti-oestrogenic substances (S4.2), agents preventing activin receptor IIB activation including myostatin inhibitors (S4.3), and a metabolic modulator subsection (S4.4).
S4.4.1 explicitly names MOTS-c as an AMPK activator example. The MOTS-c monograph records this classification.
S4.4.2 covers insulins and insulin mimetics, prohibited at all times. A Therapeutic Use Exemption can authorise qualifying therapeutic use for an athlete with diabetes but does not change the substance's prohibited classification.
The Monitoring Program
The 2026 Monitoring Program includes markers of semaglutide and tirzepatide, plus GnRH analogues in females under 18 years only. Monitoring substances are not prohibited but are tracked for patterns of use. The semaglutide monograph records this monitoring status separately from its regulatory approvals, illustrating how WADA status and drug approval are distinct facts that must be read independently.
What does not appear on the List
Topical cosmetic peptides, food-derived peptides, collagen peptides, and therapeutic peptides such as linaclotide are not generally listed merely because they are peptides. Classification can nevertheless turn on the exact ingredient, route, metabolite, or biological effect—a reminder that WADA status must be checked for the specific substance, not inferred from a drug class or marketing name.
How the atlas records WADA status
Each monograph in the atlas records WADA status in its regulatory table, separated from evidence grades and clinical trial information. The WADA and sport page serves as the central reference for category definitions, the 2026 List, TUE criteria, and detection methods (liquid chromatography–high-resolution mass spectrometry is the primary detection technique, with challenges including short half-lives and structural similarity to endogenous peptides).
WADA status is treated as a time-sensitive claim with a verification date, updated when the annual List is released. A TUE is an individual authorisation that does not reclassify the substance or predict a specific outcome.
For the assessment and refresh rules that govern these time-sensitive records, see the scope and selection methodology.