Ipamorelin
Growth hormone secretagogue · No brand name. Sold as a research chemical, usually blended with CJC-1295
- UK status
- Unlicensed medicine
- Availability
- Research use only
- Evidence base
- Abandoned in development, no supporting human trials
- Controlled drug
- No, but WADA prohibited
Sequence
Aib·His·D-2-Nal·D-Phe·Lys·NH2
The short version
What it does
Sold to raise your own growth hormone, almost always alongside CJC-1295.
How it does it
Presses a different button than CJC-1295 does, on the same gland, so the two are sold together on the argument that pressing both gives a bigger response.
The catch
This was a real drug candidate that went into human trials and got dropped before finishing. So the work that would have established whether it is safe and at what dose was never completed, and nobody selling it can fill that gap.
Everything below goes into the detail, with sources.
Ipamorelin has something most research peptides do not: a real pharmaceutical history. It was developed as a drug, taken into human trials, and then dropped. That history is more informative than anything on a seller's website.
At a glance
- Compound type
- Peptide, 5 amino acids
- Drug class
- Growth hormone secretagogue, ghrelin receptor agonist
- Usually sold with
- CJC-1295
- Development status
- Taken into human trials, then discontinued. Never approved.
- Studied for
- Post-operative gut function, not physique
- UK status
- Unlicensed medicine. Supply for human use prohibited.
- In sport
- Named under WADA S2.2.4. Prohibited at all times.
01What it is
Ipamorelin is a short synthetic pentapeptide that mimics ghrelin, the hormone best known for signalling hunger. Ghrelin also triggers growth hormone release, and ipamorelin was designed to do that selectively, without the appetite stimulation and cortisol effects that limited earlier compounds in the class.
It is almost always sold blended with CJC-1295, on the reasoning that one raises the releasing signal while the other acts on a separate receptor, producing a larger pulse together.
02How it came about
Ipamorelin was developed by a pharmaceutical company in the late 1990s as a selective growth hormone secretagogue: one that released growth hormone without appreciably raising cortisol or prolactin, which had limited earlier compounds like GHRP-6. It was studied in humans, including for post-operative ileus, and development was discontinued without approval.
That history is the most useful thing about it, and it is exactly what vendor pages leave out.
03UK legal and licensing status
Ipamorelin is not a licensed medicine anywhere. It has no MHRA authorisation, and supplying it for human use without one is unlawful under the Human Medicines Regulations 2012. Supply for genuine laboratory research, correctly labelled, is a separate lawful category.
Athletes: WADA names ipamorelin explicitly under S2.2.4, among growth hormone secretagogues and their mimetics. Prohibited at all times. Detection methods exist.
04How it works
It binds the growth hormone secretagogue receptor, the ghrelin receptor, in the pituitary, prompting growth hormone release. Its selling point during development was selectivity: releasing growth hormone without appreciably raising cortisol or prolactin, which distinguished it from GHRP-6 and similar earlier peptides.
05What it is not
Claims that attach themselves to this compound and do not hold up.
- Not an approved medicine. Development stopped. It never reached approval for anything.
- Not tested for what it is sold for. Its human trials looked at gut function after surgery, not muscle, sleep or ageing.
- Not proof of suppression. Candidates are dropped for effect size, commercial reasons, portfolio changes or safety. What abandonment does mean is that the safety profile and approved dose were never finished, so that information does not exist.
06What the evidence shows
Ipamorelin was taken into clinical development by a pharmaceutical company and studied in humans, including for post-operative gut function rather than anything to do with physique. Development was discontinued. It never reached approval for any indication.
Drug candidates are dropped for many reasons: insufficient effect, commercial judgement, portfolio changes, or safety. Discontinuation is not proof that something is dangerous, and it is not proof that it works and was buried. What it does mean is that the process which would have produced a safety profile, an approved dose and a label was stopped before finishing. That information does not exist, and no seller can supply it.
There are no controlled human trials supporting the muscle, recovery, sleep or anti-ageing claims made for it.
No completed safety programme, no approved dose, no long-term follow-up. As a ghrelin mimetic it acts on a receptor involved in appetite and metabolic regulation more broadly, and the consequences of doing that over years in healthy adults are uncharacterised.
07Reported harms
No regulated frequency table exists. Trial-era reporting and the pharmacology of the class point to effects related to growth hormone elevation, including fluid retention and effects on glucose handling, and ghrelin receptor activity may affect appetite.
The unregulated supply risks apply in full, and doubly for the blends it is usually sold in.
08Interactions and cautions
No interaction dataset from a completed programme. As a ghrelin receptor agonist it acts on a system involved in appetite and metabolic regulation, so effects on glucose handling and hunger would be expected.
09Stopping
Growth hormone returns to baseline. Otherwise undocumented.
10Monitoring
No approved framework. IGF-1 is what clinics measure, with the same caveat as CJC-1295: it confirms activity, not benefit.
11Questions worth asking
Take these to a doctor or pharmacist. A good clinician will not mind being asked, and the answers are specific to you in a way nothing on this page can be.
- Why was development stopped, and does anyone selling it know?
- What human evidence exists for the specific thing I want from it?
- Is the blend I am buying tested for both peptides separately?
12Common questions
Why is ipamorelin always sold with CJC-1295?
They act on different receptors, so the claim is that together they produce a larger growth hormone pulse than either alone. It also doubles every purity, identity and sterility question, since you now depend on two unverified compounds in one vial.
Was ipamorelin ever a real drug?
It was a real drug candidate. It went into human trials and was discontinued before approval. That is more pharmaceutical history than most research peptides have, and it still means the safety programme was never completed.
Is it safe because it is selective?
Selectivity for growth hormone release over cortisol and prolactin was its design goal and a genuine advantage over older compounds. It says nothing about long-term safety, which was never established.
13Sources
Links go to the authoritative source. Where a document sits behind a paywall or moves around, the full citation is given so you can find it yourself.
- Unlicensed medicines guidanceMHRA
- Prohibited List, S2.2.4 growth hormone secretagoguesWADA
- Ipamorelin clinical development literaturePubMed
- Regulatory status of compounded peptidesFDA bulk drug substances review
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