CJC-1295

CJC-1295 has never been FDA-approved for any use, and unlike some peptides in this tier whose compounding status is still moving, an FDA advisory committee has already reviewed it and voted against recommending it. This page describes its mechanism and actual regulatory history — not dosing or usage guidance, and not a recommendation to use it. Talk to a doctor before considering it.

CJC-1295 is a synthetic analog of GHRH (growth hormone-releasing hormone), engineered with modifications that extend its half-life well beyond natural GHRH or sermorelin. Like tesamorelin and sermorelin, it works through the pituitary's own GHRH receptor to stimulate the body's natural growth hormone release, rather than supplying growth hormone directly. It's frequently discussed and marketed alongside ipamorelin, a separate ghrelin-receptor-agonist peptide, as a two-peptide combination — that pairing is a marketing convention, not a regulatory or clinical trial finding.

CJC-1295 has not been through the kind of large controlled human trials that established tesamorelin's approval. Available human data is limited to small pharmacokinetic and GH-response studies characterizing how it raises growth hormone and IGF-1 levels — useful for understanding its mechanism, but far short of the controlled efficacy and safety trial base behind an approved drug.

CJC-1295 has never been FDA-approved for any use. Its US compounding-pharmacy history is also unfavorable relative to several other peptides on this site: its bulk-substance nomination was withdrawn in September 2024, which sent it to the FDA's Pharmacy Compounding Advisory Committee for review — and that committee voted against recommending CJC-1295 for the compounding-permitted list at meetings in late 2024. That's a different, and more negative, outcome than Semax or BPC-157 received in the FDA's 2026 review round. As of this writing there is no pending reconsideration of CJC-1295 on the FDA's public docket.

FDA — Bulk Drug Substances Used in Compounding →

Tesamorelin works through essentially the same GHRH-receptor mechanism as CJC-1295, but it's the version of this mechanism that actually went through full FDA drug review — for a specific, narrow indication (HIV-associated lipodystrophy), at a specific studied dose, with a real controlled safety record. CJC-1295 hasn't been through that process, and has already been reviewed once for even the more limited question of compounding-pharmacy access — and rejected.

FDA — Bulk Drug Substances Used in Compounding Under Section 503A