Growth-hormone peptides · Evidence comparison
Sermorelin vs Ipamorelin
Two growth-hormone peptides often compared for 'GH optimization' — but only one was ever an approved medicine.
Sermorelin
Ipamorelin
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 (GH secretagogue)
Ipamorelin
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.
Ipamorelin
Not FDA-approved for any use; an abandoned drug candidate now sold gray-market as a 'research only' peptide. Originally developed by Novo Nordisk (code NNC 26-0161); its only human efficacy trials (Phase 2, for postoperative ileus) failed and development was discontinued. 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compounding 'Category 2' (significant safety risks) in 2023, then removed in September 2024 after the nominations were withdrawn — a procedural change that does NOT authorize compounding.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 Pharmacy Compounding Advisory Committee meetings in late 2024 the FDA recommended against adding ipamorelin to the 503A bulks list, so it cannot be legally compounded; broader peptide-compounding policy remains in flux in 2026. Prohibited in sport by WADA (S2, growth hormone secretagogues), in and out of competition.
Key differences
- Sermorelin was once FDA-approved (as Geref) and is graded S for raising GH/IGF-1 with modest body-composition change in older adults; ipamorelin was never approved and, while its short-term GH-raising claim is graded S, its body-composition claims are graded B.
- Sermorelin was withdrawn for commercial (not safety) reasons; ipamorelin's development stopped after its efficacy trials failed.
- For anti-aging or body composition in healthy adults, both grade low — B for sermorelin, and C for ipamorelin as a proven long-term therapy.
- Both are now gray-market/compounded and WADA-banned; neither is an FDA-approved product today.
The bottom line
Sermorelin carries a real regulatory history and modest human data in older adults; ipamorelin's marketed uses have none. Neither is approved now, and we don't recommend either — the honest read is 'some human GH data for sermorelin, effectively none for ipamorelin's selling points.'
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
Ipamorelin →
A synthetic pentapeptide that selectively triggers short-term growth-hormone release, marketed for muscle growth, fat loss, recovery, and anti-aging — but its only human efficacy trials were for a gut condition (and failed), with no human studies behind the uses it's actually sold for.
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