AOD-9604

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Snapshot

Chemistry and make-up

AOD-9604 is a 16-residue peptide built from the last 15 amino acids of human growth hormone (residues 176-191) with a tyrosine added at the N-terminus to aid handling and radiolabelling. The two cysteines (positions 7 and 14 within the fragment) form a single intramolecular disulfide bridge, which is why the molecular formula carries two sulfur atoms and why correct disulfide formation, not just mass, is part of the authentic structure. The design intent was to isolate the fat-metabolism (lipolytic) region of the growth hormone molecule while leaving out the parts responsible for hGH’s growth-promoting and insulin-antagonising actions [A]. Usually supplied as the acetate salt. A real CoA should confirm the observed mass near 1815 and evidence that the disulfide is correctly formed rather than a reduced or scrambled variant.

What it is studied for (evidence)

• Mechanism (preclinical [A]): the fragment was reported to stimulate lipolysis and inhibit lipogenesis in rodent and in-vitro fat-cell models, apparently without raising IGF-1 or impairing glucose uptake the way full hGH can. The precise receptor pathway remains poorly defined; it does not act as a classical growth hormone receptor agonist in the way full-length hGH does [A].
• Established: the solid part of the story is that AOD-9604 reached genuine human clinical trials and holds a US GRAS (Generally Recognized As Safe) determination as a food ingredient. Its safety profile at the doses tested was acceptable [A/B]. That is more human exposure data than most peptides in this file.
• Emerging / thin, and this is the honest headline: the efficacy failed. In a 12-week Phase 2 obesity trial the fragment did not produce significant weight loss versus placebo, and the clinical obesity programme did not proceed to approval [A]. So AOD-9604 is unusual: relatively well studied in humans, reasonably safe at tested doses, but not shown to work for the fat-loss claim it is sold on.
• Marketing claims vs data: vendors and clinics market AOD-9604 for weight loss, fat burning and even joint/cartilage repair, often citing the GRAS status as if it proved efficacy. GRAS is a safety-as-a-food-ingredient determination, not evidence of a fat-loss effect, and the pivotal obesity trial was negative. Treat all weight-loss and repair claims, and any dosing, as marketing.
• Human clinical status: not an approved medicine anywhere. Developed for obesity, failed to show efficacy, repositioned commercially as a supplement/research compound.

Handling, format and stability

Supplied lyophilised; reconstituted with bacteriostatic or sterile water for research handling (no dosing guidance here). As a small disulfide-containing peptide it is sensitive to oxidation (which can scramble the Cys7-Cys14 bridge) and to the usual peptide degradation routes, so the lyophilised powder is stored cold and dark and reconstituted material is treated as short-lived and cold-chain dependent. No cartridge/pen format is standard; it circulates as research vials.

Regulatory and trade status

• UK/EU RUO: research use only; not an approved medicine. Fat-loss or weight-management framing pulls it toward the heavily scrutinised metabolic/obesity category and toward “medicinal product by presentation”, so keep listings strictly RUO with no weight-loss claims.
• US: not an approved drug. It holds a GRAS determination as a food ingredient and has been used in compounding, but its status has drawn FDA attention; the GRAS food-ingredient status must not be presented as drug approval or as efficacy evidence [B — re-verify current FDA position].
• WADA (sport): prohibited. As a growth hormone fragment / growth-hormone-related peptide it falls under S2 (peptide hormones, growth factors, related substances and mimetics) and should be treated as prohibited at all times [B — confirm current-year WADA wording].
• Customs / import: sits in the metabolic/weight-loss adjacency, which draws elevated enforcement interest, though lower-profile than the GLP-1 injectables.

Sources

• [A] Heffernan et al., lipolytic actions of the hGH 176-191 fragment (preclinical mechanism), and AOD-9604 obesity clinical programme summaries — Metabolism / obesity trial literature — https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/
• [A/B] AOD-9604 human safety and negative Phase 2 obesity efficacy; US GRAS determination as a food ingredient — FDA GRAS notice record — https://www.fda.gov/food/generally-recognized-safe-gras
• [B] WADA Prohibited List, S2 peptide hormones / growth factors (GH fragments and related substances) — https://www.wada-ama.org/en/prohibited-list
• [B/C] MedKoo / ChemicalBook CAS 221231-10-3 (C78H123N23O23S2, MW ~1815.1, Cys7-Cys14 disulfide) — https://www.medkoo.com/products/13753
• [C] PubChem CID 71300630 (confirm formula/mass) — https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/
• [D] Vendor/clinic pages (Peptides Institute, Paragon Sports Medicine, Panda Peptides) — commercial; publish dosing and fat-loss/joint claims, which we do not use.

Plain summary

AOD-9604 is a 16-amino-acid peptide made from the fat-metabolism tail end of human growth hormone (residues 176-191) with a tyrosine tacked on, engineered to trigger fat breakdown without hGH’s growth and blood-sugar effects. It is one of the more human-tested peptides in this range, is generally regarded as safe at the doses studied and even holds a US food-ingredient GRAS status, but the crucial fact is that its pivotal obesity trial did not beat placebo, so the fat-loss marketing has no efficacy behind it. For AxYn it is a strict RUO SKU: confirm the disulfide and the ~1815 mass on the CoA, keep the 5 mg vial framed as research only, and never repeat the weight-loss claims.

For laboratory and research use only (RUO). Not for human or veterinary use, not for consumption, and not a medicine. Information is a research summary, not medical advice, and contains no dosing guidance.

For laboratory research use only. Not for human or veterinary use, not for consumption, and not a medicine. This is a research summary, not medical advice, and contains no dosing guidance.