CJC-1295 vs sermorelin

Two GHRH analogues, one long-acting and one approved decades ago — what is the difference, and does either do anything measurable beyond a blood test?

No head-to-head trial — cross-trial comparison
In one paragraphBoth raise growth hormone; neither has been shown to change anything that matters. Sermorelin is the first 29 amino acids of GHRH, approved in 1990 as a diagnostic and paediatric drug and withdrawn commercially in 2008; it raises GH for about an hour. CJC-1295 is a modified version with a drug-affinity complex that keeps it circulating for days, so a single weekly dose sustains GH and IGF-1 elevation. Its development stopped before any efficacy trial. Both are banned in sport and neither has adult body-composition data worth the name.

Side by side

C CJC-1295C Sermorelin
LYO grade (GH/IGF-1 rise)BA
LYO grade (body composition)DC
Duration of GH stimulationDays (with DAC); hours withoutAbout an hour
Ever approvedNoYes (Geref, 1990–2008)
Human efficacy trialsNone; programme discontinuedPaediatric growth; small adult studies
US compoundingExcluded by advisory committee, Dec 2024Compounded on prescription; not in Category 2
WADAProhibited (S2.2.4)Prohibited (S2.2.4)
Verdict

CJC-1295 is the stronger tool for raising the marker and the weaker one on every other count: no approval, no efficacy trial, no long-term safety data. Sermorelin has a licence history and a predictable short action, and equally little adult outcome evidence.

Same hormone, different clock

GHRH is what the hypothalamus uses to tell the pituitary to release growth hormone in pulses. Sermorelin reproduces one pulse. CJC-1295 with its drug-affinity complex binds albumin and keeps stimulating for days, which in early-phase trials produced multi-fold GH increases and IGF-1 elevation lasting a week or more. Sustained rather than pulsatile stimulation is a different physiological state, and no one knows what years of it do.

What the blood test does not tell you

Raising GH or IGF-1 is easy to show and is what both peptides' evidence consists of. Whether that changes muscle, fat, recovery or ageing in healthy adults has not been demonstrated for either: CJC-1295 was never tested for it, and sermorelin's adult data are a handful of small, mostly open-label studies. Long-term IGF-1 elevation is also the mechanism by which growth hormone excess causes harm, which is the reason regulators and anti-doping bodies treat both with suspicion.

Regulatory position

Sermorelin sits in an unusual gap: its brand was approved and later withdrawn for commercial reasons, and pharmacies compound it on prescription in the US because it was never placed on the FDA's safety-risk list. CJC-1295 was reviewed by the FDA's compounding committee in December 2024 and excluded. Outside the US both are unlicensed medicines.

Questions people actually ask

Is CJC-1295 stronger than sermorelin?
At raising growth hormone for longer, yes — that is what the drug-affinity complex is for. Stronger at any outcome that matters has not been tested for either.
Is sermorelin legal?
It is compounded on prescription in the US and unlicensed elsewhere. It is prohibited in sport at all times.
What is 'CJC-1295 with DAC'?
The version with the drug-affinity complex that binds albumin and extends the half-life to about a week. 'Without DAC', often sold as mod GRF 1-29, is a short-acting analogue closer to sermorelin.

References

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