Teriparatide dosage and evidence
Written by Aaron CuhaReviewed Sep 2026
The short answer
Teriparatide is an FDA-approved bone-building shot. It is a piece of parathyroid hormone, used for severe bone thinning.
Evidence grade for Teriparatide: Moderate. The rule: at least one finished study in people, and at least 100 people who took it. The sum on this page: 1 completed trial, 1,637 people given it. A grade counts how much has been done to people, not whether it works.
- People given it
- 1,637
- Human studies
- 1
- Found nothing
- 0
Dose
Approved medicine. No human dose established for unlabelled uses
Labeled amounts sit on the prescribing information. This page records what trials measured, not a personal dose.
FDA-approved (Forteo) for osteoporosis
2 effects reported, 1 unwanted, 1 wanted, by people using it, not a trial
Goal pages: Bone and joints
In plain English
In plain English, from Aaron
This is how I would explain it to a friend. The evidence, with the numbers, is further down the page.
Teriparatide is a daily shot that builds new bone. It is a piece of parathyroid hormone. Most bone drugs just slow bone loss. This one adds bone. It is sold as Forteo for people with thin bones who are at high risk of breaking one. It is approved and prescription only.
What people take it for
- Fewer broken bones in severe bone thinning.
- Building bone back, not just slowing the loss.
What studies in people showed
The biggest study had 1,637 women past menopause with thin bones. New spine fractures hit 5 percent on the drug and 14 percent on a dummy shot. That is about nine fewer spine fractures for every 100 women treated. Other breaks were roughly halved. In another study, it went head to head with risedronate, a common bone pill. Fewer spine fractures, and fewer breaks that needed a doctor, happened on this drug.
What people report
Reports, not study results
The good
- Fewer broken bones in the studies on this page, not just better scan numbers.
The bad
- A shot every day.
- The studies on this page do not list side effects, and we have not collected user reports on this one yet.
Where these come from: Everything here is from the two human studies on this page. We have not collected forum or user reports for this one yet.
My bottom line
This one prevents real broken bones. If your bone scan is bad, it is worth asking your doctor about. Keep training too.
An opinion, not a finding. I am a coach, not a doctor.
What it has been measured to do
Nothing indexed yet
The 2 citations on this page do not report a result for any of the 36 goals indexed here. Most of what sits here is something else: a listing of a planned study, a study of how the body handles the drug, a safety report or a government record. None of those tests whether it works.
Show full evidence
What is Teriparatide?
Teriparatide is an FDA-approved bone-building shot. It is a piece of parathyroid hormone, used for severe bone thinning.
Teriparatide is the active piece of parathyroid hormone. It is approved as Forteo for bone thinning (osteoporosis) in people at high risk of breaking a bone. Most bone drugs slow bone breakdown. This one is different. A daily shot switches on bone-building cells, so it builds new bone. The big study had 1,637 women past menopause. New spine fractures hit 5% on the drug and 14% on a dummy shot, about a third of the risk. Other breaks were about halved. In VERO, it went head to head with risedronate, a bone pill. Fewer spine fractures, and fewer breaks that needed a doctor, happened on teriparatide. Because it is so strong, doctors save it for people at high risk.
How does Teriparatide work?
A short daily hit on the parathyroid hormone receptor switches on bone-building cells. That raises bone density and strength.
The evidence, in charts
Fig. 1a · how many people
1,637people, across 1 study in people cited here
| Study | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| New England Journal of Medicine 2001 | 1,637 | 100% |
The whole total is one study of 1,637. Counts are the number of people each study on this page says it signed up. That includes studies that only watched people and gave nobody the compound. 1 more study in people gives no headcount and is not counted here. Studies still signing people up are left out, and only studies cited on this page are counted.
Fig. 1b · evidence mix
All 2 sources here are studies in people.
- Study in people · done in people2100%
Counted from the list of sources on this page. It counts only what we cite, so there may be more studies out there. A review counts once, however many studies it sums up.
Fig. 2 · evidence over time
Sources here come from just two years, 2001 and 2018.
Too few different years on this page to draw a timeline. The newest source on file is from 2018, more than five years ago. Research on it may have gone quiet.
Fig. 3 · legal status at a glance
US
Approved
UK
Approved
AU
Approved
CA
Approved
Approved in all four countries shown. This is what the law says, not a verdict on the science. See Legal status below for the full text and any notes.
Fig. 5 · what the molecule is
- Kind of compound
- Peptide
- Molecule weight
- 4,117.8 Da
- Half-life
- About 1 hoursShort, 1 to 6 hours
- Chain length
- None on file
No amino acid sequence is on file for Teriparatide, so none is drawn rather than guessed from a name.
The studies we cite
- Study in people2001Effect of parathyroid hormone (1-34) on fractures and bone mineral density in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis
This drug stops broken bones, not just bone scan numbers. Over sixteen hundred women past the menopause with thin bones took teriparatide or a dummy injection. Five in every hundred on the drug had a new spine fracture, against fourteen in every hundred on the dummy. Breaks elsewhere in the body were roughly halved. That is nine spine fractures prevented for every hundred women treated. It is the sort of result other bone drugs get measured against.
1,637 women: new vertebral fractures 5% versus 14% on placebo (relative risk 0.35); nonvertebral fractures roughly halved.
- Study in people2018Effects of teriparatide and risedronate on new fractures in post-menopausal women with severe osteoporosis (VERO)
Set head to head against a common bone tablet, the injection won. Women with severe thinning of the bones were split by chance between teriparatide and risedronate. Fewer spine fractures happened on teriparatide, and fewer of the breaks that send someone to a doctor. Both are real treatments, so this is one working drug beating another rather than a drug beating nothing. It does not tell you which suits a given person, because cost, convenience and side effects are not in the result.
Head-to-head: new vertebral and clinical fractures significantly lower with teriparatide than with risedronate.
Where to buy Teriparatide
Teriparatide is an approved medicine. The approved product comes from a pharmacy, with a prescription. The vials below are sold “for research” and are not the approved drug.
1 seller lists Teriparatide in our latest read. They are ranked by trust score, then by archive rating, then by certificate tier, then by the lowest price per milligram. Archive evidence is counted before source-backed. Each path is out of 4, and the two are not added. A higher price does not raise the score. The letter is the certificate chip. 0 of them have a published certificate that names Teriparatide.
Some seller links may pay this site when you buy through them. A payment never changes a seller's tier or rank, and no seller has a say in any page.
| Seller | Trust score | Vial sizes | From, per mg | Certificate for Teriparatide | Seller link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arcane Peptides | 39 WeakSource-backed 3 of 4. Archive evidence 3 of 4.A | 10 mg | $1.50 | None found for Teriparatide | View |
- LC Lab-confirmed: the issuing laboratory echoed this certificate back
- A Current certificate, independent laboratory named, laboratory not yet checked
- B Certificate published, but no laboratory link, older than a year, or the laboratory did not recognise the published lookup
- C No certificate could be read
Every listing and vial size for Teriparatide · How the trust score is counted
Sellers named on the price pages are ranked by certificate tier, then price, and any affiliate income is disclosed there. Naming a seller is not a recommendation to buy or use anything.
Common questions
Has Teriparatide been tested in people?
Yes. 1,637 people given it across 1 completed trial cited here, 0 of which found nothing. Teriparatide is an FDA-approved bone-building shot. It is a piece of parathyroid hormone, used for severe bone thinning.
What is the Teriparatide dosage?
Approved medicine. No human dose established for unlabelled uses. Labeled amounts sit on the prescribing information. This page records what trials measured, not a personal dose. FDA-approved (Forteo) for osteoporosis
Is Teriparatide FDA-approved?
FDA-approved (Forteo) for osteoporosis
How is teriparatide different from typical osteoporosis drugs?
Most bone drugs slow bone breakdown. Teriparatide builds new bone, which is why doctors save it for people at high risk.