Growth-hormone peptides · Evidence comparison
Sermorelin vs CJC-1295
Two GHRH-analog peptides — one a former FDA-approved drug, one an abandoned candidate now sold as its 'upgrade.'
Sermorelin
CJC-1295
Headline claim shown. Grades are claim-specific — see the full breakdown below.
The evidence, side by side
Every graded claim from each brief. Grades are read straight from the source-checked briefs — one molecule can be strong for one use and weak for another.
Growth hormone / longevity (GHRH analog)
Sermorelin
Evidence grades
Growth hormone / recovery (GHRH analog)
CJC-1295
Evidence grades
Regulatory status at a glance
Sermorelin
Formerly FDA-approved as Geref (sermorelin acetate): the 0.5 mg and 1.0 mg vials were approved to treat idiopathic growth-hormone deficiency in children with growth failure, and a 0.05 mg formulation was approved as a diagnostic to test the pituitary's ability to secrete growth hormone. The manufacturer discontinued it and the FDA withdrew approval in 2009 — and the FDA expressly determined this was NOT for reasons of safety or effectiveness, but commercial (it could not compete with recombinant human growth hormone). No FDA-approved sermorelin product is currently marketed in the US; it is now supplied mainly through compounding pharmacies and the gray market, and its popular off-label use for anti-aging, body composition, and 'GH optimization' in healthy adults is unapproved. As a growth-hormone-releasing factor it is prohibited in sport by WADA (category S2). Status varies by country and can change; this is not medical or legal advice.
CJC-1295
Not FDA-approved for any use; an abandoned drug candidate (developed by ConjuChem) now sold gray-market as a 'research only' peptide and classed as an investigational new drug. Its only company-run clinical program — a Phase 2 trial for HIV-related lipodystrophy — was halted in 2006 after a participant died (the trial physician judged the death cardiac and unrelated to CJC-1295), and development was not resumed. Placed on the FDA's compounding 'Category 2' (significant safety risks) in 2023, then removed in September 2024 after the nominations were withdrawn — a procedural change that does NOT authorize compounding; at PCAC meetings in late 2024 the FDA recommended against adding it to the 503A bulks list, so it cannot be legally compounded. Prohibited in sport by WADA (S2, growth-hormone-releasing factors), in and out of competition.
Key differences
- Both raise GH/IGF-1 and are graded S for that; sermorelin adds modest human body-composition data in older adults, while CJC-1295's non-hormone claims are graded B.
- CJC-1295 (DAC) is engineered for a much longer duration of action than sermorelin's short-acting GHRH(1-29).
- Sermorelin was FDA-approved and withdrawn for commercial reasons; CJC-1295's clinical program was halted after a participant died and was never resumed.
- Both are WADA-banned and not legally compoundable; only sermorelin has an approval history.
The bottom line
Both credibly raise growth hormone; sermorelin has the regulatory track record and a little human outcome data, while CJC-1295's longer action comes with a halted, safety-flagged trial history. We don't recommend either — we lay out the evidence and the very different development stories.
PeptideIQ Base does not recommend, rank, or endorse any peptide, dose, or product. We grade the strength of the evidence so you can read it for yourself.
Read the full briefs
Full evidence brief
Sermorelin →
A growth-hormone-releasing hormone analog that prompts the pituitary to make its own growth hormone; it was once FDA-approved (Geref) for childhood growth-hormone deficiency before being withdrawn for commercial — not safety — reasons, and is now sold compounded and off-label for anti-aging, where the human evidence is real but small.
Full evidence brief
CJC-1295 →
A synthetic growth-hormone-releasing-hormone (GHRH) analog, sold gray-market and usually stacked with ipamorelin; it reliably and durably raises growth hormone and IGF-1 in one human study, but its clinical development was abandoned after a participant death and it has no human evidence for the muscle or anti-aging uses it's sold for.
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