Gathering the record
Relay is organizing the evidence and source boundaries.
GHRH-analog family with distinct DAC and non-DAC active moieties
CJC-1295 is a name used for more than one GHRH-related molecule. Small human studies of the long-acting DAC form show sustained GH and IGF-1 changes, but they did not test the recovery, sleep, muscle, fat-loss, or anti-aging outcomes commonly promoted online.
60-Second Overview
Start with what it is, why it matters, what research has shown, and what remains unknown. The science follows after the orientation.
Start here. These four answers explain why the compound matters before the page introduces the deeper science.
CJC-1295 is a name used for related but distinct experimental peptides intended to increase the body's own growth hormone and insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) signals.
Researchers studied whether a long-acting version could produce sustained hormone changes after a small number of controlled research exposures. That design characterized the duration of hormone exposure without establishing a therapeutic outcome.
Short human studies found that the long-acting DAC form increased measured growth hormone and IGF-1 for several days. They measured hormone changes, not body composition, recovery, sleep, or anti-aging outcomes.
Clinical benefits, long-term safety, and product identity remain uncertain. Evidence for the DAC form cannot be assigned to “no DAC” or modified GRF material sold under a similar name.
The research depth, routes, studies, and primary sources below explain how Relay knows—and where the evidence stops.
Research context
Published research has investigated this compound using the following study designs.
These records explain what researchers did. They are not instructions, recommendations, or a transferable protocol.
Two short controlled studies evaluated long-acting CJC-1295 material in healthy adults to measure pharmacology, growth hormone, and IGF-1—not clinical benefit.
Reported study administration—not a recommendation.
Research at a glance
Evidence depth, confidence, and route context explain how Relay knows—not what anyone should do.
Small short-term studies measured GH, IGF-1, and pharmacokinetics for the DAC active moiety; clinical outcomes remain unestablished.
Research depth describes how large and mature the overall record is. It does not tell you whether the results were positive.
The DAC pharmacology signal is traceable, but promoted outcomes, long-term safety, and all no-DAC claims lack controlled human support.
Confidence describes how reliable and consistent the conclusions are. It can be high for one outcome and low for another.
The strongest evidence type shows what the best-supported conclusions are actually based on.
Human findings are more directly relevant than animal or laboratory results, but they still apply only to the populations and outcomes studied.
Route-specific record
These are exposures used in cited research for a specific route and population—not an instruction for an individual.
Half-life describes how long it takes the measured amount in the body to fall by half. It is not a dosing recommendation.
Evidence can change by administration method. Findings from one route should not automatically be applied to another.
Evidence boundary: The studies measured hormone pharmacology in healthy adults and did not test body composition, recovery, sleep, or anti-aging outcomes. Weight-based study exposure must not be converted into a fixed amount or schedule. Amounts shown describe cited research exposure—not a dosage recommendation.
Detailed evidence
Start with the strongest supported conclusion and its main uncertainty. Claim-level records below show how the evidence changes by question, population, route, formulation, and study design.
Two small randomized, placebo-controlled pharmacology studies in healthy adults found sustained GH and IGF-1 increases after CJC-1295 DAC exposure. They measured hormone responses, not meaningful health outcomes.
This is the strongest supported conclusion in the current human evidence—not a summary of every claim made about the compound.
Clinical benefits, repeat-exposure and long-term safety, product identity across commonly conflated forms, and whether any findings apply to non-DAC/Mod GRF(1-29).
Keeping the main uncertainty visible prevents an early or promising finding from looking more settled than it is.
Questions people bring to the evidence
Research questions—not promises of benefit.
FDA evaluated five bulk substances across two active moieties: a non-DAC 29-amino-acid form and an albumin-binding DAC form, each with multiple possible salt identities.
The clearest human evidence is pharmacology: measured hormone concentrations increased after subcutaneous research administration.
FDA found that the published clinical references appear to involve the DAC active moiety, with salt identity unspecified.
The published human studies measured pharmacokinetics, GH, and IGF-1 in healthy adults. The registered visceral-obesity trial was terminated without posted results.
The PCAC votes addressed whether the evaluated bulk substances should be eligible for specified compounding conditions; they were not drug-approval decisions.
WADA includes GHRH analogues and related growth-hormone-releasing factors in the prohibited peptide-hormone category.
Mechanisms
CJC-1295-related substances are 29-amino-acid GHRH analogues with substitutions intended to resist enzymatic degradation. The DAC active moiety adds a maleimidopropionamide-lysine group that binds circulating albumin and greatly extends exposure. FDA treats the non-DAC and DAC active moieties—and their free-base or salt forms—as distinct bulk drug substances. Published human pharmacology appears to involve CJC-1295 DAC free base with salt unspecified; those data should not be transferred to non-DAC or named salt forms.
A plausible mechanism can explain why a study was attempted. It does not prove that the compound improves a human outcome.
Studies
Study arms are reported for transparency. They describe what researchers did in a defined record and do not transfer across identities, routes, formulations, or populations.
A later trial phase can ask a more mature question, but it does not guarantee a positive result, regulatory approval, or relevance outside the studied population.
Two randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, ascending-dose studies
Healthy adults aged 21–61 years
A single injection produced dose-dependent increases in mean GH for at least six days and IGF-1 for about 9–11 days. Repeated exposure kept mean IGF-1 above baseline for up to 28 days.
Study administration: Subcutaneous CJC-1295 DAC of unspecified salt at single or repeated study doses; these were research arms, not dosing guidance
Limitations: Small, short studies in healthy adults measured hormones rather than clinical outcomes. FDA concluded the active moiety appears to have been the DAC form, with the salt unspecified; the results should not be assigned to non-DAC or named salt forms.
Intensive 24-hour growth-hormone sampling after one subcutaneous administration
Healthy adult men
Mean and trough GH and IGF-1 increased while measurable pulsatile GH secretion persisted.
Study administration: Single subcutaneous CJC-1295 DAC administration under the research protocol
Limitations: Very small study without a separate clinical-outcome endpoint. It demonstrates a hormone pattern, not improved recovery, sleep, body composition, or health.
Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial with weekly low-dose and high-dose groups
Adults with HIV-associated visceral obesity
No results are posted. Development stopped after a participant experienced a fatal myocardial infarction during the trial.
Study administration: Weekly subcutaneous CJC-1295 or placebo under the registered protocol
Limitations: The registry does not establish causality. FDA reports that the attending physician attributed the event to underlying coronary disease and plaque rupture, while formal trial results were not published. A terminated registration cannot demonstrate efficacy or safety.
Safety snapshot
No source-qualified adverse-event pattern is represented in the current record.
Evidence boundaryHuman exposure is present, but the record is not detailed enough to characterize a reliable adverse-event pattern.
The current record does not support a reliable common-versus-uncommon frequency split.
Evidence boundaryUnder-detected or under-reported events must not be described as rare.
No source-qualified compound-specific warning or contraindication is encoded in the current record.
Evidence boundaryNot FDA approved. FDA distinguishes five CJC-1295-related bulk substances across two non-interchangeable active moieties; the 2024 PCAC voted against 503A Bulks List inclusion for the evaluated forms. Prohibited in sport under WADA S2. Clinical benefits, repeat-exposure and long-term safety, product identity across commonly conflated forms, and whether any findings apply to non-DAC/Mod GRF(1-29).
The current record does not identify a reliable compound-specific pattern of events that caused study discontinuation.
Evidence boundaryThis is an evidence gap, not proof that discontinuations did not occur.
No compound-specific patient-facing urgent-action threshold is established in the current Relay record.
Evidence boundaryRelay does not infer emergency guidance from study discontinuations, mechanism, or incomplete adverse-event reporting.
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2026-07-31
2026-01-01
2024-12-04
2024-11-15
2006-12-01 · PMID 17018654 · DOI 10.1210/jc.2006-1702
2006-03-01 · PMID 16352683 · DOI 10.1210/jc.2005-1536
2005-12-23 · NCT00267527
The direct human CJC-1295 evidence located for this pass concerns the long-acting DAC form and cannot be assigned to material marketed as “no DAC.”
Reported study administration—not a recommendation.