Hair growth is one of the most painstakingly long processes when it comes to figuring growth and breakage out. Most give up midway or simply learn to love what their hair looks like at the moment and many choose hair extensions as a lifelong solution. One night on my usual midnight Substack scroll, I came across Paula Sanders’ post on one magic trick that worked for her. Determined to give up as soon as I mentally joined the words ‘hair growth’ and ‘medicine’, something about her writing kept me scrolling. She claimed this actually worked on her hair with pictures of before and after and spoke candidly about her hesitation to try it on in the first place.
The recent GLP-1 trend (short for Glucagon Like Peptide-1) refers to a hormone naturally produced in the gut that helps regulate blood sugar, insulin release, digestion and appetite. GLP-1 receptor agonists mimic this pathway, helping people feel fuller for longer and often reducing the urge to reach for a sweet treat or snack. These effects have made the drug an increasingly important tool in weight management for some patients.
What are GLPs for hair?
Rather than supplying the follicle with another medicine, which most of us already do (biotin, minoxidil, etcetera), biomimetic peptide technology is trying to influence the signals involved in how that follicle behaves. GHK-Cu has become interesting for hair growth because it may help create better conditions around the follicle, supporting blood flow, repair and the cells that control the hair-growth cycle. In theory, a biomimetic that copies some of this behaviour could help reduce shedding, support thicker strands and keep hair growing for longer.
This is the thinking behind emerging technologies such as EV2, though it is unlikely to remain the only one. If science develops, other companies could design entirely different molecules aimed at the same biological pathways. The more important question, then, is not whether one proprietary peptide works, but whether mimicking the body’s own follicular signals can translate into meaningful hair growth in humans.
Early results are encouraging enough to warrant attention. Some company-sponsored human trials have reported improvements in measures such as hair length, thickness and shedding, while consumers including Sanders describe noticeably fuller hair and less shedding. “I’ve seen at least two inches of growth… and my shedding is much less,” she says. But personal experience and early trials are still very different from the volume of independent evidence behind established treatments.
The science of it all
GHK-Cu already exists naturally in the body. EV2 does not. It is Evolv’s proprietary biomimetic technology, designed to replicate key biological properties associated with GHK-Cu in an oral format. “EV2 Peptide is our proprietary biomimetic designed to replicate key biological properties associated with GHK-Cu,” says Becca McCarthy, CEO and co-founder of Evolv, adding that the company was drawn to GHK-Cu because of its “longstanding scientific interest in tissue repair, collagen biology and hair-follicle health”.
The simplest distinction is that traditional supplements provide building blocks, while biomimetic peptides are designed to behave more like signals. Simply put, vitamins give the follicle materials, peptide technology is trying to give it instructions.
Lars Skjøth, founder and lead researcher of Hårklinikken, a world-leading scalp and hair clinic specialising in drug-free treatments for hair loss says GHK-Cu appears to work in a “regenerative and reparative” way, supporting dermal papilla activity, vascular signalling and the follicle’s growth environment. But he is careful to stress that “much of the evidence to date comes from in vitro and animal research”, which is why the science still needs to be treated as promising rather than settled.
How it works on hair growth
The idea behind biomimetic hair technology is fairly simple: instead of only giving the follicle nutrients, it tries to influence the signals that control how that follicle behaves. GHK-Cu has become interesting because of its potential role in dermal papilla activity, tissue repair, blood-vessel formation and the active growth phase of the hair cycle.
Dr Maha Sultan, a specialist dermatologist at Medcare Medical Centre who works across hair and scalp conditions describes the science as “promising but still emerging”. “The exciting thing about biomimetic peptides is that they are moving hair science towards manipulating the biological signals around the follicle, rather than simply treating the symptom of hair loss,” she says.
Technologies such as EV2 are one attempt to work with that biology. “The bigger story is biomimetic science,” says McCarthy. Sanders, who has tried the product herself, says, “It’s super easy, two pills in the morning with the rest of my supplements and I don’t think about it for the rest of the day. I’ve also seen way less hair go down the drain.”
Before you try it
The excitement may be running slightly ahead of the evidence. Dr Sultan is clear that peptides themselves “do not have the rigorous, large-scale clinical backing required to be considered established standalone treatments” like minoxidil or finasteride. So the debate is not really about whether one supplement works. It is about whether this new generation of biomimetic technologies can eventually prove that targeting the follicle’s own signalling pathways leads to reliable hair growth in humans. Topical copper peptide serums are already on shelves here, but oral biomimetics like EV2 have yet to arrive. For now, the science is interesting, the consumer interest is real and GLPs for hair are showing positivity in becoming the next big thing in hair growth.
