Data edition of
Residue An evidence-graded reference for peptide science

A peptide class of 5 compounds

Growth-hormone axis peptides

How do GHRH analogs differ from ghrelin-mimetic secretagogues?

An empty glass cylinder and a round-bottomed flask on ruled paper next to a closed oxblood notebook

Two different receptors drive this class. GHRH analogs — sermorelin, tesamorelin and CJC-1295 — mimic growth-hormone-releasing hormone at the pituitary; sermorelin is the 29-residue fragment with the full biological activity of GHRH1PubMedSermorelin: a review of its use in the diagnosis and treatment of children with idiopathic growth hormone deficiency. Prakash A & Goa KL BioDrugs. 1999.. Ghrelin mimetics such as ipamorelin act instead at the GH-secretagogue (ghrelin) receptor2PubMedIpamorelin, the first selective growth hormone secretagogue. Raun K et al. Eur J Endocrinol. 1998.. AOD-9604 is neither: it is a modified C-terminal fragment of growth hormone itself that does not bind the GH receptor3PubMedIncrease of fat oxidation and weight loss in obese mice caused by chronic treatment with human growth hormone or a modified C-terminal fragment. Heffernan MA et al. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord. 2001..

Only tesamorelin is currently marketed in the US as an approved drug, for excess abdominal fat in HIV-associated lipodystrophy4FDADrugs@FDA: EGRIFTA (BLA022505). THERATECHNOLOGIES; original approval 2010-11-10; Prescription.. Sermorelin was approved as Geref and is listed as discontinued5FDADrugs@FDA: GEREF (NDA019863). EMD SERONO; original approval 1990-12-28; Discontinued.. FDA has placed ipamorelin acetate in compounding Category 2 for outsourcing facilities and lists safety concerns for CJC-1295 and AOD-96046FDACertain Bulk Drug Substances for Use in Compounding that May Present Significant Safety Risks. U.S. FDA, content current as of 04/22/2026..

Table 1. Growth-hormone axis peptides on Residue, by best evidence grade. Bars show PubMed records on a log scale; counts are from the data edition.
GradeCompoundClassLiteratureRegistered studies
A SermorelinApproved product discontinued (Geref) GHRH & GHRP 366 27 · 1 active
A TesamorelinFDA-approved — Egrifta (2010) GHRH & GHRP 105 24 · 3 active
C IpamorelinNot FDA-approved · FDA compounding Category 2 (503B) GHRH & GHRP 51 3 · 1 active
C CJC-1295Not FDA-approved · FDA compounding nomination withdrawn GHRH & GHRP 35 1
D AOD-9604Not FDA-approved · FDA compounding nomination withdrawn GHRH & GHRP 22 0

Monographs in this class

  • A
    Sermorelin

    The 29-residue fragment of growth-hormone-releasing hormone — once an FDA-approved product, now discontinued, and far better studied in children than in the adults who search for it.

  • A
    Tesamorelin

    A synthetic GHRH analog and the only growth-hormone-axis peptide on this site with a current FDA approval: reducing excess abdominal fat in people with HIV-associated lipodystrophy.

  • C
    Ipamorelin

    A five-residue ghrelin-receptor agonist described in 1998 as the first selective growth-hormone secretagogue — with one published human efficacy trial, which missed its endpoints.

  • C
    CJC-1295

    A long-acting GHRH analog that held growth hormone and IGF-1 above baseline for days after one injection in healthy adults — and then left clinical development with almost no further published human data.

  • D
    AOD-9604

    A modified C-terminal fragment of human growth hormone, developed as an obesity drug in the early 2000s. The peer-reviewed record is rodent studies; the human trials were never published in PubMed.

Comparisons

References

Every source below was retrieved from its official API or page and cached on the data-edition date. Numbers match the margin notes.

  1. 1 PubMed Prakash A, Goa KL. Sermorelin: a review of its use in the diagnosis and treatment of children with idiopathic growth hormone deficiency. BioDrugs 1999. PMID 18031173; doi:10.2165/00063030-199912020-00007.
  2. 2 PubMed Raun K, Hansen BS, Johansen NL, et al. Ipamorelin, the first selective growth hormone secretagogue. Eur J Endocrinol 1998. PMID 9849822; doi:10.1530/eje.0.1390552.
  3. 3 PubMed Heffernan MA, Thorburn AW, Fam B, et al. Increase of fat oxidation and weight loss in obese mice caused by chronic treatment with human growth hormone or a modified C-terminal fragment. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 2001. PMID 11673763; doi:10.1038/sj.ijo.0801740.
  4. 4 FDA Drugs@FDA: EGRIFTA (BLA022505). THERATECHNOLOGIES; original approval 2010-11-10; Prescription.
  5. 5 FDA Drugs@FDA: GEREF (NDA019863). EMD SERONO; original approval 1990-12-28; Discontinued.
  6. 6 FDA Certain Bulk Drug Substances for Use in Compounding that May Present Significant Safety Risks. U.S. FDA, content current as of 04/22/2026.