LGD-4033 (Ligandrol)

LGD-4033, usually sold as ligandrol, is a nonsteroidal selective androgen receptor modulator that Viking Therapeutics took into clinical development under the code VK5211 (NCT02578095). The stated development goal was an oral drug that produces the muscle and bone effects of testosterone with less action on prostate and skin, aimed at conditions such as recovery after hip fracture and other causes of muscle loss. It has not been approved by any regulator, and clinical development has not progressed past phase 2.

Mechanistically it binds the androgen receptor with high affinity and selectivity and acts as an agonist in muscle and bone. The consequences of that binding are visible in the human phase 1 data: over three weeks of daily dosing in healthy young men, total testosterone, sex hormone binding globulin, HDL cholesterol and triglycerides all fell in a dose-dependent way, follicle-stimulating hormone and free testosterone fell at the top dose, and lean body mass rose without a change in fat mass (PMID: 22459616). Hormone levels and lipids returned to baseline after the drug was stopped in that 21-day study, which is a short exposure compared with how the compound is used outside research.

Animal work supports an anabolic signal but is mixed on whether that translates to performance. In ovariectomized rats, ligandrol improved muscle tissue (PMID: 33042018) and improved trabecular bone structure at the highest dose tested in ovariectomized rats (PMID: 37407738). In male rats, however, ligandrol lowered endurance and worsened lipid and hormonal profiles (PMID: 40087185).

Human safety reports are the strongest reason for caution. Published case reports describe severe cholestatic liver injury confirmed on biopsy after ligandrol use, including a 32-year-old man with cholestatic hepatitis and fibrosis (PMID: 32637435), a 37-year-old man with bilirubin about thirty times the upper limit of normal and ductopenia on biopsy (PMID: 36257328), a further case in an otherwise healthy adult (PMID: 39421081) and cases involving ligandrol together with post-cycle drugs (PMID: 34141767). A retrospective Australian series of drug-induced liver injury from anabolic steroids, SARMs and bodybuilding supplements collected 23 cases, most of whom were admitted to hospital, with a median 175 days to normal liver biochemistry and one liver transplant (PMID: 38372012). A self-reported case of ligandrol taken with the growth hormone secretagogue MK-677 recorded alanine aminotransferase up about 205 percent, HDL cholesterol down about 36 percent and total testosterone down about 62 percent (PMID: 36303408).

In sport, LGD-4033 is prohibited at all times under the World Anti-Doping Agency class S1.2 and has been found in athlete urine samples (PMID: 27168428). Its human urinary metabolites are well characterized for testing purposes (PMID: 30255601). FDA has issued warning letters to firms selling it as an unapproved new drug (FDA warning letter to Titan SARMs LLC, 12 December 2025). What is sold as ligandrol is often mislabeled: in an analysis of 44 SARM-marketed products, only about half contained any SARM and the label amount matched the assay in 41 percent (PMID: 29183075).

LGD-4033 (Ligandrol) is available in liquid form.

Compare prices, payment methods, shipping, and COA scores across 1 vendor.

1 of the vendors BodyHackGuide tracks list LGD-4033 (Ligandrol) (1 listing). Among BodyHackGuide's LGD-4033 (Ligandrol) listings recorded as in stock with a milligram count, the lowest price per milligram is $0.170/mg at Disguised Alpha and the median is $0.170/mg. The LGD-4033 (Ligandrol) prices on BodyHackGuide are vendors' listed prices as BodyHackGuide last recorded them, not transactions; the most recent recorded change to a LGD-4033 (Ligandrol) listing is dated 7 September 2026.

BodyHackGuide holds 1 third-party certificate record for LGD-4033 (Ligandrol), from . No editor has read any of BodyHackGuide's 1 certificate record for LGD-4033 (Ligandrol). The laboratory named on BodyHackGuide's LGD-4033 (Ligandrol) certificate record is Freedom Diagnostics Testing, and the test date on it is 29 July 2026. Each vendor page on BodyHackGuide shows how many certificate records BodyHackGuide holds for that vendor and links to each record that has its own page.