A lab-modified version of the hormone that tells the pituitary to release growth hormone. Never approved; human data stop at dosing studies.
Also called CJC-1295 with DAC, DAC:GRF, CJC-1295 without DAC, Mod GRF 1-29, Modified GRF (1-29), tetrasubstituted GRF(1-29)
CJC-1295 is a 29-amino-acid copy of the active end of growth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH), the signal your hypothalamus sends to the pituitary to release growth hormone. Four amino acids are swapped to stop enzymes in the blood from chewing it up within minutes. The name covers two different products. "CJC-1295 with DAC" carries an extra lysine with a chemical hook that bolts the peptide onto albumin in your blood, so one injection keeps working for about a week. "CJC-1295 without DAC", also sold as Mod GRF 1-29, is the same 29-amino-acid chain with no hook, so it is cleared in a short pulse.
The human evidence is thin and almost all of it is on the DAC version. In 2006, two small randomized, placebo-controlled dosing trials in healthy adults showed one injection raised growth hormone 2 to 10 times for 6 days or more and IGF-1 1.5 to 3 times for 9 to 11 days. No trial ever measured muscle, fat, sleep, recovery or aging outcomes. The developer, ConjuChem, stopped development in 2006 after a participant in a phase 2 trial in people with HIV-related fat gain had a fatal heart attack; the investigator attributed it to pre-existing coronary disease, and the trial data were never published. The no-DAC version has no published human studies at all.
CJC-1295 is not approved anywhere. In December 2024 an FDA advisory committee voted against adding any of its five forms to the list of substances pharmacies may compound (13-0 on four forms, 12-1 on CJC-1295 acetate), and it is banned in sport at all times by WADA. What circulates online is research-chemical material of unverified identity and purity.
What it binds to, and what happens inside the body after that, step by step.
CJC-1295 binds the GHRH receptor on somatotroph cells in the anterior pituitary, the same receptor your own GHRH uses. That triggers growth hormone release, and growth hormone drives the liver to make IGF-1. The DAC version attaches to albumin after injection, which stretches its half-life to about a week and keeps the receptor stimulated continuously. In healthy men, that continuous stimulation kept the normal on-off pulses of growth hormone but raised the baseline between pulses 7.5-fold.
Human results and animal results are kept apart below. A result in rats tells you a mechanism is plausible. It does not tell you what happens in a person.
Human data are limited to pharmacokinetic and hormone studies in about 63 healthy adults given one to four injections of the DAC version, including two small randomized, placebo-controlled dosing trials: growth hormone and IGF-1 go up and stay up for days. Those randomized trials are why the grade is B, but they measured only blood levels and side effects. No human study has measured body composition, strength, fat loss, sleep or any clinical outcome, and FDA found no human studies of the no-DAC version. Rodent work shows daily dosing normalized growth in mice that lack their own GHRH.
Healthy adults aged 21-61 in two randomized, placebo-controlled, ascending-dose trials (28 and 49 days)
One injection raised mean GH 2- to 10-fold for 6 days or more and IGF-1 1.5- to 3-fold for 9-11 days; half-life was 5.8-8.1 days.
Read the studyHealthy men aged 20-40, single 60 or 90 mcg/kg dose, overnight sampling every 20 minutes
Pulse frequency and size did not change, but trough GH rose 7.5-fold, mean GH 46% and IGF-1 45% one week after the dose.
Read the study11 healthy young men, before and one week after one injection
Five serum protein spots changed after dosing; proposed as biomarkers of GH action, with no clinical outcomes measured.
Read the studyMice lacking the GHRH gene, treated for 5 weeks
Daily 2 mcg doses produced normal body weight and length; dosing every 48 or 72 hours did not fully normalize growth.
Read the studyRat pituitary cells and Sprague Dawley rats
CJC-1295 gave a 4-fold larger GH area under the curve than native GRF(1-29) over 2 hours and was still in plasma after 72 hours.
Read the studyThese are questions the published research has not answered.
No product containing CJC-1295 is approved as a medicine by the FDA.
Development by ConjuChem was halted in 2006 after a death in a phase 2 trial in HIV lipodystrophy. Sold online as a research chemical labeled not for human use. In February 2026 HHS announced plans to move several peptides off Category 2, and press coverage listed CJC-1295 among them; as of this review that has not produced an FDA listing that allows compounding. Prohibited at all times under WADA S2.2.4 as a GHRH analog.
How much of CJC-1295 is left after a single dose
Simple first-order model from the published half-life. Real clearance varies with dose, route, kidney and liver function and formulation. This is not a dosing schedule.
This table records the doses that trials and approved labels used, with the source for each row. It is a record of research, not a recommendation, and it is open to free members.
Which symptoms are expected and which mean stop and get help: side effects and red flags.
Tap a claim to see what the studies found.
They share the 29-amino-acid core, but the DAC version binds albumin and lasts about a week, while the no-DAC version is a short pulse. All published human data are on the DAC version.
Pulse frequency and size held steady in one study of healthy men, but trough GH rose 7.5-fold, so the overall pattern is far from normal.
No human study has measured body composition or strength. The claim is extrapolated from GH and IGF-1 rising in blood tests.
Raised GH and IGF-1 carry the same risks as GH therapy, such as fluid retention and higher glucose. In trials most subjects had injection reactions, many had flushing and headache, and FDA cites heart-rate and vasodilation events.
Only about 63 healthy adults received one to four doses in published studies. The larger phase 2 trial stopped after a death and its data were never released.
These pairings come up often. Almost none have been tested together in a trial, and the evidence note on each says so plainly.
Pairs a GHRH-receptor agonist with a ghrelin-receptor agonist. The two receptors act on the same pituitary cells by different routes, so the idea is a larger GH pulse than either alone.
EvidenceNo published human study has given these two together. Neither has human outcome data on its own, and FDA has rejected both for compounding.
No approved product or label exists. Published stability data for research-grade powder are not available; manufacturers of lyophilized peptides generally specify refrigerated or frozen storage away from light.
No validated stability data for reconstituted CJC-1295 have been published.
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