Home / Compounds / Tesamorelin
Tesamorelin
GHRH analogue · Egrifta
- UK status
- Not licensed in the UK
- Availability
- Licensed in the US only
- Evidence base
- Human RCT for its licensed indication
- Controlled drug
- No, but WADA prohibited
Sequence
A modified form of human GHRH, 44 amino acids. See the US prescribing information.
Tesamorelin is the most useful compound in this register for understanding what a licence actually covers. It is a properly approved drug, it works for what it was approved for, and almost nobody buying it online has the condition it was approved for.
01What it is
Tesamorelin is a stabilised analogue of human growth hormone releasing hormone. Mechanically it belongs with CJC-1295 and sermorelin: it acts on the pituitary to increase release of the body's own growth hormone.
What separates it is that it went through a full development programme and was approved.
02UK legal and licensing status
Tesamorelin is FDA-approved in the United States, marketed as Egrifta, for the reduction of excess abdominal fat in adults with HIV-associated lipodystrophy. That is the entire indication. It is described as the only approved GHRH analogue currently marketed.
Tesamorelin has no MHRA marketing authorisation. It is not a licensed medicine in the UK and cannot be lawfully supplied for human use here without one.
HIV-associated lipodystrophy is a specific metabolic condition involving abnormal fat redistribution, in a specific patient group, assessed by specialists. An approval for that is not evidence that the drug reduces body fat in healthy adults, and it says nothing about ageing, muscle or recovery. A narrow licence is routinely presented online as general validation. It is not.
Athletes: WADA names tesamorelin under S2.2.4, alongside GHRH and its other analogues. Prohibited at all times, licensed status notwithstanding.
03How it works
It binds GHRH receptors in the pituitary, increasing growth hormone secretion, which in turn raises IGF-1. In its licensed population, that shifts fat distribution, specifically reducing visceral adipose tissue.
04What the evidence shows
Approval rests on randomised controlled trials in adults with HIV-associated lipodystrophy, showing reduction in visceral abdominal fat. This is real, regulator-assessed evidence, which is more than can be said for most of this register.
It is also narrow evidence. Trials in one condition, in one population, measuring one outcome. Extrapolating from it to healthy adults seeking body composition changes is exactly the move the explainer on reading claims warns about, and the trials that would test it have not been done.
No UK regulatory assessment, so no SPC or MHRA-approved patient information for a UK reader. No trial evidence in people without the licensed condition. Long-term effects of raising growth hormone in healthy adults remain uncharacterised.
05Reported harms
For its licensed use, the US prescribing information carries the full frequency table. Recognised effects across GHRH analogues include joint pain, swelling from fluid retention, injection site reactions and effects on glucose tolerance, the last of which matters given the metabolic context of the licensed population.
Product bought outside a regulated supply chain carries the usual unverifiable identity, purity and sterility risks, and would fall outside the Yellow Card scheme.
06Sources
Links go to the primary source. Where a source is behind a paywall or requires registration, the citation is given so you can find it yourself.
- US prescribing information for EgriftaFDA
- Prohibited List, S2.2.4 growth hormone releasing factorsWADA
- Tesamorelin trials in HIV-associated lipodystrophyPubMed
- Unlicensed medicines guidanceMHRA
07Change history
Every substantive change to this record is logged here with its date. Corrections are made openly, not quietly.
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