Trust Review

How PeptideClear rates retailers, clinics, and pharmacies

PeptideClear Trust Review is the editorial framework that decides which UK retailers, GLP-1 clinics, and pharmacies appear on this site, and how they are ranked. It applies a five-point trust framework across every commercial listing: regulatory standing, transparency of supply, third-party verification, trading history, and consumer redress. Research-peptide retailers are additionally scored against the CoA Trust Index. This page is the master reference for how those checks work, who runs them, and how often they are refreshed. PeptideClear is editorial only. We are not a pharmacy and we are not a clinic.

The five-point trust framework

Every listing on PeptideClear, whether a research-peptide retailer, a GLP-1 clinic, an online pharmacy, or a collagen brand, is checked against the same five points before publication and rechecked each quarter. A listing must pass at least three of five points to remain on the site. Falling below two points triggers immediate removal pending re-review.

1. Regulatory standing. Pharmacies must hold a current GPhC registration. Clinics must employ a GMC-registered prescriber or contract one named on the site. Retailers must be a UK-registered company in good standing at Companies House. Brands operating from a dissolved company entity auto-fail this point and are removed.
2. Transparency of supply. For research peptides, the retailer must publish per-batch Certificates of Analysis or score at minimum amber under the CoA Trust Index. For GLP-1, the clinic or pharmacy must source from licensed UK supply (no compounded, no grey-import, no Turkey-route stock). For cosmetic peptides, the brand must publish full INCI lists.
3. Third-party verification. The third party must be named (Janoshik Analytical, Eurofins, or equivalent) for research peptides; verifiable regulatory registration (GPhC or CQC) and published complaints handling for clinics and pharmacies; ISO or FDA-equivalent certification for cosmetic brands where applicable. Self-issued certificates without a named lab do not count.
4. Trading history. At least 12 months of continuous UK trading. New entities under 12 months can be listed under a published "new entrant" flag rather than a full ranking. The flag drops once they reach 12 months and a re-review confirms standing on the other four points.
5. Consumer redress. Published returns or refund policy. Published complaints route. UK-based contact (email or phone) that is reachable within five working days during a manual probe. Brands behind anonymous offshore contact-only forms fail this point.

The Verified badge

The PeptideClear Verified badge is a visual indicator that a listing has passed all five points of the trust framework and is in the top tier within its category. The badge is editorial. It is not a paid placement, it is not sponsored, and inclusion in the Verified tier is not contingent on a commercial relationship with PeptideClear.

Verified status is reviewed quarterly. A listing can be downgraded without notice if any of the five points falls below threshold. We do not negotiate badge status. The badge is rendered inline beside the brand or clinic name on category, comparison, and shop pages. Currently the badge is reserved pending the first cohort of Verified retailers, expected in v0.2. No retailer carries the Verified badge as of the current site version.

The CoA tier system (research peptides only)

Certificates of Analysis are the single most discriminating signal for research-peptide retailer trust. PeptideClear scores every UK research-peptide retailer against six observable signals: per-batch CoA publishing, gating method (open, email-gated, login-gated, image-only, or absent), third-party laboratory partner naming, QR-verifiable batch lookup, dedicated CoA URL, and public stance on independent testing. The score resolves into three tiers.

Full per-retailer scores are published at CoA Trust Index and auto-refresh monthly via a retailer-data probe. Retailers can request a re-review at any time by emailing the editorial team and pointing to the updated evidence.

Source hierarchy

Editorial relies on a tiered source hierarchy. Higher tiers always override lower tiers when sources disagree.

1. Tier 1, regulatory primary sources. MHRA, NICE TA, NHS England commissioning guidance, GPhC pharmacy register, GMC prescriber register, ASA CAP code rulings, Companies House filings. These are authoritative for any UK regulatory or licensing claim.
2. Tier 2, clinical primary sources. Peer-reviewed publications indexed in PubMed (SURMOUNT, STEP, SELECT, BPC-157 preclinical literature). Manufacturer Patient Information Leaflets (PILs) from Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk, and equivalents. British National Formulary.
3. Tier 3, professional secondary sources. The Pharmaceutical Journal, Health Foundation, BHF, Diabetes UK, NHS Confederation. UK clinical bodies. Trade press where independently sourced.
4. Tier 4, commercial materials with caveat. Clinic and pharmacy materials are cited for pricing, dosing schedules they offer, and policy. Never for clinical claims. International sources (FDA, EMA) where they pre-date UK guidance.
5. Excluded. Forum posts, anonymous user content, influencer-only sources, brand blogs as the primary source for clinical claims, US bodybuilding-forum dosing protocols, content promoting compounded or grey-import GLP-1.

Conflict of interest

PeptideClear earns referral fees on some outbound links to retailers, clinics, and pharmacies. Commercial relationships are documented and disclosed inline on the relevant category, comparison, and shop pages. Inclusion in any directory or comparison is not contingent on a commercial relationship. We do not weight rankings against the five-point framework based on commercial relationships. Full disclosure at how we are funded.

Review cadence and corrections

Trust Review checks run quarterly across the full directory. CoA scoring re-runs monthly via the automated retailer-data probe. Material changes (new regulatory action, change of company status, public consumer-protection issue) trigger immediate re-review outside the quarterly cycle. The framework itself (the five points, the CoA tier definitions, the source hierarchy) is reviewed annually and updated only when UK regulatory or industry standards change. The current version was last reviewed 2026-06-03.

Corrections are processed within five working days of being notified. Email [email protected] with a link to the page and the evidence. Material corrections add a dated correction note to the page footer.