CJC-1295

What it is

CJC-1295 is a synthetic growth hormone-releasing hormone analog developed by ConjuChem as a longer-acting peptide intended to stimulate endogenous growth hormone secretion^{[11 ,14 ]}. It is part of the broader GHRH analog family, which also includes historically approved or currently approved products such as sermorelin and tesamorelin, but CJC-1295 itself has never been approved by FDA for any indication^{[3 –10 ]}.

CJC-1295 vs. CJC-1295 DAC

The term “CJC-1295” is often used imprecisely in commercial and public discourse. FDA’s December 2024 compounding review treated CJC-1295 without drug affinity complex and CJC-1295 with drug affinity complex (DAC) as distinct active moieties, and reviewed five related bulk drug substances: CJC-1295 free base, CJC-1295 acetate, CJC-1295 DAC free base, CJC-1295 DAC acetate, and CJC-1295 DAC trifluoroacetate^{[9 –10 ]}. This distinction matters because the DAC version is designed to bind albumin and has substantially different pharmacokinetics from shorter-acting modified GHRH(1-29)-type products^{[9 ,11 –12 ]}.

Mechanism

Mechanistically, CJC-1295 acts upstream of growth hormone. GHRH binds receptors on pituitary somatotroph cells and stimulates growth hormone secretion; growth hormone then affects downstream mediators including insulin-like growth factor 1, or IGF-1^{[11 –14 ]}. The DAC version incorporates a reactive group intended to form a covalent bond with endogenous albumin, extending circulating exposure compared with native GHRH or shorter GHRH analogs^{[11 –12 ,14 ]}.

The strongest published human data show that CJC-1295 can increase growth hormone and IGF-1 concentrations in healthy adults for days after subcutaneous administration^{[11 –12 ]}. Those studies measured endocrine pharmacology, not clinical outcomes. They do not establish that CJC-1295 treats growth hormone deficiency, improves athletic performance, reduces fat, builds muscle, improves sleep, accelerates injury recovery, or slows aging.

Public wellness marketing frequently combines CJC-1295 with ipamorelin or other growth hormone secretagogues. No FDA-approved combination product exists, and no robust clinical trial evidence was identified establishing such combinations for anti-aging, body composition, sports recovery, or general wellness. This page describes published research and regulatory status only; it does not provide dosing instructions or individualized medical guidance.

Regulatory status

CJC-1295 is not FDA-approved for any indication. No FDA-approved finished drug product containing CJC-1295 was identified in the sources reviewed for this draft. FDA’s December 2024 CJC-1295 briefing document states that there is no applicable USP or NF drug-substance monograph for the CJC-1295-related substances FDA evaluated and that none of those substances is a component of an FDA-approved drug^{[9 ]}.

503A bulks-list status

Under section 503A of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, state-licensed pharmacies and physicians compounding from bulk drug substances generally may use only substances that comply with an applicable USP/NF monograph, are components of FDA-approved drug products when no monograph exists, or appear on FDA’s 503A bulks list^{[3 ]}. FDA’s April 22, 2026 503A nominated-substances category PDF does not list CJC-1295-related substances in Category 1, Category 2, or Category 3^{[4 ]}.

FDA’s December 4, 2024 Pharmacy Compounding Advisory Committee specifically reviewed CJC-1295-related bulk drug substances for growth hormone deficiency^{[8 –10 ]}. The committee voted 0 yes, 13 no, and 0 abstentions for adding CJC-1295 free base to the 503A bulks list; 1 yes, 12 no, and 0 abstentions for CJC-1295 acetate; and 0 yes, 13 no, and 0 abstentions for CJC-1295 DAC free base, CJC-1295 DAC acetate, and CJC-1295 DAC trifluoroacetate^{[10 ]}. FDA’s briefing document stated that the evaluation criteria weighed against placing these substances on the 503A bulks list^{[9 ]}.

503B and FDA safety-risk listing

For 503B outsourcing facilities, FDA states that an outsourcing facility may compound a drug product using a bulk drug substance only if the substance appears on FDA’s 503B bulks list or the drug compounded from the substance appears on FDA’s drug shortage list at the time of compounding, distribution, and dispensing^{[5 ]}. CJC-1295-related substances were not identified on the FDA 503B category list reviewed for this draft^{[6 ]}. FDA’s safety-risk page lists CJC-1295 among bulk drug substances nominated but withdrawn and states that compounded drugs containing CJC-1295 may pose immunogenicity and peptide-impurity risks; FDA also identified serious adverse events associated with CJC-1295, including increased heart rate and systemic vasodilatory reaction, while noting that available clinical data are limited^{[7 ]}.

Phase 2 trial termination

FDA’s December 2024 briefing document also noted that ConjuChem withdrew CJC-1295 DAC from clinical trials in 2006 after the death of a subject in a phase 2 trial, and that the unpublished study data were not available for FDA’s review in that briefing package^{[9 ]}. The document describes the attending physician’s explanation as suspected asymptomatic coronary artery disease with plaque rupture and occlusion, but the study termination remains an important part of the regulatory risk context^{[9 ]}.

Controlled-substance and anti-doping status

CJC-1295 is not listed in the federal controlled-substance schedules in 21 CFR Part 1308 as reviewed for this draft^{[17 ]}. Lack of DEA scheduling does not make an unapproved drug lawful to sell, prescribe, or compound for human use. For athletes, anti-doping status is separate: the 2026 WADA Prohibited List includes GHRH and its analogues, including CJC-1295, under S2 peptide hormones, growth factors, related substances, and mimetics^{[18 ]}.

Date of last regulatory verification: May 5, 2026.

Research summary

CJC-1295 has more human pharmacology data than many grey-market peptides, but the data remain narrow and old. The best-known clinical study was published by Teichman and colleagues in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism in 2006^{[11 ]}. It consisted of two randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, ascending-dose trials in healthy adults aged 21 to 61 years, lasting 28 and 49 days^{[11 ]}. Participants received subcutaneous CJC-1295 or placebo in single-dose or repeated-dose designs^{[11 ]}.

In the Teichman study, a single CJC-1295 injection produced dose-dependent increases in mean plasma growth hormone concentrations by 2- to 10-fold for at least six days and mean plasma IGF-1 concentrations by 1.5- to 3-fold for nine to eleven days^{[11 ]}. The estimated half-life was 5.8 to 8.1 days^{[11 ]}. After multiple administrations, mean IGF-1 concentrations remained above baseline for up to 28 days^{[11 ]}. The authors reported no serious adverse reactions in that short-duration healthy-volunteer setting^{[11 ]}.

Pulsatility and physiology

Ionescu and Frohman published a related study of growth hormone pulsatility in healthy men after a single CJC-1295 injection^{[12 ]}. The study used 20-minute blood sampling over an overnight 12-hour period before and one week after CJC-1295 administration^{[12 ]}. The authors found that CJC-1295 increased trough and mean growth hormone secretion and increased IGF-1 while preserving pulsatile growth hormone secretion^{[12 ]}. This finding is often cited to support the claim that CJC-1295 is more physiologic than direct growth hormone administration, but it remains a short endocrine physiology study in healthy men^{[12 ]}.

Sackmann-Sala and colleagues later used serum proteomic profiling to evaluate biomarkers of GH/IGF-1 axis activation in healthy adult subjects given CJC-1295^{[13 ]}. The study was exploratory and focused on identifying serum protein changes that might reflect GH/IGF-1 activity or assist in detecting growth hormone abuse^{[13 ]}. It did not test patient-centered outcomes or establish clinical benefit for a disease indication^{[13 ]}.

Preclinical models

Preclinical research supports the pharmacologic rationale for a long-acting GHRH analog. Jette and colleagues described hGRF(1-29)-albumin bioconjugates and identified CJC-1295 as a long-lasting GRF analog that activated the GRF receptor in rats^{[14 ]}. Alba and colleagues studied CJC-1295 in GHRH knockout mice and reported growth normalization with once-daily administration over five weeks^{[15 ]}. These studies show biological plausibility and animal-model effects, but they cannot be translated directly into human claims about growth hormone deficiency treatment, aging, recovery, or body composition.

FDA review

FDA’s December 2024 briefing document reviewed the published human studies and the available safety context for the CJC-1295-related substances considered for 503A compounding^{[9 ]}. FDA noted that the reviewed human publications involved a total of 63 healthy adults exposed to CJC-1295 DAC of unspecified form, that most participants were male, and that most received only one dose^{[9 ]}. FDA also stated that long-term safety in humans is unknown, that there was no safety information in children, and that the nominated use was growth hormone deficiency, a chronic condition^{[9 ]}.

No large, modern randomized clinical trial was identified establishing CJC-1295 for adult or pediatric growth hormone deficiency, HIV lipodystrophy, obesity, sarcopenia, sleep disorders, injury recovery, athletic performance, or anti-aging. A prior phase 2 lipodystrophy trial was terminated after a participant death and was not published^{[9 ]}. Claims for broad wellness use are therefore substantially stronger in public marketing than in the peer-reviewed human literature.

Public discourse

Eric Topol, MD, cardiologist and director of Scripps Research Translational Institute, criticized the public use of unapproved peptides marketed for wellness and performance^{[19 ]}.

Gary Brecka, wellness influencer and self-described biohacker, was reported by AP to sell products including ipamorelin and CJC-1295 and was quoted on his public framing of peptides^{[19 ]}. This is marketing-oriented commentary and should not be interpreted as evidence of safety, efficacy, or legality.

Paul Knoepfler, PhD, cell biologist at the University of California, Davis, discussed quality and impurity risks in research-grade peptide products sold outside conventional drug channels^{[19 ]}.

Anita Gupta, DO, MPP, PharmD, Johns Hopkins physician and former FDA compounding committee member, emphasized the long-term safety question for patients asking about unapproved peptides^{[19 ]}.

Sohaib Imtiaz, MD, chief medical officer at People Inc. Health Group, discussed unregulated peptides including CJC-1295 and ipamorelin in the context of anti-aging and performance marketing^{[20 ]}.

Public discourse reflects the views of the speakers cited and does not represent medical advice or the editorial position of ProPeptideGuide.

Side effects and safety

CJC-1295 has no FDA-approved prescribing information, so there is no regulator-reviewed label defining contraindications, common adverse reactions, drug interactions, pregnancy warnings, or long-term monitoring requirements^{[3 –10 ]}. Safety information comes from small clinical studies, FDA compounding-risk review, anti-doping literature, and general concerns about unapproved injectable products.

Adverse events in published studies

In FDA’s review of the Teichman study, injection-site reactions were common among CJC-1295-treated subjects, and FDA summarized other adverse events including headache, diarrhea, flushing, warmth, transient hypotension, nausea or abdominal pain, transient involuntary leg muscle contractions, and some loss of coordination^{[9 ,11 ]}. FDA’s review of the Ionescu and Frohman study noted dose-dependent increases in heart rate and transient redness and tenderness at the injection site^{[9 ,12 ]}. FDA concluded that some adverse events warranted further study, especially for populations at risk for falls or heart disease^{[9 ]}.

Compounding-related risks

FDA’s safety-risk page states that compounded drugs containing CJC-1295 may pose immunogenicity risks for certain routes of administration and may have complexities related to peptide impurities and active pharmaceutical ingredient characterization^{[7 ]}. These concerns are especially relevant for injectable products because impurities, aggregation, incorrect identity, endotoxin contamination, and sterility failures can create risks that are not captured by small healthy-volunteer studies^{[7 ,9 ]}.

Theoretical mechanism-based concerns

The growth hormone/IGF-1 mechanism raises additional theoretical concerns. CJC-1295 is intended to stimulate endogenous growth hormone and IGF-1^{[11 –14 ]}. Growth hormone and IGF-1 pathways affect glucose metabolism, fluid balance, soft-tissue growth, sleep-disordered breathing risk, and tumor-biology questions in some clinical contexts^{[9 ,11 –14 ]}. The available CJC-1295 human studies are too small and short to define long-term risk in people using the compound for wellness, body composition, or aging^{[9 ,11 –13 ]}.

Grey-market sourcing

Grey-market sourcing adds separate risks. A Drug Testing and Analysis paper described identification of a CJC-1295-like peptide in an unknown pharmaceutical preparation submitted by Norwegian police and customs authorities^{[16 ]}. AP reporting in 2026 also described research-use peptide labeling, uncertain sourcing, and quality concerns in the unapproved peptide market^{[19 ]}. None of these sources establish that any given online product is safe, sterile, correctly labeled, or lawful.

For competitive athletes, CJC-1295 is prohibited under WADA’s S2 category for peptide hormones, growth factors, related substances, and mimetics^{[18 ]}. Anti-doping status does not depend on whether a product is FDA-approved or prescribed.

Available through

CJC-1295 is not currently available through FDA-compliant prescription or compounding channels in the United States as of 2026-05-05^{[3 –10 ]}. It is not FDA-approved, is not a component of an FDA-approved drug, was not recommended for 503A bulks-list inclusion by FDA’s Pharmacy Compounding Advisory Committee, and was not identified on FDA’s 503B bulks list or 503B category list reviewed for this draft^{[3 –10 ]}.

ProPeptideGuide does not link to or endorse grey-market vendors, research-chemical sellers, online peptide shops, clinics advertising noncompliant CJC-1295, or compounded CJC-1295/ipamorelin products marketed for anti-aging, recovery, fat loss, bodybuilding, or wellness use.