CJC-1295 with DAC
CJC-1295 with DAC is a lab-made, long-acting version of growth hormone–releasing hormone (GHRH), the brain hormone that tells the pituitary to release growth hormone. A reactive chemical group, the drug affinity complex (DAC), makes it attach to albumin in the blood, so in healthy adults its half-life was about six to eight days. ConjuChem developed it in the 2000s, but it was never approved.
Approval status
Not approved as a medicine by FDA, EMA or other major regulators. ConjuChem stopped its clinical trials in 2006; FDA, citing news reports, says this followed the death of a participant in a phase 2 trial. Its compounding nominations were withdrawn, but FDA reviewed it anyway, and in December 2024 FDA's advisers voted 13–0 against letting pharmacies compound it.103456
What it’s used or studied for
- Human studies
In small trials in healthy adults, one injection raised growth hormone for six days or more and IGF-1 for up to eleven days, with natural pulses kept.78
- Animal & lab only
In mice lacking their own GHRH, repeated injections restored normal growth and body composition.9
- No studies
Promoted online for muscle gain, fat loss and anti-aging. No controlled trials have tested these effects, and FDA found no studies in people with growth hormone deficiency.310
Each label shows how strong the evidence is: an approved use, human studies, animal or lab studies only, or a popular claim with no published studies. Being studied is not the same as being proven safe or effective.
Side effects
Common
- Injection-site reactions (redness, hardening, pain, itching)
- Headache
- Flushing and warmth
- Diarrhea or loose stools
- Nausea or stomach pain
- Faster heart rate
Serious or rare
- Flushing with a drop in blood pressure (systemic vasodilatory reaction)
- Dizziness with low blood pressure
- Brief involuntary leg muscle contractions and loss of coordination (one person)
- A heart-attack death in a phase 2 trial, known only from news reports; the doctor suspected hidden heart disease
Most data come from about 60 healthy adults, most of whom had a single injection; side effects were more frequent at higher doses. FDA's account of the trial death relies on news reports, because the trial's data were never published.3578
Cautions
- In rats and dogs, repeated injections caused bleeding, inflammation and tissue death at the injection site; in mice and mouse pituitary cells it caused signs of DNA damage (FDA review).3
- FDA notes the DAC group could also bind proteins other than albumin, with unknown effects.3
- There are no safety data in children and no long-term safety data.3
- Often confused with CJC-1295 without DAC (Mod GRF 1-29); FDA found the names on products and in databases inconsistent.3
- FDA says compounded CJC-1295 may provoke immune reactions and is hard to characterize and keep free of impurities.5
Sources
- PubChem: CJC-1295 (CID 91971820)
- Jetté L et al. hGRF1-29-albumin bioconjugates: identification of CJC-1295 as a long-lasting GRF analog (Endocrinology, 2005)
- FDA briefing document: CJC-1295-related bulk drug substances (Pharmacy Compounding Advisory Committee, December 4, 2024)
- FDA: Final summary minutes, Pharmacy Compounding Advisory Committee, December 4, 2024
- FDA: Certain bulk drug substances for use in compounding that may present significant safety risks (Category 2)
- WADA 2026 Prohibited List
- Teichman SL et al. Prolonged stimulation of GH and IGF-I secretion by CJC-1295 in healthy adults (J Clin Endocrinol Metab, 2006)
- Ionescu M, Frohman LA. Pulsatile secretion of GH persists during continuous stimulation by CJC-1295 (J Clin Endocrinol Metab, 2006)
- Alba M et al. Once-daily CJC-1295 normalizes growth in the GHRH knockout mouse (Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab, 2006)
- Dominikowski A et al. Performance-enhancing peptides modulating the GH-IGF1 axis: clinical evidence vs self-administration (Front Endocrinol, 2026)
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