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CJC-1295 with DAC

CJC-1295 with DAC is a lab-made, long-acting version of growth hormone–releasing hormone (GHRH), the brain hormone that tells the pituitary to release growth hormone. A reactive chemical group, the drug affinity complex (DAC), makes it attach to albumin in the blood, so in healthy adults its half-life was about six to eight days. ConjuChem developed it in the 2000s, but it was never approved.

Not approved · research onlyWADA Prohibited at all times (S2, named as CJC-1295)Checked October 2026
Open the CJC-1295 with DAC calculatorSources

Approval status

Not approved as a medicine by FDA, EMA or other major regulators. ConjuChem stopped its clinical trials in 2006; FDA, citing news reports, says this followed the death of a participant in a phase 2 trial. Its compounding nominations were withdrawn, but FDA reviewed it anyway, and in December 2024 FDA's advisers voted 13–0 against letting pharmacies compound it.103456

What it’s used or studied for

  • Human studies

    In small trials in healthy adults, one injection raised growth hormone for six days or more and IGF-1 for up to eleven days, with natural pulses kept.78

  • Animal & lab only

    In mice lacking their own GHRH, repeated injections restored normal growth and body composition.9

  • No studies

    Promoted online for muscle gain, fat loss and anti-aging. No controlled trials have tested these effects, and FDA found no studies in people with growth hormone deficiency.310

Each label shows how strong the evidence is: an approved use, human studies, animal or lab studies only, or a popular claim with no published studies. Being studied is not the same as being proven safe or effective.

Side effects

Common

  • Injection-site reactions (redness, hardening, pain, itching)
  • Headache
  • Flushing and warmth
  • Diarrhea or loose stools
  • Nausea or stomach pain
  • Faster heart rate

Serious or rare

  • Flushing with a drop in blood pressure (systemic vasodilatory reaction)
  • Dizziness with low blood pressure
  • Brief involuntary leg muscle contractions and loss of coordination (one person)
  • A heart-attack death in a phase 2 trial, known only from news reports; the doctor suspected hidden heart disease

Most data come from about 60 healthy adults, most of whom had a single injection; side effects were more frequent at higher doses. FDA's account of the trial death relies on news reports, because the trial's data were never published.3578

Cautions

  • In rats and dogs, repeated injections caused bleeding, inflammation and tissue death at the injection site; in mice and mouse pituitary cells it caused signs of DNA damage (FDA review).3
  • FDA notes the DAC group could also bind proteins other than albumin, with unknown effects.3
  • There are no safety data in children and no long-term safety data.3
  • Often confused with CJC-1295 without DAC (Mod GRF 1-29); FDA found the names on products and in databases inconsistent.3
  • FDA says compounded CJC-1295 may provoke immune reactions and is hard to characterize and keep free of impurities.5

What it’s made of

Type
Peptide
Length
30 amino acids
Sequence
Tyr-D-Ala-Asp-Ala-Ile-Phe-Thr-Gln-Ser-Tyr-Arg-Lys-Val-Leu-Ala-Gln-Leu-Ser-Ala-Arg-Lys-Leu-Leu-Gln-Asp-Ile-Leu-Ser-Arg-Lys
Modifications
D-Ala2, Gln8, Ala15 and Leu27 substitutions in GHRH(1-29); an extra C-terminal lysine amide whose side chain carries a 3-maleimidopropionyl group (the DAC), which binds albumin
Formula
C165H269N47O46
Molar mass
3647.2 g/mol

Made by chemical synthesis. ConjuChem designed it from human GHRH(1-29) so that, after injection, it attaches to the free thiol (Cys34) of the body's own albumin.123

This page summarizes published information. It is not medical advice and doesn’t recommend using any compound. Many of these compounds are sold for research only. Talk to a licensed clinician.

Sources

  1. PubChem: CJC-1295 (CID 91971820)
  2. Jetté L et al. hGRF1-29-albumin bioconjugates: identification of CJC-1295 as a long-lasting GRF analog (Endocrinology, 2005)
  3. FDA briefing document: CJC-1295-related bulk drug substances (Pharmacy Compounding Advisory Committee, December 4, 2024)
  4. FDA: Final summary minutes, Pharmacy Compounding Advisory Committee, December 4, 2024
  5. FDA: Certain bulk drug substances for use in compounding that may present significant safety risks (Category 2)
  6. WADA 2026 Prohibited List
  7. Teichman SL et al. Prolonged stimulation of GH and IGF-I secretion by CJC-1295 in healthy adults (J Clin Endocrinol Metab, 2006)
  8. Ionescu M, Frohman LA. Pulsatile secretion of GH persists during continuous stimulation by CJC-1295 (J Clin Endocrinol Metab, 2006)
  9. Alba M et al. Once-daily CJC-1295 normalizes growth in the GHRH knockout mouse (Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab, 2006)
  10. Dominikowski A et al. Performance-enhancing peptides modulating the GH-IGF1 axis: clinical evidence vs self-administration (Front Endocrinol, 2026)

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