How Are Our Peptides Made?
Important Note: There is a lot of miss-information on the internet pertaining to the appearance of peptides in vials. Unfortunately these theories are not based on any fact and have been started by people who have never been involved in the sale or manufacture of Melanotan II.
Example of how a peptide batch is produced:
Please note: For ease of description we will be using the Melanotan II peptide as an example.
1000mg (1 gram) of Melanotan II is synthesized and its purest form takes on the appearance of crystals. When Melanotan II first became popular (10-15 years ago), 10mg of Melanotan II crystals would have been weighed out individually into 100 vials and then the vials sealed and shipped. Unfortunately, due to 10mg of Melanotan II being such a small amount (literally a few tiny crystals) many customers were complaining that their vials looked empty.
To solve this problem, large scale manufacturing laboratories who could afford it began freeze-drying their Melanotan II. Instead of just weighing out the Melanotan II into vials, freeze-drying is an additional step which involves dissolving the 1000mg of Melanotan II crystals into 200ml of sterile water. 2ml of sterile water is then injected into 100 vials making each vial the equivalent of 10mg of Melanotan II.
The vials are then placed, for 24-48 hours, in an expensive and high-tech freeze-dry machine which removes all the air and liquid from the vials. Freeze-drying is defined as "the process of isolating a sold substance from a solution." And this is exactly what happens; because the vials were 2/3 full of water, the end result is a freeze-dried vial which is still 2/3 full, but instead of being liquid is now in a solid/fluffy state. If you look closely at a vial, you can see the 10mg of Melanotan II crystals scattered throughout.
Freeze-drying is not unique to Melanotan II, it is a manufacturing process used worldwide on many different types of products with coffee being the most famous. If you compare freeze-dried coffee to ground coffee you will notice the obvious difference in size between the two. 100g of freeze-dried coffee will appear much larger than 100g of powdered coffee, despite the amount of actual coffee being the same and both products containing only 100% pure coffee (with no fillers or additives).
Another reason the freeze-dry method was employed is because weighing out 10mg of Melanotan II individually into vials is very tedious and time consuming, it is much easier for the scientists at the manufacturing laboratory to just inject 2ml of reconstituted Melanotan II into the vials and then place all the vials into the freeze-drying machine. As order volumes increased from less than 50 vials per week to more than 1000 vials per week, it was no longer feasible for the manufacturers' to continue to use the weighing method.
Warning: If the peptide you receive is of a small/grainy appearance then it has either not come from a reputable laboratory. Or, even worse, from a supplier who orders peptide powder in bulk and weighs out 10mg into vials individually in their home/office setup - a practice which is extremely unsafe and unsterile.
Vacuum seals
With the freeze-drying process of Melanotan II, vacuum seals do not work effectively. There is an option while the vials are still in the freeze dry machine for them to be sealed under vacuum pressure. However, the manufacturing lab has informed us that they have tested this method before and they do not recommend it.
The reason is that during transit the water vapor in the air can enter into the vials - especially in summer when the air pressure is high due to hot temperatures. If this happens the Melanotan II will melt into the water vapor and as a result our customers might end up with seemingly empty vials or product that does not look as good as it does currently in its fluffy/solid appearance.
Another reason for not having a vacuum seal is that any minor tear in the rubber stopper, from repeated insertion of the syringe, could cause contaminants to be drawn into the vial much more easily than without one.
Instead of the vials being sealed under vacuum pressure in the freeze-dry machine they are instead taken out of the machine and sealed under GMP (good manufacturing practice) conditions. This means the vials are sealed by a capping machine located in a completely sterile room of the laboratory (containing specialist exhaust fans to clean the air and suck out any contaminants, plus the lab employees wear special anti-contamination suits whilst in this room).
The air is 100% pure in the area where they make and bottle the peptides and its not possible for any contaminants to enter. They also fill the remaining space in the vials with pure air/nitrogen which has the same effect against contaminants entering during transit and storage of the vials.
