Ipamorelin

Approval status

Not approved as a medicine; FDA notes there are no FDA-approved ipamorelin products. In October 2024 FDA's compounding advisers voted 12–0 (one abstention) against adding it to the list pharmacies may compound from. FDA now lists that nomination as withdrawn, but still lists ipamorelin as a significant safety risk for outsourcing facilities (503B Category 2).²³⁴⁵

What it’s used or studied for

• Human studies

  Gut recovery after bowel surgery (postoperative ileus): a phase 2 trial of intravenous ipamorelin in 114 patients found no significant benefit over placebo.⁶²

• Human studies

  In healthy men, an intravenous infusion caused a short rise in growth hormone. FDA found no studies testing it as a treatment for growth hormone deficiency.⁷²

• Animal & lab only

  In rats after abdominal surgery, it shortened the time to the first bowel movement and improved food intake.⁸

• No studies

  Marketed for weight loss, anti-aging, sleep and muscle building. No published studies have tested these uses.²

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

Human safety data come mainly from one trial of intravenous ipamorelin in hospital patients after bowel surgery, where low potassium, insomnia and high blood sugar were more common than with placebo. FDA found no safety data for injection under the skin.²⁶⁴

Cautions

• FDA found no data showing it avoids the risks of approved drugs that raise growth hormone, such as glucose intolerance and diabetes.²
• FDA says compounded ipamorelin may provoke immune reactions because of clumping (aggregation) or impurities.⁴
• A forensic lab found seized doping products that held an altered version of ipamorelin with an extra amino acid (glycine).⁹