Cardarine vs SLU-PP-332
Two 'exercise in a pill' compounds discontinued or unapproved for very different reasons — one a real PPARδ agonist GSK abandoned over cancer findings, the other a brand-new synthetic never tested in a person.
Short answer
Both rest mostly on animal and lab work, so the evidence cannot separate Cardarine from SLU-PP-332. Cardarine is the one sold for endurance, fat loss and HDL/triglycerides, while SLU-PP-332 targets metabolic health. Both are sold gray-market as research chemicals. The table below compares their FDA status, route, headline human result and main safety signal side by side.
Cardarine
GW-501516, endurobol
Not a SARM but a PPARδ agonist — a real mechanism and a real 12-week human lipid signal, ended by two-year rodent carcinogenicity findings, with no human endurance trial ever run to weigh against it.
Full Cardarine evidence reviewSLU-PP-332
A synthetic ERR agonist that reproduces exercise-like gene-expression changes in mice — a genuinely novel mechanism with zero human data of any kind; everything sold under this name is unregulated research material.
Full SLU-PP-332 evidence reviewCardarine vs SLU-PP-332: head to head
- FDA status / approved use
Cardarine
Investigational drug discontinued in development; not approved anywhere; sold as a research chemicalSLU-PP-332
Not a drug or dietary supplement; not approved anywhere; sold online as a research chemical- Marketed for
Cardarine
Endurance and 'exercise in a pill', fat loss, HDL/triglyceridesSLU-PP-332
'Exercise mimetic', metabolic health- Outcome areas
Cardarine
Exercise performance / endurance; Cardiovascular; Weight loss / appetiteSLU-PP-332
Exercise performance / endurance; Blood sugar / insulin sensitivity; Mitochondrial / cellular energy- Evidence grade
Cardarine
Preclinical / minimalSLU-PP-332
Preclinical / minimal- How it works
Cardarine
Activates PPARδ, a nuclear lipid-sensing receptor that switches on fat-burning genes; not a SARMSLU-PP-332
Activates estrogen-related receptors ERRα, ERRβ and ERRγ to mimic endurance-training adaptations- Route and dosing
Cardarine
Daily doses of 2.5 to 10 mg in human trialsSLU-PP-332
Not established- Headline human result
Cardarine
Up to +16.9% HDL cholesterol and −16.9% triglycerides over 12 weeks in 268 patients; endurance never tested in humansSLU-PP-332
Not established- Strongest evidence
Cardarine
Olson 2012 phase 2, Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. Little or no controlled human outcome data for the marketed useCardarine evidence reviewPubMed 22814748SLU-PP-332
ERR agonist mouse exercise mimicry, Nat Commun 2023. Little or no controlled human outcome data for the marketed useSLU-PP-332 evidence reviewPubMed 36988910- Key safety signal
Cardarine
Caused cancer in rats and mice after 104 weeks of dosing, which ended its developmentSLU-PP-332
No human safety, dosing or long-term data of any kind- How it is obtained
Cardarine
Sold gray-market as a research chemical; no approved human productSLU-PP-332
Sold gray-market as a research chemical; no approved human product
| Cardarine | SLU-PP-332 | |
|---|---|---|
| FDA status / approved use | Investigational drug discontinued in development; not approved anywhere; sold as a research chemical | Not a drug or dietary supplement; not approved anywhere; sold online as a research chemical |
| Marketed for | Endurance and 'exercise in a pill', fat loss, HDL/triglycerides | 'Exercise mimetic', metabolic health |
| Outcome areas | Exercise performance / endurance; Cardiovascular; Weight loss / appetite | Exercise performance / endurance; Blood sugar / insulin sensitivity; Mitochondrial / cellular energy |
| Evidence grade | Preclinical / minimal | Preclinical / minimal |
| How it works | Activates PPARδ, a nuclear lipid-sensing receptor that switches on fat-burning genes; not a SARM | Activates estrogen-related receptors ERRα, ERRβ and ERRγ to mimic endurance-training adaptations |
| Route and dosing | Daily doses of 2.5 to 10 mg in human trials | Not established |
| Headline human result | Up to +16.9% HDL cholesterol and −16.9% triglycerides over 12 weeks in 268 patients; endurance never tested in humans | Not established |
| Strongest evidence | Olson 2012 phase 2, Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. Little or no controlled human outcome data for the marketed useCardarine evidence reviewPubMed 22814748 | ERR agonist mouse exercise mimicry, Nat Commun 2023. Little or no controlled human outcome data for the marketed useSLU-PP-332 evidence reviewPubMed 36988910 |
| Key safety signal | Caused cancer in rats and mice after 104 weeks of dosing, which ended its development | No human safety, dosing or long-term data of any kind |
| How it is obtained | Sold gray-market as a research chemical; no approved human product | Sold gray-market as a research chemical; no approved human product |
marks a row where the two differ. “Not established” marks a cell the available evidence does not answer. Evidence grades come from our evidence matrix, which grades each molecule on the human data for the use it is marketed for.
- Preclinical / minimal:
- Evidence is largely animal, in-vitro, or anecdotal. Little or no controlled human outcome data for the marketed use.
Our verdict
Cardarine (GW-501516) isn't a SARM — it's a PPARδ agonist GlaxoSmithKline discontinued after two-year rodent studies found tumors across multiple organs, and it's prohibited in sport at all times. SLU-PP-332 is a different, newer mechanism (an ERR agonist), with genuine mouse exercise-mimicry data and, critically, no long-term safety signal yet — mostly because it hasn't existed long enough to generate one. 'No cancer signal yet' isn't the same as 'safe.'
Cardarine fits if
You're reading about the history of a discontinued drug — the cancer-risk finding is why it was abandoned, not a reason to seek it out.
SLU-PP-332 fits if
The newer mechanism is the draw — know that the absence of a safety signal reflects how new the compound is, not a clean bill of health.
Cardarine vs SLU-PP-332: common questions
- Is either Cardarine or SLU-PP-332 FDA-approved?
- No. Cardarine is an investigational drug discontinued in development; not approved anywhere; sold as a research chemical. SLU-PP-332 is not a drug or dietary supplement; not approved anywhere; sold online as a research chemical.
- Which has stronger human evidence, Cardarine or SLU-PP-332?
- Neither. Both are graded preclinical / minimal, with little or no controlled human outcome data for the marketed use. The key source for Cardarine is Olson 2012 phase 2, Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol; for SLU-PP-332, it is ERR agonist mouse exercise mimicry, Nat Commun 2023.
- What are the main safety concerns with Cardarine and SLU-PP-332?
- Cardarine caused cancer in rats and mice after 104 weeks of dosing, which ended its development. SLU-PP-332 has no human safety, dosing or long-term data of any kind.
Key studies behind each
Cardarine
- Oliver WR Jr, Shenk JL, Snaith MR, et al. (2001). A selective peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor delta agonist promotes reverse cholesterol transport. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. PubMed 11309497
- Narkar VA, Downes M, Yu RT, et al. (2008). AMPK and PPARdelta agonists are exercise mimetics. Cell. PubMed 18674809
- Li S, Laher I. (2015). Exercise Pills: At the Starting Line. Trends Pharmacol Sci. PubMed 26439443
- Sprecher DL, Massien C, Pearce G, et al. (2007). Triglyceride:high-density lipoprotein cholesterol effects in healthy subjects administered a peroxisome proliferator activated receptor delta agonist. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. PubMed 17110604
SLU-PP-332
- Billon C, Sitaula S, Banerjee S, et al. (2023). Synthetic ERRα/β/γ Agonist Induces an ERRα-Dependent Acute Aerobic Exercise Response and Enhances Exercise Capacity. ACS Chem Biol. PubMed 36988910
- Billon C, Schoepke E, Avdagic A, et al. (2024). A Synthetic ERR Agonist Alleviates Metabolic Syndrome. J Pharmacol Exp Ther. PubMed 37739806
- Xu W, Billon C, Li H, et al. (2024). Novel Pan-ERR Agonists Ameliorate Heart Failure Through Enhancing Cardiac Fatty Acid Metabolism and Mitochondrial Function. Circulation. PubMed 37961903
The full evidence reviews
- Cardarine (GW-501516): the evidence, and why the drug was abandoned
It is not a SARM — it is a PPARδ agonist. The rodent endurance data is real but narrower than quoted, the human data is entirely about lipids, and GlaxoSmithKline stopped the program after two-year rodent studies produced tumors.
Updated August 2026
- SLU-PP-332: the “exercise mimetic” that lives entirely in mice
A synthetic pan-agonist of the ERRα/β/γ receptors switches on an endurance-training program — in rodents and cell culture. A straight read of the preclinical evidence, and why there is no human story yet.
Updated August 2026