AOD-9604 — Wolverine Health

How it works

A fragment of the C-terminal region of human growth hormone, designed to replicate the fat-metabolising activity of hGH without the growth-promoting or insulin-sensitising effects. Phase II/III trials for obesity ran in the early 2000s; primary efficacy endpoints weren't met at meaningful effect sizes. It received Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) status from the FDA for food use in 2014 — a distinct regulatory track from drug approval. On the PCAC July 2026 docket.

FDA status: No FDA drug approval. FDA GRAS status for food use (2014). Under PCAC July 23–24 2026 review for potential 503A bulk substance listing.
WADA status: Not applicable
Route: subcutaneous injection; oral (trials)

Key studies

AOD-9604: metabolic effects of a fragment of human growth hormone — Heffernan et al.

AOD-9604 (hGH frag 177-191) reduces body weight and fat mass in obese rodents without affecting growth or IGF-1 levels, suggesting a selective lipolytic mechanism distinct from full-length hGH.

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Research on AOD-9604

AOD-9604: The Growth Hormone Fragment That Failed Its Own Trial

WADA

AOD-9604 isolates the fat-burning piece of growth hormone from the piece that makes you grow. Whether that clean design actually worked in a human body, and what regulators decided about it, is the open question here.

503B outsourcing pharmacies and compounded peptides: the regulatory gap that still matters

Section 503B outsourcing facilities are the higher-volume, FDA-inspected cousin of the corner compounding pharmacy. The 503B Bulks List is its own regulatory pipeline — and it changes what an actual peptide supply chain looks like when one opens.

AOD-9604 and adiponectin: the fat-loss signal that skips growth hormone

WADA

Most fat-loss peptides work by turning up your whole growth-hormone system and hoping the fat follows. AOD-9604 skips that and talks to the fat cell directly — a cleaner idea. Here is how the mechanism works, why your fat is a hormone-producing organ, and how far the human proof actually goes.