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Peptide reference

Sermorelin

Sermorelin

Animal data

How it works

The most clinically tested GH-stimulating peptide in this class. It's a synthetic fragment of natural GHRH — the signal your hypothalamus sends to trigger pituitary GH release. Once marketed as Geref for GH deficiency diagnostics in children. The clinical development history is real; so are the limitations: it works on a declining pituitary, so age and baseline function determine the ceiling.

FDA status
Previously marketed as Geref (withdrawn from commercial market). No current approved indication. Compoundable by 503A pharmacies as it is not an FDA-approved drug with an active NDA.
WADA status
Permitted in sport
Route
subcutaneous injection

Key studies

Frequently asked

  • What is sermorelin?

    Sermorelin is a 29-amino-acid peptide, the active fragment of human growth-hormone-releasing hormone. It signals the pituitary gland to release its own growth hormone, rather than delivering growth hormone directly. That "ask the body to release its own" mechanism is the core pitch behind sermorelin versus injecting growth hormone.

  • What does the clinical evidence for sermorelin actually show?

    Sermorelin's foundational human trial, a small 1997 study in healthy elderly adults, found it raised growth hormone and IGF-1 levels significantly over 16 weeks, along with some immune markers. But that trial used a stabilized analog rather than sermorelin exactly, enrolled only 19 people, and measured hormone levels, not functional outcomes like strength or lifespan.

  • Is sermorelin approved by the FDA or on the PCAC docket?

    Sermorelin was FDA-approved as Geref in the 1990s for diagnostic use and pediatric growth hormone deficiency, but the brand was withdrawn from the US market in 2008 for commercial reasons, not safety. It's not on either of the FDA's 2026 or 2027 PCAC review waves and was never previously voted on by PCAC; its compounding pathway runs under the older framework left behind by that withdrawal.

  • Is sermorelin banned for athletes?

    Yes. Sermorelin sits in WADA's S2 category covering growth-hormone-releasing factors, prohibited at all times, in and out of competition, for athletes subject to testing, regardless of its FDA approval history.

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Research on Sermorelin

Sermorelin: The 'Safer Alternative' Framing and What the Evidence Actually Supports

WADA

Sermorelin's regulatory history is real. But the safety narrative built on top of it rests on a commercial withdrawal and a single cognition trial that may not have tested sermorelin at all.

sermorelin

Growth hormone secretagogues: the peptides that turn your own growth hormone back up

WADA

CJC-1295, ipamorelin, sermorelin, and tesamorelin share one job — getting your own pituitary to release more growth hormone, the repair-and-recovery signal that fades after your twenties. Here is the appeal, the two peptide families inside the class, and how far the human proof actually goes.

cjc-1295
ipamorelin
sermorelin
tesamorelin

Sermorelin vs tesamorelin: which growth-hormone peptide is the right tool for you

WADA

Sermorelin and tesamorelin both nudge your pituitary to make more growth hormone. One targets deep visceral fat with a real Phase 3 behind it; the other is the gentler GH-axis nudge with an FDA past. Here's which one fits which goal — and why one is still an approved drug and the other isn't.

sermorelin
tesamorelin

Sermorelin: the older growth hormone peptide that still has defenders

WADA

Sermorelin is the growth-hormone peptide with a real FDA past — and a clever way of working: it nudges your own gland to make more GH instead of overriding it. Here's what it could do for you, how far the human proof actually goes, and why its availability isn't waiting on the July FDA vote.