Research & regulatory digest / GHRH analog
CJC-1295 is a long-acting GHRH analog studied in early human trials and reviewed by the FDA.
A plain-language reading of what the published studies measured, where the human data stop, and exactly where this peptide sits with the FDA and the World Anti-Doping Agency. Every quantitative claim is cited.
What the CJC-1295 literature established, in plain language
CJC-1295 is a synthetic, long-acting analog of growth-hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH). In healthy adults, single subcutaneous doses raised growth hormone (GH) for six days or more and insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) for nine to eleven days, with an estimated half-life of 5.8 to 8.1 days [1]. That is the headline finding, and it is the reason the compound exists: a single dose can elevate the GH/IGF-1 axis for the better part of a week.
The molecule is built on the first 29 amino acids of human growth-hormone-releasing factor, hGRF(1-29), with four substitutions that block the proteases that normally clear native GHRH within minutes [2]. The long-acting DAC variant adds one more piece of chemistry: a linker that covalently binds the peptide to serum albumin in the bloodstream, stretching its residence time toward that of albumin itself and producing the multi-day duration [2].
This page is a digest, not a clinic. It summarizes the peer-reviewed record on CJC-1295 and states plainly where that record is strong and where it is thin. The human evidence is limited to a handful of early pharmacokinetic studies; there are no large efficacy or long-term safety trials, the long-acting clinical program was discontinued, and CJC-1295 is not approved for human use anywhere [7]. Those are facts a reader deserves up front, not a footnote.
From here you can read the human PK and pulsatility research, compare CJC-1295 DAC vs no-DAC, review the research dosing context, or read about CJC-1295 side effects. The full reference list gives every citation with its PubMed identifier.
CJC-1295 as a Research Peptide
As a research peptide, CJC-1295 is handled in laboratories as a lyophilized powder, reconstituted with bacteriostatic water and refrigerated [1]. It is a peptide of roughly 3,368 daltons before albumin conjugation, catalogued under CAS number 863288-34-0 and PubChem CID 91971820, though chemical registries disagree on the exact molecular formula [2].
The term covers two pharmacokinetically distinct species that marketing routinely conflates. The DAC form ("Drug Affinity Complex") carries the albumin-binding handle and is the multi-day, long-acting peptide. The no-DAC form, usually sold as "Modified GRF 1-29," keeps the four protease-resistant substitutions but lacks the albumin moiety, so it is short-acting [8]. Treating them as interchangeable is the single most common error in the popular literature, and the distinction matters for everything downstream — half-life, dosing schedule, and how the studies should be read.
What unites both forms is the target. CJC-1295 binds the GHRH receptor on the anterior pituitary and stimulates the body's own growth hormone, rather than introducing growth hormone directly. That mechanistic detail is what separates it from injected GH and from anabolic steroids, and it is where the the human PK and pulsatility research begins.
Common questions about CJC-1295
Short, direct answers to the questions readers most often ask first. The full set lives on the regulatory and anti-doping status page.
What is CJC-1295?
CJC-1295 is a long-acting synthetic analog of growth-hormone-releasing hormone, built on hGRF(1-29) with four protease-resistant substitutions [2]. The DAC variant adds covalent conjugation to serum albumin, which extends the plasma half-life into the multi-day range and lets a single dose elevate GH and IGF-1 for days [1].
What does CJC-1295 do?
In studies it binds the pituitary GHRH receptor and stimulates pulsatile growth-hormone release, with a downstream rise in IGF-1 [3]. In healthy adults, single subcutaneous doses raised mean GH several-fold and IGF-1 by roughly 45% one week later [3]. It amplifies the body's own GH signaling rather than supplying GH directly.
Is CJC-1295 a steroid?
No. CJC-1295 is a GHRH analog that acts on the pituitary GHRH receptor to stimulate the body's own growth hormone [2]. It is not an anabolic-androgenic steroid and does not act on androgen receptors; its target is the GH/IGF-1 axis, a separate hormonal pathway entirely.
Is CJC-1295 FDA approved?
No. CJC-1295 is an unapproved research chemical with no approved human indication anywhere. It is not on the FDA 503A compounding bulks list, and the 2024 Pharmacy Compounding Advisory Committee reviewed it and did not recommend it, citing immunogenicity and other safety concerns [13].
The No-DAC Form: Modified GRF (1-29)
The no-DAC form, marketed as Modified GRF (1-29), is the tetrasubstituted GHRH(1-29) sequence without the albumin-binding DAC moiety, which makes it short-acting rather than multi-day [8]. It shares CJC-1295's four stabilizing substitutions and the same GHRH-receptor target, but because it does not bind albumin it clears far faster — see the comparison of CJC-1295 DAC vs no-DAC, where Modified GRF (1-29) is set beside the long-acting form, for the full side-by-side.
Where CJC-1295 sits, and where its record stops
CJC-1295 belongs to a well-defined drug class — the GHRH analogs, which also include sermorelin and the FDA-approved tesamorelin [12]. What distinguishes CJC-1295 is engineered duration: native GHRH(1-29) is cleared within minutes, while the DAC conjugate's albumin binding stretches its half-life to 5.8 to 8.1 days [1][2]. That single design choice is the molecule's reason for being, and it is the property the human studies set out to characterize.
The studied effects are specific and measurable. In healthy adults, single subcutaneous doses raised mean GH 2- to 10-fold for six days or more and IGF-1 for nine to eleven days [1]. In healthy young men, a single dose raised IGF-1 by about 45% one week later while leaving the natural pulsatile rhythm of GH secretion intact [3]. In rats, the albumin conjugate produced a 4-fold higher GH output than the unconjugated peptide [2]. These are the findings that anchor the the human PK and pulsatility research.
The record also has clear edges. There are no large efficacy or long-term safety trials in healthy adults; the long-acting DAC clinical program was discontinued after an early Phase 2 trial; and CJC-1295 is not approved for human use anywhere, is not on the FDA 503A compounding bulks list, and is prohibited at all times in sport under WADA Section S2 [7][13][15]. This digest reports both halves — the established pharmacokinetics and the honest gaps — without rounding either one up or down.