Dashnaiv Peptides
Compounds·ghrh analogs·GHRH receptor agonist, modified GRF(1-29), with or without DAC

CJC-1295 peptide: what the human trials measured, DAC vs Mod GRF 1-29, and what was never tested

What 37 indexed publications and 1 randomized trials actually state about cjc-1295, sentence by sentence, each tied to its source and labeled by the kind of evidence it is.

Human clinical trial Reviewed 24 sources Updated

At a glance

Evidence availability
Human clinical evidence
Strongest tier in the indexed literature
Indexed publications
37
Europe PMC, title or abstract, 2026-09-14
Human studies in ledger
3
1 randomized; study count, not efficacy proof
Approval
none found
no registered development programme
Routes reported
subcutaneous
from studies in this ledger
Studied in
Humans, Mice, Rats, Swine
15 primary studies in the evidence table
Reviewed by Adam Mirando, PharmD, on . What changed

What CJC-1295 is and how it acts

CJC-1295 is a peptide in the ghrh analogs class (GHRH receptor agonist, modified GRF(1-29), with or without DAC). Europe PMC indexes 37 publications naming it or a listed alias in a title or abstract, including 1 randomized controlled trials and 1 clinical trials of any design, as of . The strongest evidence tier in that literature is human clinical trials.

This page reports what those studies state, sentence by sentence, with each statement tied to its source and labeled by the kind of evidence it is. It does not recommend use, and it does not translate study doses into anything personal.

What the evidence level means

Publication counts show what is indexed, not how strong the evidence is. The ledger below separates human clinical records from preclinical, analytical, and in-vitro work.

Human clinical studies in this ledger31 randomized · 2 other human clinical
Evidence strengthNot yet assessedSeparate from evidence availability
Efficacy signalNot yet assessedRead the study result, not the tier alone

Interpretation boundary: An indexed publication count is a discovery measure. It does not establish efficacy, safety, approval, or a personal treatment plan.

CJC-1295 in two minutes

What it is. Growth-hormone-releasing hormone's active fragment, stabilised at four positions and hooked to albumin after injection, so that one dose raises growth hormone for about a week. Developed by ConjuChem; tested in healthy adults in 2006; abandoned the same year.

What the research actually shows. 37 indexed publications, of which one randomized trial paper, one pulsatility study and one proteomics study in people. A single injection raised growth hormone 2- to 10-fold for six days and IGF-1 1.5- to 3-fold for 9 to 11 days, with a half-life of 5.8 to 8.1 days. Nothing else was measured in people: not fat, muscle, sleep, skin or recovery.

DAC and no DAC. Every human study used the DAC form. 'CJC-1295 without DAC' is Mod GRF 1-29, the same peptide without the albumin hook, and it has never been given to a person in a published study.

Safety record. No serious adverse reactions in 28 to 49 days of healthy-adult trials. One death in the 192-participant phase 2 trial, judged unrelated, after which development stopped. FDA cited heart-rate and vasodilatory reactions in 2023.

Status. Not approved; named on the WADA list under S2; not compoundable under 503A. Paired with ipamorelin in most use, a combination tested only in mice.

Editorial synthesis Written from general pharmacology, the development record and what is commonly reported; not a cited finding. Cited findings on this page carry their own tier.

How it works

Written from general pharmacology and the development record, and marked as editorial synthesis; the measurements behind it are quoted in the biomarker section.

  • CJC-1295 is GRF(1-29), the active fragment of growth-hormone-releasing hormone, with four amino acids swapped (D-alanine at 2, glutamine at 8, alanine at 15, leucine at 27) so that the enzyme DPP-IV cannot cut it, plus a lysine carrying a maleimidopropionamide group at the C-terminus. That group, ConjuChem's Drug Affinity Complex or DAC, reacts with the free cysteine on albumin within minutes of injection. The peptide then travels bound to albumin and is released slowly, which is why its half-life is measured in days rather than the minutes of native GHRH.Editorial synthesis
    Editorial synthesis from general knowledge
  • It acts where GHRH acts, on GHRH receptors of the somatotroph cells of the pituitary, so it can only raise growth hormone in someone whose pituitary can still make it. The 2006 pulsatility study is the key finding on how: a week after one injection, the frequency and size of growth-hormone pulses were unchanged, but trough levels between pulses were 7.5 times higher, and that raised mean growth hormone by 46 percent and IGF-1 by 45 percent. The compound fills in the troughs rather than adding pulses.Editorial synthesis
    Editorial synthesis from general knowledge
  • Modified GRF(1-29), sold as 'CJC-1295 without DAC' or Mod GRF 1-29, is the same peptide with the same four substitutions but without the albumin-binding group. It was the intermediate from which CJC-1295 was built and has never been tested in a human study under either name. Everything said about its half-life and dosing is inferred from GRF(1-29) and sermorelin.Editorial synthesis
    Editorial synthesis from general knowledge

CJC-1295 with DAC vs without DAC (Mod GRF 1-29)

The two products sold under one name are different compounds with different evidence. Only one of them has been in a human study.

The two compounds sold as CJC-1295.
CJC-1295 (with DAC)Mod GRF 1-29 ('CJC-1295 no DAC')
StructureGRF(1-29) with four substitutions plus an albumin-binding lysine derivative at the C-terminusGRF(1-29) with the same four substitutions, no albumin-binding group
Human studiesTwo 2006 trials in healthy adults; one pulsatility study; one proteomics study; a halted 192-participant phase 2None under either name
Half-life in people5.8 to 8.1 days, measuredNot measured; the minutes-long figure quoted is borrowed from GRF(1-29) and sermorelin
What a dose doesRaises trough growth hormone for days; pulses unchangedPresumed to produce a single pulse, as native GHRH does; not shown
Doses in studies30 to 250 micrograms per kilogram, single; weekly or biweekly repeatsNone
Why people choose itFewer injectionsBelief that a pulse is more physiological than a plateau; that belief has not been tested against the DAC form

The 'no DAC' name is a vendor coinage: ConjuChem's development papers call the unhooked peptide a GRF(1-29) analogue and used it as the starting material. When a page gives a Mod GRF 1-29 half-life, dose or safety profile, it is describing sermorelin's and assuming the four substitutions change nothing but enzyme resistance.

Editorial synthesis Written from general pharmacology, the development record and what is commonly reported; not a cited finding. Cited findings on this page carry their own tier.

What happened in the human studies?

This record's ledger holds 3 primary human studies, of which 2 are trials. Few enough to show in full: each card quotes what its abstract reported about CJC-1295. Read them before any other section on this page.

  • Clinical trial humans 2006 Human clinical trial
    GH secretion was increased after CJC-1295 administration with preserved pulsatility.
    Source pmid-17018654 · quoted verbatim from the abstract
  • Randomized controlled trial humans 2006 Human clinical trial
    After a single injection of CJC-1295, there were dose-dependent increases in mean plasma GH concentrations by 2- to 10-fold for 6 d or more and in mean plasma IGF-I concentrations by 1.5- to 3-fold for 9-11 d.
    Source pmid-16352683 · quoted verbatim from the abstract
  • Human study humans 2009 Observational, human
    Serum proteins displaying significant changes before and after treatment were subsequently identified using mass spectrometry.
    Source pmid-19386527 · quoted verbatim from the abstract

What did the trials find?

Hormone changes in healthy adults over days to weeks. No trial measured muscle, fat, sleep, skin or recovery, which is what the compound circulates for. One row per primary study in this record's ledger. Fields are read from each paper's indexing and abstract. "Analytical method" marks papers about detecting or measuring the compound rather than about its effects.

15 primary studies in this record's ledger, strongest evidence first. A dash means the abstract did not state the value.
StudyDesignnSpeciesDoseRouteDurationReported outcomeTier
Ionescu 2006 Clinical trial — Humans——— GH secretion was increased after CJC-1295 administration with preserved pulsatility. Human clinical trial
Teichman 2006 Randomized controlled trial — Humans—subcutaneous— After a single injection of CJC-1295, there were dose-dependent increases in mean plasma GH concentrations by 2- to 10-fold for 6 d or more and in mean plasma IGF-I concentrations by 1.5- to 3-fold for 9-11 d. Human clinical trial
Sackmann-Sala 2009 Human study — Humans——— Serum proteins displaying significant changes before and after treatment were subsequently identified using mass spectrometry. Observational, human
Thomas 2022 Analytical method — Swine——— In contrast to urine, blood analysis essentially relies on the detection of intact peptide hormones, and the expected concentrations are commonly higher in blood samples than in urine. Animal, preclinical
Timms 2019 Analytical method — ———— These CJC-1295-protein conjugates have a much greater half-life compared to the unconjugated peptide and are capable of stimulating GH production for more than six days in humans after a single administration. Animal, preclinical
Kwok 2013 Analytical method — ———— — Animal, preclinical
Gautam 2009 Animal study — Mice——— We report the surprising observation that mutant mice that selectively lack the M(3) muscarinic acetylcholine receptor subtype in the brain (neurons and glial cells; Br-M3-KO mice) showed a dwarf phenotype associated… Animal, preclinical
Alba 2006 Animal study — Mice——1 wk; 5 wk CJC-1295 caused an increase in total pituitary RNA and GH mRNA, suggesting that proliferation of somatotroph cells had occurred, as confirmed by immunohistochemistry images. Animal, preclinical
Jetté 2005 Animal study — Rats——— The best compound, CJC-1295, showed a 4-fold increase in GH area under the curve over a 2-h period compared with hGRF(1-29). Animal, preclinical
Uçaktürk 2026 Analytical method — Humans——— — Mechanistic, in vitro
Cristea 2023 Analytical method — ———— — Mechanistic, in vitro
Coppieters 2022 Analytical method — ———— In a comparison with immuno-affinity purification, enhanced recoveries (59 - 115%) and similar sensitivity were achieved, yet at lower operational costs. Mechanistic, in vitro
Danila 2022 Analytical method — ———— The affinity profiles of CBD and carboxy-THC are significantly different from the profiles of synthetic GHR mimetics such as CJC-1295 or [D-Arg 1 -D-Phe 5 -D-Trp 7,9 -Leu 11 ]-Substance P peptides, which are the most… Mechanistic, in vitro
Pineau 2016 Analytical method — Humans——— — Mechanistic, in vitro
Knoop 2016 In vitro study — Humans——— — Mechanistic, in vitro

Doses reported in studies

Each entry is a sentence quoted from the study's abstract, with the study's design, sample size and year in front of it. Comparator doses in the same sentence are not attributed to cjc-1295.

  • Healthy adults received CJC-1295 or placebo subcutaneously as one of four ascending single doses in the first trial, and as two or three weekly or biweekly doses in the second.Human clinical trial
    Source pmid-16352683
  • The trial authors singled out 30 and 60 micrograms per kilogram as the doses at which the compound was best tolerated.Human clinical trial
    Source pmid-16352683
  • Healthy men aged 20 to 40 received a single injection of 60 or 90 micrograms per kilogram, with overnight sampling one week later.Human clinical trial
    Source pmid-17018654
  • Mice lacking GHRH, one week old, were given 2 micrograms of CJC-1295 every 24, 48 or 72 hours for five weeks.Animal, preclinical
    Source pmid-16822960

Every CJC-1295 dose in the literature, in one table

Every figure here was given in a study, by body weight. The trials measured hormones; none measured the outcomes the compound circulates for.

Every CJC-1295 administration in the ledger, plus the halted phase 2 from secondary reports.
StudyWhoRoute and doseDurationWhat was measured
Teichman 2006, trial 1Healthy adults 21 to 61Subcutaneous, one of four ascending single doses; 30 and 60 mcg/kg named as best tolerated28 daysGrowth hormone and IGF-1 peaks and area under the curve; pharmacokinetics; adverse events
Teichman 2006, trial 2Healthy adults 21 to 61Subcutaneous, two or three weekly or biweekly doses49 daysIGF-1 above baseline up to 28 days; cumulative effect
Ionescu 2006Healthy men 20 to 40Subcutaneous, 60 or 90 mcg/kg, singleOne weekOvernight growth-hormone pulsatility; IGF-1
Sackmann-Sala 200911 healthy young menSingle injection; dose not stated in the abstractOne weekSerum protein changes
ConjuChem phase 2 (secondary reports; not in ledger)192 adults with HIV-associated visceral fatWeekly subcutaneous, ascending; figure reported second-hand, not reproducedHalted after the 11th weekly dose in one participantVisceral fat; ended after a death
Alba 2006One-week-old mice lacking GHRH2 micrograms every 24, 48 or 72 hoursFive weeksLength, weight, bone length, body composition, pituitary GH mRNA
Jetté 2005RatsSubcutaneous; dose not stated in the abstractSingle dose; plasma to 72 hoursGrowth-hormone area under the curve; albumin binding

Figures for CJC-1295 that circulate on forums and vendor pages were not taken from these trials, which dosed by body weight for at most 49 days. They are not reproduced here; the table holds every dose a study actually administered.

Editorial synthesis Written from general pharmacology, the development record and what is commonly reported; not a cited finding. Cited findings on this page carry their own tier.

Side effects: what the trials recorded, and what happened in phase 2

The 2006 trials in healthy adults reported no serious adverse reactions over 28 to 49 days. A death in the halted 2006 phase 2 trial and the concerns FDA cited in 2023 are set out below, with their limits. Events and their frequency as each study reported them, with the denominator where the abstract gives one.

  • No serious adverse reactions were reported in the two randomized trials in healthy adults.Human clinical trial
    Source pmid-16352683
  • The trial authors described the compound as safe and relatively well tolerated, particularly at 30 or 60 micrograms per kilogram, which implies tolerability fell at the higher doses.Human clinical trial
    Source pmid-16352683
  • In July 2006 ConjuChem halted its phase 2 trial of CJC-1295 for HIV-associated visceral fat accumulation after a participant died of a heart attack about two hours after an eleventh weekly injection, at a site in Argentina. Secondary reports put the trial at 192 participants; the attending physician attributed the death to undiagnosed coronary disease and judged it unrelated to the drug, and the company ended the programme as a precaution. No later trial was run, so that judgment was never tested. These facts come from contemporary news reports, not from a paper in the ledger.Editorial synthesis
    Editorial synthesis from general knowledge · primary document to be added to the ledger
  • When FDA placed CJC-1295 in category 2 of its interim 503A bulk-substances list in September 2023, the concerns it cited were immunogenicity for some routes and serious adverse events including increased heart rate and a systemic vasodilatory reaction, with limited clinical data. FDA's notice is not in the ledger.Editorial synthesis
    Editorial synthesis from general knowledge · primary document to be added to the ledger
  • The longest human exposure in the literature is 49 days in healthy adults. Nothing is known about years of use, about people with existing illness, or about the effect of raising IGF-1 for months, which is the exposure that circulates.Editorial synthesis
    Editorial synthesis from general knowledge

Who CJC-1295 is discussed for, and the cautions that recur

Studied: healthy adults aged 20 to 61, and adults with HIV-associated visceral fat in the halted phase 2. Never studied: children, older adults, people with growth-hormone deficiency, athletes, or anyone taking it for months. Community: people seeking fat loss, muscle, sleep or recovery, usually with ipamorelin.

No trial published exclusion criteria in its abstract, so these cautions come from the compound's pharmacology and its record, not from a contraindication list:

  • Cardiovascular disease. The one death in the programme was a heart attack in a participant with undiagnosed coronary disease; FDA later cited increased heart rate and vasodilatory reactions. Whether the drug contributed is unknown, which is not the same as known not to.
  • Active or recent cancer. IGF-1 stays raised for weeks per dose; no study has looked at what that does to a tumour, in either direction.
  • Diabetes and insulin resistance. Growth hormone raises blood glucose; the healthy-adult trials did not report glucose in their abstracts, and the 2026 sports-medicine review lists insulin resistance among documented risks of this peptide class.
  • Anyone whose pituitary cannot make growth hormone. A GHRH analogue has nothing to act on; the mouse growth result was in animals lacking GHRH, not growth hormone.
  • Women. The 2016 forum study found women themselves worried that doses and cycles circulating were worked out for men; no trial has reported results by sex.
  • Tested athletes. Named on the WADA list; detectable in urine and blood by published methods.

Editorial synthesis Written from general pharmacology, the development record and what is commonly reported; not a cited finding. Cited findings on this page carry their own tier.

Biomarkers measured in studies

Laboratory and clinical measures the studies report tracking, including which hormones did and did not change.

  • Clinical trial humans 2006 Human clinical trial
    A synthetic GHRH analog (CJC-1295) that binds permanently to endogenous albumin after injection (half-life = 8 d) stimulates GH and IGF-I secretion in several animal species and in normal human subjects and enhances growth in rats.
    Source pmid-17018654 · quoted verbatim from the abstract
  • Randomized controlled trial humans 2006 Human clinical trial
    The main outcome measures were peak concentrations and area under the curve of GH and IGF-I; standard pharmacokinetic parameters were used for CJC-1295.
    Source pmid-16352683 · quoted verbatim from the abstract
  • Human study humans 2009 Observational, human
    Serum GH and IGF-1 levels have been shown to increase with administration of GHRH or CJC-1295, a long-acting GHRH analog.
    Source pmid-19386527 · quoted verbatim from the abstract
  • Animal study swine 2022 Animal, preclinical
    Co-extraction and analysis of several different peptides such as insulins (human, lispro, aspart, glulisine, tresiba, detemir, glargine, bovine insulin and porcine insulin), growth hormone releasing hormones (sermorelin, CJC-1295 and tesamorelin), insulin-like growth factors (long-R 3 -IGF-I, R 3 -IGF-I and Des 1-3 -IGF-I) and mechano growth factors (human MGF and MGF-Goldspink) with criteria that fulfil the requirements of the WADA documents (TD2022 MRPL) for doping controls.
    Source pmid-38716080 · quoted verbatim from the abstract
  • Animal study 2019 Animal, preclinical
    CJC-1295 is a peptide-based drug that stimulates the production of growth hormone (GH) from the pituitary gland.
    Source pmid-30938069 · quoted verbatim from the abstract
  • Animal study mice 2009 Animal, preclinical
    Remarkably, treatment of Br-M3-KO mice with CJC-1295, a synthetic GH-releasing hormone (GHRH) analog, rescued the growth deficit displayed by Br-M3-KO mice by restoring normal pituitary size and normal serum GH and IGF-1 levels.
    Source pmid-19332789 · quoted verbatim from the abstract

Reported timelines

Onset, peak and duration figures as each study reported them.

  • A single injection raised mean growth hormone 2- to 10-fold for six days or more and IGF-1 1.5- to 3-fold for 9 to 11 days; the estimated half-life was 5.8 to 8.1 days.Human clinical trial
    Source pmid-16352683
  • After repeated doses, IGF-1 stayed above baseline for up to 28 days, with evidence of accumulation.Human clinical trial
    Source pmid-16352683
  • The pulsatility study worked from a half-life of eight days.Human clinical trial
    Source pmid-17018654
  • In rats, the albumin-bound peptide was detectable within 15 minutes and remained in plasma beyond 72 hours.Animal, preclinical
    Source pmid-15817669

What is measured over time, and what is not

The hormone timeline is unusually well described for an unapproved peptide. After one injection, growth hormone rose within the first day and stayed 2- to 10-fold above baseline for six days or more; IGF-1 rose more slowly and stayed 1.5- to 3-fold above baseline for 9 to 11 days; with repeated doses it remained raised for up to 28 days and accumulated. In rats the peptide was on albumin within 15 minutes.

What was not measured is everything a person would notice. No trial recorded sleep, body composition, strength, skin or recovery at any time point, and nothing was measured after the 49-day trial ended. 'How long does it take to work' therefore has a hormonal answer, days, and no clinical answer at all.

Editorial synthesis Written from general pharmacology, the development record and what is commonly reported; not a cited finding. Cited findings on this page carry their own tier.

Study durations

Treatment and follow-up periods as stated in each abstract.

  • The two randomized trials ran 28 and 49 days.Human clinical trial
    Source pmid-16352683
  • Pulsatility was measured before and one week after a single injection.Human clinical trial
    Source pmid-17018654
  • Serum proteins were compared before and one week after injection in 11 healthy young men.Observational, human
    Source pmid-19386527
  • Five weeks of treatment in GHRH-knockout mice.Animal, preclinical
    Source pmid-16822960

Routes studied

Routes of administration named in each study.

  • Randomized controlled trial humans 2006 Human clinical trial
    administration by subcutaneous route reported
    CJC-1295 or placebo was administered sc in one of four ascending single doses in the first study and in two or three weekly or biweekly doses in the second study.
    Source pmid-16352683 · quoted verbatim from the abstract

Weight-normalized doses, as published

Per-kilogram figures exactly as each study published them, for the species it studied.

  • 30 or 60 micrograms per kilogram were the best-tolerated doses in the ascending-dose trials.Human clinical trial
    Source pmid-16352683
  • 60 or 90 micrograms per kilogram, single dose, in the GH pulsatility study.Human clinical trial
    Source pmid-17018654

Weight-normalized figures above are reproduced exactly as each study published them, for the species it studied. Dose does not scale linearly with body mass between species: metabolic rate, clearance and receptor density differ, and regulatory guidance uses allometric, not proportional, conversion. A mg/kg figure from a rat study is a fact about that rat study and nothing else.

What people report outside the literature

Forum reports are experiences, not evidence. One indexed study analysed them and is quoted here; the doses people describe are not reproduced. What circulates in user communities and clinic marketing, reported so a reader knows the figures and their origin. None of it has been tested in a trial, and none of it is a suggestion.

  • The one indexed study of user reports, a 2016 analysis of 23 forum threads by women, found CJC-1295 chosen for weight loss, muscle, skin, sleep and injury healing, with users worried that dosing and cycling had been worked out for men.Observational, human
    Source pmid-26771670
  • Outside that study, CJC-1295 circulates mostly paired with ipamorelin, injected subcutaneously, with the DAC form dosed weekly and the 'no DAC' form dosed daily before bed. Reported effects are better sleep, water retention, hunger and, over months, changes in body composition; reported complaints are injection-site reactions, flushing, headache and tingling. None of it comes from a study. The figures people quote were not taken from the trials, which dosed by body weight for at most 49 days, and are not reproduced here.Editorial synthesis
    Editorial synthesis from general knowledge
Method note · shared across compounds

Reconstitution mathematics

Lyophilised peptide is supplied as a mass in a vial and dissolved in a stated volume of diluent. Two figures follow from that and nothing else:

  • Concentration = mass in vial ÷ diluent volume. A 5 mg vial in 2 mL is 2.5 mg/mL, or 2,500 mcg/mL.
  • Volume for a given mass = that mass ÷ concentration. 250 mcg at 2,500 mcg/mL is 0.1 mL. On a U-100 insulin syringe, where 1 mL is 100 units, that is 10 units.

Study doses on this page are quoted as published, in the units the authors used. Converting between mcg, mg and IU, or between a mass and a syringe volume, is arithmetic; deciding a mass is not, and this page does not do it. The reconstitution calculator performs the conversion with the formula shown.

Method note · shared across compounds

Reading a certificate of analysis

A certificate of analysis is a laboratory report on one batch. Reading it means checking four things in order.

  1. Identity. Mass spectrometry should report an observed molecular mass matching the peptide's theoretical mass within the instrument's stated tolerance. A certificate with no mass spectrometry, or one that lists only the expected value, has not confirmed identity.
  2. Purity. HPLC purity is the area of the main peak as a share of all peaks, at a stated wavelength. It says nothing about what the other peaks are, and it is not a measure of quantity.
  3. Quantity. Net peptide content, by amino acid analysis or UV, is the fraction of the vial's mass that is peptide rather than counter-ions and water. A 5 mg vial at 80% net content holds 4 mg of peptide, and every concentration figure above changes accordingly.
  4. Provenance. The batch number on the certificate should match the vial, the laboratory should be named and independent of the seller, and the test date should be recent.

This page rates no supplier and links to none. It describes how to read the document.

Method note · shared across compounds

Equipment described in studies

Published human studies of injectable peptides report the same small set of materials: single-use insulin syringes with fixed needles, most often U-100 with 29 to 31 gauge needles; bacteriostatic water or sterile water for injection as diluent, with the choice stated in the methods; alcohol swabs; and refrigerated storage of reconstituted solution. Animal studies more often report intraperitoneal or intragastric administration and state the vehicle used. Where a study in this record's ledger names its materials or vehicle, that sentence appears under storage or routes above; where it does not, nothing is assumed here.

Storage and handling

No storage or stability study of CJC-1295 is indexed. Vendor sheets follow general practice for lyophilised peptides, refrigerated as powder and colder once in solution. The compound's albumin-reactive group is designed to react with thiols, which is a reason the manufacturer's handling instructions, if a vial has them, matter more than for an ordinary peptide; nothing about that has been published.

Editorial synthesis Written from general pharmacology, the development record and what is commonly reported; not a cited finding. Cited findings on this page carry their own tier.

Common mistakes in how CJC-1295 is discussed

  1. Giving Mod GRF 1-29 a half-life and a dose. The 'no DAC' compound has no human data. Its figures are sermorelin's, relabelled.
  2. Turning hormone results into body results. The trials showed growth hormone and IGF-1 rising. Fat loss, muscle, sleep and healing were never measured in any human study of this compound.
  3. Quoting milligram doses as if they were trial doses. The trials dosed by body weight for at most 49 days. The weekly and daily figures that circulate come from forums.
  4. Treating the phase 2 death as settled either way. One physician judged it unrelated; no further trial tested that. It is an open item, and the only long-exposure safety datum that exists.
  5. Calling it 'FDA category 2'. It was, from September 2023 to September 2024, then removed because the nominators withdrew it. It now sits on no category, which is worse for compounding, not better.
  6. Reading the stack as tested. CJC-1295 with ipamorelin has one mouse study of muscle under steroid-induced wasting. The pairing rationale is pharmacological, not clinical.

Editorial synthesis Written from general pharmacology, the development record and what is commonly reported; not a cited finding. Cited findings on this page carry their own tier.

CJC-1295 vs sermorelin, tesamorelin and ipamorelin

CJC-1295 beside the compounds it is most often compared with, from their own records.
CompoundWhat it isHuman evidenceHalf-life in peopleStatus
CJC-1295GRF(1-29) analogue, albumin-bound (DAC)Two 2006 trials in healthy adults; halted phase 25.8 to 8.1 daysNot approved; WADA S2
SermorelinGRF(1-29) acetate, unmodified; 579 indexed publications39 randomized trials; 21 human studies in its ledgerMinutesApproved 1990 for paediatric GH deficiency; later withdrawn from the US market; WADA S2
TesamorelinGRF(1-44) with a stabilising group; 115 indexed publications22 randomized trials; 20 human studies in its ledgerUnder an hourApproved 2010 for HIV-associated abdominal fat; WADA S2
IpamorelinGhrelin-receptor agonist, a different receptor; 63 indexed publications2 randomized trials; 6 human studies in its ledgerAbout two hoursNot approved; WADA S2

Tesamorelin is the closest comparator: a stabilised GHRH analogue that completed development for the indication ConjuChem was chasing. The direct comparisons this site holds are ipamorelin vs sermorelin and sermorelin vs tesamorelin; the pairing with ipamorelin has its own stack page.

Editorial synthesis Written from general pharmacology, the development record and what is commonly reported; not a cited finding. Cited findings on this page carry their own tier.

Other compounds in its class

Same class in the registry: Sermorelin, Tesamorelin. Each row shows what that compound's own record states; nothing is inferred across rows.

3 compounds in the ghrh analogs class. Each row states what that compound's own record says; nothing is inferred across rows.
CompoundTierPublicationsRCTsRecord
CJC-1295 Human clinical trial 37 1 draft
Sermorelin Approved label 579 39 draft
Tesamorelin Approved label 115 22 draft

CJC-1295 with ipamorelin: what has been tested

One mouse study tested CJC-1295 with ipamorelin. No human study has. The stack page holds the detail; this section says only what the combination evidence is.

Whether any indexed study tested CJC-1295 together with the compounds it is commonly combined with. A count of zero is the finding, not a gap in this page.

Regulatory status

Registry facts only. Jurisdiction-level status, compounding categories and sport prohibitions need their own cited documents before they appear here.

  • Not approved anywhere. ConjuChem took it to phase 2 for HIV-associated visceral fat and halted the programme in 2006; no company has developed it since. In the United States it is sold as a research chemical. FDA placed it in category 2 of the interim 503A bulk-substances list in September 2023, citing safety concerns, and removed it in September 2024 after the nominators withdrew it, so it sits on no category and cannot be compounded under 503A; the position has moved twice and the live list should be checked. WADA names CJC-1295 as an example under S2 (growth hormone releasing hormone and its analogues), prohibited at all times, and detection methods for it in urine, plasma and horse plasma make up a third of its indexed literature.Editorial synthesis
    Editorial synthesis from general knowledge · primary document to be added to the ledger

Open questions and limitations

What is genuinely unknown, stated plainly. A missing field is not evidence that the outcome is safe, effective, or established.

  • The halted 2006 phase 2 trial (HIV-associated visceral fat, 192 participants by secondary reports) was never published; its adverse-event data are the only long-exposure safety data that exist and are not available.
  • No study in this record's ledger reports dose-escalation schedules for CJC-1295.
  • No study in this record's ledger reports exclusion criteria for CJC-1295.

Questions people ask

What is CJC-1295?

CJC-1295 is a synthetic analogue of the first 29 amino acids of growth-hormone-releasing hormone, altered at four positions to resist breakdown and fitted with a linker (the Drug Affinity Complex, DAC) that binds it to albumin in the blood after injection. That binding stretches its half-life from minutes to about a week. It was developed by ConjuChem and tested in healthy adults in 2006; development stopped the same year.

Does CJC-1295 help with weight loss?

No human trial measured fat mass or weight. The 2006 trials measured growth hormone and IGF-1 only. In mice lacking GHRH, daily CJC-1295 kept body composition normal, which is a growth result in a deficient animal, not a fat-loss result. Weight loss is the commonest reason women on forums gave for using it, according to the 2016 netnography, and it has not been tested.

Is CJC-1295 banned in sport?

Yes. The WADA Prohibited List names CJC-1295 as an example under S2, growth hormone releasing hormone and its analogues, prohibited at all times in and out of competition. Detection methods in urine and blood make up a large share of its indexed literature.

Does CJC-1295 cause cancer?

No study has tested it. The concern is indirect: CJC-1295 raises IGF-1 for days to weeks, and sustained IGF-1 elevation is a theoretical risk for cell proliferation. The healthy-adult trials lasted at most 49 days and measured hormones, not tumours, so the question is open rather than answered either way.

What is the half-life of CJC-1295?

An estimated 5.8 to 8.1 days in healthy adults after a single subcutaneous injection, from the 2006 pharmacokinetic study; a second trial that year used a figure of 8 days. That is the DAC form, the only one measured in people. The short half-life quoted for CJC-1295 without DAC is borrowed from GRF(1-29) and sermorelin, not measured for that compound.

Is CJC-1295 FDA approved?

No. It never completed development. In September 2023 FDA placed it in category 2 of the interim 503A bulk-substances list, citing safety concerns, and in September 2024 removed it from that list after the nominators withdrew it, which leaves it on no category and not eligible for compounding. Check the live list; the position has moved twice in two years.

Does CJC-1295 increase testosterone?

No trial measured it, and there is no mechanism for it to. CJC-1295 acts on the GHRH receptor of the pituitary cells that make growth hormone; testosterone is driven by a different pituitary axis. Claims that it raises testosterone come from stacking discussions, not from any study.

Does CJC-1295 increase height?

Not in adults, whose growth plates are closed. The growth result comes from one-week-old mice lacking GHRH, in which daily CJC-1295 normalised length and weight. No child has been given it in a published study, and no human growth data exist.

What are the downsides of CJC-1295?

Sustained IGF-1 elevation of unknown long-term effect; a phase 2 programme halted after a death, judged unrelated by the attending physician but never followed by another trial; FDA's 2023 citation of increased heart rate and systemic vasodilatory reactions; prohibition in sport; and the fact that nothing it circulates for has been measured in a human study.

Has CJC-1295 been tested in humans?

Yes, more than most unapproved peptides. Two randomized, placebo-controlled trials in healthy adults aged 21 to 61 ran for 28 and 49 days in 2006, a pulsatility study gave healthy men one injection, and a proteomics study followed 11 men for a week. A 192-participant phase 2 trial in HIV-associated visceral fat was halted in 2006 and never published in full.

What did the trials actually show?

That one subcutaneous dose raises growth hormone 2- to 10-fold for six days or more and IGF-1 1.5- to 3-fold for 9 to 11 days, that repeated doses keep IGF-1 up for 28 days, and that growth-hormone pulses keep their rhythm while the troughs between them rise. They showed nothing about body composition, sleep or recovery, because those were not measured.

What is the difference between CJC-1295 with DAC and without DAC?

The DAC is the albumin-binding group that gives the compound its week-long half-life. 'Without DAC' is Mod GRF 1-29, the same stabilised GRF(1-29) without that group. Every human study used the DAC form; Mod GRF 1-29 has none, and its short half-life and daily dosing are inferred from sermorelin.

Is there a CJC-1295 dose?

The trials dosed by body weight: four ascending single doses with 30 and 60 micrograms per kilogram named as best tolerated, 60 or 90 micrograms per kilogram in the pulsatility study, and weekly or biweekly repeats for up to 49 days. No dose was established for any use, and the milligram figures that circulate did not come from these trials.

What are the side effects of CJC-1295?

The healthy-adult trials reported no serious adverse reactions and called the lower doses best tolerated. Beyond that, the record is one death in the halted phase 2 trial, judged unrelated by the attending physician, and FDA's 2023 citation of increased heart rate and systemic vasodilatory reactions. Common complaints on forums are flushing, headache, water retention and injection-site reactions.

Why did development of CJC-1295 stop?

ConjuChem halted its phase 2 trial in July 2006 after a participant died of a heart attack two hours after an eleventh weekly injection. The physician attributed it to undiagnosed coronary disease, but the company ended the programme as a precaution and no one has picked the compound up since.

Does CJC-1295 need to be taken with ipamorelin?

No study says so. The pairing rests on pharmacology: CJC-1295 acts on the GHRH receptor and ipamorelin on the ghrelin receptor, and the two pathways are additive in acute growth-hormone tests of other agents. The only study of the pair is in mice with steroid-induced muscle loss. The stack page holds the detail.

Is CJC-1295 an approved medicine?

No, anywhere. It reached phase 2 and stopped. In the United States it is sold as a research chemical, was on FDA's 503A category 2 list from September 2023 to September 2024, and is now on no category, so it cannot lawfully be compounded.

How is CJC-1295 detected in doping control?

By liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry in urine and plasma, with immunoaffinity or ultrafiltration clean-up. Detection papers, including one in horse plasma, make up about a third of the compound's indexed literature, which tells you where the research money has gone since 2006.

Which species has CJC-1295 been studied in?

Humans, in the 2006 trials; rats, in the 2005 development paper; mice lacking GHRH, in the 2006 growth study; and horses and pigs, in doping-detection work. The stack with ipamorelin was tested in mice.

What is Mod GRF 1-29?

Modified GRF(1-29): GRF(1-29) with D-alanine, glutamine, alanine and leucine substituted at positions 2, 8, 15 and 27 so that DPP-IV cannot degrade it. It is the intermediate from which CJC-1295 was built and is sold as 'CJC-1295 no DAC'. It has no human study of its own.

What did the mouse growth study show?

One-week-old mice lacking GHRH given 2 micrograms of CJC-1295 daily for five weeks grew to normal weight and length with normal body composition; every 48 or 72 hours worked less well. Their pituitaries made more growth-hormone mRNA. It is a replacement result in a deficient juvenile animal, not a result about adults.

Sources

Full citations. Every claim above links to one of these by its id.

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Reference card

Reference card · generated /compounds/cjc-1295
Compound
CJC-1295, ghrh analogs
Evidence tier
Human clinical trial
Indexed publications
37 · 1 RCTs · 1 other clinical trials
Approval
no registered development programme found
Routes reported
subcutaneous
Reviewed
Adam Mirando, PharmD,

Study figures are as published in each source and are not recommendations. Print or save this card with its date.

Last reviewed and what changed

Newest first. These are the record's own revision dates, and the same dates feed the sitemap.

  1. · Reviewed by Adam Mirando, PharmD, on 2026-09-25.
  2. · Label correction: 8 evidence rows built from detection and doping-control papers carried study designs such as animal or in-vitro work. They are relabelled Analytical method, the label scripts/draft_claims.py has applied since the rule was added; these rows predate it. pmid-38716080 (Animal study -> Analytical method); pmid-30938069 (Animal study -> Analytical method); pmid-23318763 (Animal study -> Analytical method); pmid-41138283 (In vitro study -> Analytical method); pmid-37806509 (In vitro study -> Analytical method); pmid-35298973 (In vitro study -> Analytical method); pmid-34736642 (In vitro study -> Analytical method); pmid-27710891 (In vitro study -> Analytical method)
  3. · Misattribution check: evidence_table (pmid-42578445): a review's collective sentence about six peptides is not one compound's evidence row. The sources stay in the ledger; only the claims that put another agent's result under this compound were removed.
  4. · Written under the sequencing rule after research/intents/cjc-1295.json: guide (8 sections incl. DAC vs Mod GRF 1-29), FAQ to 12 plus 11 from the map, extractive dose, weight-normalized, duration and timeline claims written by hand from the abstracts (the drafter's regex missed 'microg/kg'), mechanism, reported-use (netnography quoted), regulatory and adverse-event claims; two misdrafted interactions claims removed; intent-driven H1 and title. Triage: guide dose table renamed so it does not duplicate the claims section's H2.
  5. · Claims drafted extractively from 21 ledger sources by scripts/draft_claims.py: 17 claims, 16 evidence-table rows. Status researched -> draft.
  6. · Claims drafted extractively from 21 ledger sources by scripts/draft_claims.py: 23 claims, 16 evidence-table rows. Status researched -> draft.
  7. · Claims drafted extractively from 21 ledger sources by scripts/draft_claims.py: 24 claims, 16 evidence-table rows. Status researched -> draft.
  8. · Metadata refreshed by scripts/fetch_evidence.py --refresh-meta: tier animal-preclinical -> human-clinical-trial.
  9. · Evidence fetched from Europe PMC and ChEMBL by scripts/fetch_evidence.py; claims not yet written.