Why peptide prices vary | Learn

Research peptide prices vary widely, even between products of the same fill size. The main reasons are chemical.

Chain length

Every residue is another coupling step in synthesis, and each step has a yield below 100%. A 39-residue chain costs far more to make than a 5-residue chain, and the crude product contains more related impurities to remove.

Non-standard building blocks

D-amino acids, Aib, cyclisation, disulfide bridges and lipidated side chains need specialised reagents and extra steps.

Purification

Bringing a crude peptide up to a high HPLC purity takes preparative chromatography and loses material at each pass. The longer and more complex the chain, the larger that loss.

Testing and documentation

Independent testing of each lot by HPLC and mass spectrometry, and publishing the results, adds a fixed cost per lot.

Fill size and price per mg

Larger fills usually cost less per milligram. Our product pages show the price per mg for each size, so you can compare.

Check your understanding

Quick quiz

1. Which tends to raise synthesis cost? Longer sequences and non-standard residues Shorter labels Smaller boxes

2. Comparing prices fairly means comparing… Price per vial only Price per mg at the stated fill Vial cap colour

3. Third-party testing of each lot… Adds cost but documents what is in the vial Is free Replaces synthesis

See the documents. Every published certificate of analysis is on our Lab Results page. A lot without a published certificate is marked "COA pending".

For laboratory research use only. This article describes chemistry and handling. It does not describe human use.