Peptide Evidence Index
CJC-1295
Quick answers
- What is it?
- CJC-1295 is a synthetic, chemically stabilized version of growth-hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH). It exists in two different chemical forms — a long-acting 'with DAC' version and a shorter-acting 'without DAC' version — sold under the same name.
- Why are people interested in it?
- It's marketed for muscle growth, fat loss and anti-aging, but the only published human data covers the long-acting DAC version's hormone effects in small safety trials, not any of those outcomes.
- What has actually been studied?
- Small, published, randomized, placebo-controlled Phase 1 dose-finding studies of the DAC version in healthy adults (tracking growth hormone and IGF-1 levels), plus a larger Phase 2 trial in HIV-associated visceral obesity that was terminated with no results ever released.
- How strong is the evidence?
- Early human data, and only for one of the two versions sold. The DAC version raises growth hormone and IGF-1 for days in healthy adults, but no trial has tested whether that helps any health condition.
- What don't we know yet?
- Whether the 'without DAC' version, most commonly sold today, does anything in humans at all; what the terminated obesity trial found; and whether raising growth hormone this way produces any functional benefit.
- Where can I read the original research?
- Sources at the bottom of this page: Teichman et al., Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism 2006; ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00267527.
Plain-English overview
CJC-1295 is a synthetic, chemically modified version of growth-hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH), the natural signal that tells the pituitary gland to release growth hormone. Two chemically distinct versions are sold under this one name: 'with DAC,' which is bound to a molecule that attaches to blood albumin and extends its effect from minutes to days, and 'without DAC' (also called Modified GRF 1-29), which behaves like a short-acting GHRH analog. Nearly all published human research tested only the long-acting DAC version, in small, industry-funded Phase 1 studies of healthy adults. A larger trial that tried to test the DAC version as a treatment for a real medical condition, HIV-associated visceral obesity, was terminated and never reported what it found. The 'without DAC' version most commonly sold today has essentially no dedicated published human data of its own. It is not approved as a medicine anywhere.
What researchers are studying it for
- growth hormone / IGF-1 response and safety in healthy adults (DAC version)
- HIV-associated visceral obesity (terminated trial)
Current evidence level
Regulatory status: Not an approved medicine. Evidence strength and approval are scored separately; approval is a regulatory decision about a specific use, not a measure of how much research exists.
Human research
Only one CJC-1295 trial is registered on ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT00267527, a Phase 2 study in 120 people with HIV-associated visceral obesity, sponsored by ConjuChem, the company that developed the DAC technology. It was terminated, and no results have ever been posted. Separately, the hormonal effects of the DAC version were established in two randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind Phase 1 ascending-dose studies in healthy adults aged 21 to 61, lasting 28 and 49 days, published directly in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism rather than registered on ClinicalTrials.gov. Those studies found that a single injection produced dose-dependent increases in growth hormone for 6 days or more and in IGF-1 for 9 to 11 days, with an estimated drug half-life of 5.8 to 8.1 days, and no serious adverse reactions reported. A follow-up study in healthy men found that growth hormone secretion after CJC-1295 remained pulsatile — it didn't just flatten hormone levels — with trough (baseline) growth hormone levels raised roughly 7.5-fold. A related proteomic study in 11 healthy men looked for blood-protein biomarkers of this hormone activity. None of these studies measured a disease outcome, muscle mass, fat loss, or any functional or cosmetic result — they measured hormone levels only. No dedicated human study of the 'without DAC' version, the form most often sold today, was found.
Animal and preclinical research
In animal studies, the long-acting DAC version has been reported to raise growth hormone and IGF-1 and to enhance growth in rats, consistent with its intended mechanism as a long-lasting GHRH mimic.
Major findings
- Published, randomized, placebo-controlled Phase 1 studies found that a single dose of the long-acting DAC version raised growth hormone for 6 or more days and IGF-1 for 9 to 11 days in healthy adults, in a dose-dependent way.
- The drug's estimated half-life in these studies was 5.8 to 8.1 days, and no serious adverse reactions were reported over the study periods.
- A follow-up study found growth hormone secretion stayed pulsatile after CJC-1295 dosing, with trough growth hormone levels raised about 7.5-fold.
- A Phase 2 trial testing the DAC version for HIV-associated visceral obesity in 120 people was terminated, and no results were ever released.
- No dedicated human study of the 'without DAC' version — the form most commonly sold today — was found at all.
- No human trial of any kind has tested CJC-1295 for muscle growth, fat loss, or anti-aging in healthy adults.
What has not been established
- Whether the 'without DAC' version does anything at all in humans — it has no dedicated trial data.
- What the terminated HIV-obesity trial found, and why it stopped.
- Whether raising growth hormone this way translates into any real functional or cosmetic benefit.
- What repeated, long-term use of either version does, since no study has run that long.
- Whether combining it with other secretagogues, a common marketing practice, changes its safety profile.
Important limitations
- The human hormone-level studies are small (11 to a few dozen healthy adults) and measured blood hormone levels, not any health outcome.
- The one trial that tested an actual medical condition was terminated before reporting a result.
- Almost all human data covers only one of the two chemically different products sold under this name.
- The original studies were funded by the drug's commercial developer.
- No study has tracked use beyond a matter of weeks.
Regulatory status
CJC-1295 is not approved as a medicine anywhere.
Primary research sources
- Teichman SL, Neale A, Lawrence B, Gagnon C, Castaigne JP, Frohman LA, "Prolonged stimulation of growth hormone (GH) and insulin-like growth factor I secretion by CJC-1295, a long-acting analog of GH-releasing hormone, in healthy adults"
- Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism 2006; PMID 16352683, DOI 10.1210/jc.2005-1536
- Ionescu M, Frohman LA, "Pulsatile secretion of growth hormone (GH) persists during continuous stimulation by CJC-1295, a long-acting GH-releasing hormone analog"
- Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism 2006; PMID 17018654, DOI 10.1210/jc.2006-1702
- Sackmann-Sala L, Ding J, Frohman LA, Kopchick JJ, "Activation of the GH/IGF-1 axis by CJC-1295, a long-acting GHRH analog, results in serum protein profile changes in normal adult subjects"
- Growth Hormone & IGF Research 2009; PMID 19386527, DOI 10.1016/j.ghir.2009.03.001
- CJC 1295 in HIV-infected patients with HIV-associated visceral obesity
- ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00267527, n=120, Phase 2, ConjuChem, terminated, no results posted
- Dominikowski A, Rękoś Z, Olejarz M, Szczepanek-Parulska E, Domin R, Ruchała M, "The emerging landscape of performance-enhancing peptides modulating the GH-IGF1 axis"
- Frontiers in Endocrinology 2026; PMID 42395176, DOI 10.3389/fendo.2026.1822475
Full evidence entry (complete data, registry records, dosing evidence)
At a glance
- Also known as
- CJC-1295 with DAC, CJC-1295 without DAC, Modified GRF (1-29), DAC:GRF
- Class
- Synthetic growth-hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH) analog
- Derived from
- A modified, stabilized version of the first 29 amino acids of human growth-hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH); a separate chemical variant is additionally attached to a molecule that binds blood albumin (\"DAC\"), extending its effect from minutes to days
- Registered human trials
- 1
- …with published results
- 0
- Largest human trial
- 120 people with HIV-associated visceral obesity (Phase 2, ConjuChem) — terminated, with no results ever posted. Separately, small Phase 1 studies of the long-acting \"DAC\" version in healthy adults were published directly in medical journals rather than registered on ClinicalTrials.gov.
- Studied for
- growth hormone / IGF-1 response and safety in healthy adults (small published Phase 1 studies of the long-acting \"DAC\" version), HIV-associated visceral obesity (terminated trial)
- Dosing evidence
- Safety studies onlySmall, published Phase 1 studies established that injected doses of the long-acting \"DAC\" version raise growth hormone and IGF-1 for days to weeks in healthy adults — but no trial has ever tested whether any dose improves a health condition, and none of this applies to the shorter-acting \"without DAC\" version most commonly sold today.
- Regulatory status
- Not approved as a medicine anywhere.
What it is
CJC-1295 is a synthetic, chemically modified version of growth-hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH), the natural signal the hypothalamus sends to the pituitary gland to release growth hormone. The modifications make it more stable than the natural hormone, which normally breaks down within minutes.
There are two distinct chemical versions sold under the same name, and the difference matters more here than for most peptides in this library:
- "CJC-1295 with DAC" is additionally attached to a small molecule that causes it to bind albumin,
a blood protein, extending its effect from minutes to days.
- "CJC-1295 without DAC" (also sold as "Modified GRF 1-29") lacks that attachment and behaves
closer to a short-acting GHRH analog.
Nearly all of the human research described below tested the long-acting "with DAC" version. Products sold today are often the "without DAC" version, which has essentially no dedicated published human data of its own.
What the studies actually found
In animal studies, the long-acting DAC version has been reported to raise growth hormone and IGF-1 and to enhance growth in rats.
In humans, the DAC version was tested in small, short Phase 1 studies in healthy adults, funded by its original developer. Those studies found real, measurable effects: injections raised growth hormone and IGF-1 levels for roughly a week or more after a single dose, in a dose-dependent way, with no serious adverse reactions reported over the study periods. A separate, larger trial then tried to test whether the same drug could reduce excess abdominal fat in people with HIV-associated visceral obesity — a genuine medical condition. That trial was terminated, and its results were never released.
What exists in humans
Only one CJC-1295 trial is registered on ClinicalTrials.gov: the Phase 2 study in 120 people with HIV-associated visceral obesity, sponsored by ConjuChem (the company that developed the DAC technology). It was terminated, and no results have ever been posted.
The Phase 1 studies that established CJC-1295's hormonal effects in healthy adults were not found registered on ClinicalTrials.gov at all — they appear to have been conducted and published directly in medical journals, which was common for early-phase industry studies. Those published studies are real and their findings are public, but they involved only small numbers of healthy volunteers, over a matter of weeks, and measured hormone levels — not any disease outcome.
No human trial of any kind — registered or published — has tested CJC-1295 for muscle growth, fat loss, or anti-aging in healthy adults, which is how it is overwhelmingly marketed today. And no dedicated human study of the "without DAC" version, the form most commonly sold, was found at all.
What doses have been studied in humans
The published Phase 1 studies gave healthy adult volunteers single or repeated injections of the long-acting "DAC" version at several dose levels, then tracked blood hormone levels for weeks afterward — a safety and pharmacodynamic study, not a test of any health benefit.
The terminated obesity trial would have used a defined injected regimen over twelve weeks, but since it never reported results, there is no way to know what, if anything, that dose achieved.
No dose of the "without DAC" version — the form most often sold as "CJC-1295" today — has been studied in any human trial found this session.
What remains unknown
- Whether the "without DAC" version does anything at all in humans — it has no dedicated trial data
- What the terminated HIV-obesity trial found, and why it stopped
- Whether raising growth hormone this way translates into any real functional or cosmetic benefit
- What repeated, long-term use of either version does — no study has run that long
- Whether combining it with other secretagogues, a common marketing practice, changes its safety profile
- What is actually in an unregulated vial sold under this name
Registry and study records
- Prolonged stimulation of GH and IGF-I secretion by CJC-1295, a long-acting analog of GHRH, in healthy adults
- PubMed · DOI: 10.1210/jc.2005-1536 — randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind Phase 1 ascending-dose trials, DAC version, healthy adults
- Pulsatile secretion of GH persists during continuous stimulation by CJC-1295
- PubMed · DOI: 10.1210/jc.2006-1702 — GH pulsatility study, healthy men, DAC version
- Activation of the GH/IGF-1 axis by CJC-1295 results in serum protein profile changes
- PubMed · DOI: 10.1016/j.ghir.2009.03.001 — proteomic biomarker study in 11 healthy adult men, DAC version
- CJC 1295 in HIV-infected patients with HIV-associated visceral obesity
- ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00267527 · n=120, Phase 2, ConjuChem, TERMINATED, no results posted
- The emerging landscape of performance-enhancing peptides modulating the GH-IGF1 axis
- PubMed · DOI: 10.3389/fendo.2026.1822475 — 2026 review distinguishing CJC-1295 with DAC from without DAC among unregulated self-administered peptides
Get the evidence, not the hype.
New research briefs, plainly written and fully sourced. No dosing advice, ever.
Evidence last reviewed: September 2026. Peptide Proof reports what studies found. We do not give medical advice, dosing guidance, or treatment recommendations.