CJC-1295 is a synthetic copy of growth hormone–releasing hormone (GHRH), engineered to last in the body for days rather than minutes. It was tested in early human trials in the mid-2000s, abandoned by its developer, and now circulates only as a research chemical. It is not an approved medicine anywhere, and is banned at all times in tested sport by WADA.
Sermorelin is a synthetic fragment of natural GHRH, the hormone that tells the pituitary to release growth hormone. It was FDA-approved in 1990 as Geref for paediatric growth hormone deficiency, then withdrawn from the US market in 2008 for commercial, not safety, reasons. No regulator licenses it today. It now sells as a compounded "anti-ageing" injectable, untested in healthy adults at that scale.
Sermorelin sits at grade C; CJC-1295 at grade D. On evidence alone, Sermorelin is the safer recommendation. That said, "stronger evidence" doesn't always mean "right for you", read both pages, then talk to a clinician.
The Teichman 2006 Phase I trial established that a single dose raises GH and IGF-1 for several days. This is a pharmacokinetic finding, not a clinical outcome, no approved indication followed.
ConjuChem ran a Phase II trial for fat-redistribution in HIV-positive patients. The trial was halted in 2006 after a patient death; development of CJC-1295 was effectively abandoned soon after.
Widely used off-label in bodybuilding circles, often stacked with ipamorelin or other GH secretagogues. No controlled human trial has tested body-composition endpoints.
FDA-approved in 1990 as Geref Diagnostic for the GHRH stimulation test in children with suspected growth hormone deficiency. Robust historical use; product no longer marketed.
FDA-approved as Geref for the treatment of children with idiopathic growth hormone deficiency. Documented growth response in trials; superseded by recombinant human GH (somatropin) on convenience and efficacy. Withdrawn from market 2008 for commercial reasons.
Small studies and review articles from the 2000s argued sermorelin could partially restore the diminished nocturnal GH pulse seen in older adults. Sample sizes are small, follow-up short, and no modern RCT has tested hard outcomes (body composition, function, cardiometabolic events) at scale.
The safety profile in humans is essentially unknown. The Teichman Phase I trial reported headache, flushing, and injection-site reactions as the commonest dose-related adverse events. The class as a whole, GH secretagogues, is associated with reduced insulin sensitivity, raised blood glucose, and fluid retention at doses that meaningfully raise IGF-1, all of which are concerns for long-term, unsupervised use. There is also a well-recognised theoretical risk that sustained IGF-1 elevation could promote the growth of existing tumours; this has not been demonstrated for CJC-1295 specifically but is a standard caution across the GH/IGF-1 axis.
A single trial-participant death occurred during the 2006 ConjuChem lipodystrophy Phase II study; the attending physician's judgement was that the death (asymptomatic coronary disease with plaque rupture) was most likely unrelated to CJC-1295, but the study was halted and the programme was effectively abandoned shortly after. Online lore that has grown around this, including reports of unexplained deaths in users in subsequent years, is poorly documented and causation has not been established. We mention it because it is part of the public record, not because the link is proven.
In the paediatric record, sermorelin was generally well tolerated. The commonest issues were local injection-site reactions (redness, swelling, pain), occasional flushing and headache, and rare cases of dysphagia or transient hyperactivity. Antibodies against sermorelin were detected in a minority of children on long-term therapy; clinical significance was unclear. Because sermorelin works through the body's own GH/IGF-1 axis, it shares the theoretical long-term concerns of any GH-raising therapy: potential effects on glucose tolerance, the theoretical concern that chronically elevated IGF-1 could accelerate growth of pre-existing cancers, and unknowns around long-term exposure in healthy adults who weren't the original target population. Pregnancy and breastfeeding: avoid. Compounded sermorelin from a 503A pharmacy is not FDA-reviewed for purity, potency or stability the way an approved drug is, and US compounding has had repeated quality incidents across drug categories. People with active malignancy, uncontrolled diabetes, severe respiratory or cardiac illness, or pituitary disease should not use it outside specialist care.
Sermorelin sits at grade C; CJC-1295 at grade D. On evidence alone, Sermorelin is the safer recommendation. That said, "stronger evidence" doesn't always mean "right for you", read both pages, then talk to a clinician.
Pepwyse comparison pages are generated from the same structured data behind each peptide profile. Want a different head-to-head? Use the compare picker or ask Sermorelin directly via the Ask-Peppy button. Not medical advice, see how we grade evidence.