CJC-1295 Peptide: Status, Evidence and Sellers

CJC-1295 is a lab-made version of growth-hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH), the signal the hypothalamus sends to tell the pituitary to release growth hormone. The natural hormone acts only briefly [1]. The version studied in people carries a chemical linker that binds it to albumin, the most common protein in blood, and that stretches its half-life to between 5.8 and 8.1 days [1]. FDA's 2024 review covered forms with this linker, called DAC, and forms without it [3].

It is sold for the same reasons as other growth hormone peptides: body composition, recovery and sleep. In our register it appears only in compounded blends with ipamorelin, and the profile for that blend covers how the two are combined. This page covers CJC-1295 itself.

The human evidence is two small studies from 2006, which measured hormone levels and nothing else [1] [2]. FDA's advisory committee voted against adding any form of CJC-1295 to the list of substances pharmacies may compound with [3], and it is not one of the six peptides in the October 28, 2026 HHS policy.

CJC-1295 binds the GHRH receptor on growth-hormone-making cells in the pituitary, the same receptor sermorelin and tesamorelin act on. Because the DAC version stays in the blood for about a week, one injection keeps the receptor stimulated for days rather than minutes [1].

One worry about long-acting versions was that they would flatten the body's natural rhythm of growth hormone pulses. A 2006 study looked at that directly in healthy young men. A week after one injection, the pulses were still there with their usual frequency and size; what changed was the baseline between pulses, which rose 7.5-fold, lifting average growth hormone by 46% and IGF-1 by 45% [2].

The main study combined two randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind trials in healthy adults aged 21 to 61. A single injection under the skin raised average growth hormone 2- to 10-fold for six days or more and IGF-1 1.5- to 3-fold for 9 to 11 days, in proportion to the dose. With repeated doses, IGF-1 stayed above baseline for up to 28 days [1]. The second study confirmed the IGF-1 rise and found that 60 and 90 mcg per kg did not differ [2].

Neither study measured muscle, fat, strength, recovery or sleep. Raising IGF-1 is a step toward those effects, and no one has tested whether CJC-1295 takes the next one. When FDA reviewed CJC-1295 for growth hormone deficiency, the use its nominators proposed, its advisory committee voted against listing every form, with one member citing the lack of evidence that it works [3].

Grade C: well-measured hormone effects in two small studies, and no trial of any outcome it is sold for. Our review of the CJC-1295 and ipamorelin stack covers the same human data and the blend.

No dose of CJC-1295 is approved. In the 2006 trials it was given under the skin in single and repeated doses by body weight, and the authors found it best tolerated at 30 or 60 mcg per kg [1]. The second study used single doses of 60 or 90 mcg per kg [2]. Those were hormone studies in healthy volunteers, and they do not convert into the weekly or daily protocols clinics quote, which this page does not repeat.

Anyone using it under a prescriber should expect IGF-1 to be checked, since a raised IGF-1 is the one measurable sign of how much effect it is having.

The 2006 trials reported no serious adverse reactions and described it as relatively well tolerated [1]. FDA's compounding safety page tells a different story: it records serious adverse events in people given CJC-1295, among them a faster heart rate and a systemic vasodilatory reaction, meaning blood vessels widening suddenly, which can cause flushing and a drop in blood pressure. It adds that clinical data are limited [4].

The trials lasted 28 and 49 days [1], so nothing is known about holding IGF-1 up for months in healthy adults. Growth hormone opposes insulin, which is why blood sugar is worth watching in anyone with diabetes or prediabetes who uses a growth hormone peptide.

CJC-1295 is named on the World Anti-Doping Agency's 2026 Prohibited List among GHRH analogs, in section S2, banned in and out of competition [5].