Adipotide

FTPP · prohibitin-targeting peptide · F-tier (Dr. Alex Tatem) · Preclinical evidence

A drug that starves fat by killing the blood vessels that feed it. Dramatic in mice and monkeys, but the mechanism is aggressive and caused kidney damage in animals.

Dr. Tatem’s take

F tier — not because it isn’t promising (it could become one of the most powerful fat tools), but because “we just don’t have enough safety data and the mechanism behind this is so freaking aggressive.”

In Dr. Tatem’s tier list

• Besides eating less or burning more, there’s a third way to lose fat: destroy it. Historically that meant liposuction — and destroyed fat cells don’t come back.
• Adipotide targets the blood vessels feeding fat cells, causing those fat cells to die. It’s being explored both systemically and as a local injection for stubborn fat.
• In vitro it definitely works, but nuking blood vessels is aggressive, and “you actually need a certain amount of fat in order to stay healthy.”
• Verdict: F tier for now — he may change his position as data comes out.

History & background

Adipotide was created at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center by Mikhail Kolonin, Wadih Arap and Renata Pasqualini, using techniques originally developed to target tumor blood vessels. Their 2004 Nature Medicine paper showed it reversed obesity in mice; a 2011 Science Translational Medicine study showed weight and fat loss in obese monkeys.

Arrowhead Research began a phase 1 trial in 2012 in men with prostate cancer, but development faded and no human results were published.

Benefits

• Obese monkeys lost about 11% of body weight and 27% of abdominal fat in 4 weeks.
• Destroyed fat cells don’t come back the way shrunken ones do.

Risks

• Kidney toxicity in monkeys (dose-dependent and reversible).
• Unknown effects in humans — you need some fat in specific places to stay healthy.
• No human safety data published.

Dosing protocols (informational, labeled by evidence)

• Community (bro science): Primate study — ~0.5–1 mg/kg/day per secondary summary, SubQ, Daily, 28 days
• Clinical trial / label: Phase 1 (metastatic prostate cancer + obesity) — Dose escalation; levels not retrieved, SubQ, Single cycle, Single

Status: Investigational; never approved. Human testing stalled after a small phase 1 trial.

Grade and commentary: Dr. Alex Tatem. Watch: Truth About More Popular Peptides (What Works, What’s Overhyped) | Peptide Tier List pt.2. Subscribe: @DrAlexTatem.