Informational only. Not medical advice.INFORMATIONAL PLATFORM ONLY — NOT MEDICAL ADVICE, DIAGNOSIS, OR TREATMENT
Informational only. Not medical advice.INFORMATIONAL PLATFORM ONLY — NOT MEDICAL ADVICE, DIAGNOSIS, OR TREATMENT
Head-to-head comparison of AOD-9604 and CJC-1295 — mechanism, side effects, legal status, and pricing.
AOD-9604 is a 16-amino-acid synthetic peptide corresponding to the C-terminal fragment of human growth hormone (residues 177-191) with an additional N-terminal tyrosine. Developed by Metabolic Pharmaceuticals (Australia) to isolate a purported 'lipolytic' activity of GH without GH-receptor-mediated growth or diabetogenic effects. AOD-9604 is NOT FDA-approved for any indication; controlled human trials for obesity did not demonstrate clinically meaningful weight loss, and obesity development was terminated in 2007.
CJC-1295 is a synthetic tetrasubstituted analog of growth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH 1-29) originally developed by ConjuChem. The name historically refers to the DAC-modified (Drug Affinity Complex) form that covalently binds serum albumin, producing a 6–8 day half-life; a separate no-DAC form (also called Modified GRF 1-29) shares the same tetrasubstituted backbone but lacks the albumin-linking maleimidopropionyl-lysine and has a half-life of roughly 30 minutes. Not FDA-approved in any form; ConjuChem halted Phase 2 development around 2007 after a patient death in an HIV-lipodystrophy trial (ultimately judged by investigators to be unrelated to the drug, but development was terminated regardless).
AOD-9604
CJC-1295
Category
Legal Status
Mechanism
Half-life
Side Effects
COA-verified vendors · trust score ≥70 required · single-vial price — bulk/bundle deals may be lower
AOD-9604
CJC-1295
COA corpus from Disclosed Labs — independently tested batches only.
AOD-9604
97
COAs
99.5%
Avg purity
16
Labs
CJC-1295
115
COAs
98.8%
Avg purity
12
Labs
CJC-1295 is among peptides under FDA review for the Category 1 (503A) list; if added, it would require a prescription to be compounded by registered 503A/503B pharmacies — not yet authorized. AOD-9604 remains research-only. In April 2026 the FDA removed 12 peptides from Category 2, which does not place them on the Category 1 list or authorize compounding. The FDA's Pharmacy Compounding Advisory Committee is advisory and meets July 23–24, 2026 to review nominations and make recommendations to the FDA.
Clinical: AOD-9604 went through six randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase 1/2 trials across approximately 900 subjects (Stier et al., J Endocrinol Metab 2013). These established a safety profile indistinguishable from placebo — no effect on IGF-1, no impairment of glucose tolerance, no anti-AOD-9604 antibodies — but did NOT demonstrate clinically meaningful weight loss. A 24-week Phase 2b trial (~536 obese subjects) failed its primary efficacy endpoint and Metabolic Pharmaceuticals / Calzada terminated obesity development in 2007. Preclinical: Heffernan et al. (Int J Obes 2001, PMID 11673763; Endocrinology 2001, PMID 11713213) reported reduced body-weight gain and increased fat oxidation in obese mice and showed the lipolytic action did not require direct β3-AR agonism (β3-knock-out animals still responded). Ng et al. (Horm Res 2000, PMID 11146367) reported metabolic effects in obese Zucker rats without insulin-sensitivity impairment. Osteoarthritis exploration is limited to preclinical animal work — Kwon & Park (Ann Clin Lab Sci 2015, PMID 26275694) reported intra-articular AOD-9604 plus hyaluronic acid was superior to either alone in a collagenase-induced rabbit OA model; no adequately powered human OA trial has been published. Regulatory: NOT FDA-approved; widely-cited 'FDA GRAS' status has not been confirmed in the FDA GRAS Notice Inventory. PCAC voted AGAINST including AOD-9604 on the 503A Bulks List on December 4, 2024.
Key references
In healthy adults, single SubQ doses of CJC-1295 (with DAC) elevated plasma GH 2- to 10-fold for ≥6 days and IGF-1 1.5- to 3-fold for 9–11 days (Teichman et al., JCEM 2006), and pulsatile GH secretion was preserved rather than suppressed during continuous stimulation (Ionescu & Frohman, JCEM 2006). Despite these Phase 1/2 findings, ConjuChem halted Phase 2 lipodystrophy development in 2006–2007 after a trial participant died of a myocardial infarction; the event was deemed most likely due to pre-existing coronary disease, but the program was not resumed. No CJC-1295 form is FDA-approved for any indication. Grey-market use almost always refers to the no-DAC / Modified GRF 1-29 form, often stacked with ipamorelin; neither variant is clinically validated for anti-aging, body composition, or performance indications.
AOD-9604 (Metabolic) and CJC-1295 (Performance) are in different categories and target different biological pathways. This is a common pattern in multi-compound research protocols. Researchers should monitor the biomarkers from both profiles and watch for interactions listed in each compound’s contraindications. Consult a licensed healthcare provider before combining any research compounds.
This platform provides informational tools only, not medical advice. This comparison is for educational purposes only. Consult a licensed provider.
Contraindications
Lab Testing
Key references
Disclosed Labs