# Ipamorelin: full monograph (Ipamorelin Co)
> Source page: https://ipamorelinco.com/monograph

Status: Research compound, not FDA-approved
Disclosure: Ipamorelin is not FDA approved. FDA has placed it in Category 2 of its compounding lists over significant safety concerns, and products sold online are research chemicals.
Updated: 2026-08-14

## Key facts
- Status: Research compound, not FDA-approved
- Clearance: 0.078 L/h/kg (IV, healthy men) (source: https://europepmc.org/article/MED/10496658)
- Volume of distribution: 0.22 L/kg at steady state (source: https://europepmc.org/article/MED/10496658)
- Gh peak: single GH pulse peaking at 0.67 hours, then declining to negligible levels (source: https://europepmc.org/article/MED/10496658)
- Dose proportionality: dose-proportional over 4.21 to 140.45 nmol/kg IV (source: https://europepmc.org/article/MED/10496658)
- Animal kinetics: rat: clearance 5-fold lower than GHRP-6, mainly intact urinary excretion, ~20% nasal bioavailability (source: https://europepmc.org/article/MED/9879640)
- Unstudied: no published human subcutaneous or multiple-dose kinetics (source: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13322892/)
- Class: Ghrelin-receptor (GHS-R1a) agonist; GHRP-family pentapeptide (source: https://europepmc.org/article/MED/9849822)
- Half-life: about 2 hours (human, IV) h (source: https://europepmc.org/article/MED/10496658)
- Origin: Novo Nordisk drug candidate NNC 26-0161 (1998) (source: https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/9831659)
- Molecule: Pentapeptide, C38H49N9O5, MW 711.9 (source: https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/9831659)
- Human trials: 1 PK study; 2 phase 2 ileus trials (1 failed, 1 unpublished) (source: https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT01280344)
- Efficacy trials for marketed uses: None exist in humans (source: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7108996/)
- WADA: Prohibited at all times (S2.2.4, named) (source: https://www.wada-ama.org/sites/default/files/2025-09/2026list_en_final_clean_september_2025.pdf)

## Overview
Ipamorelin is a synthetic five-amino-acid peptide that makes the pituitary release a pulse of the body's own growth hormone. It does this by activating the ghrelin receptor, the same receptor targeted by the hunger hormone 1 . Clinics and research-chemical vendors sell it as the cleanest or most selective of the growth hormone peptides, usually paired with CJC-1295. Three facts frame everything else on this page. First, ipamorelin is not FDA approved for anything, anywhere: a Drugs@FDA search returns no product containing it 4 . Second, FDA placed ipamorelin acetate in Category 2 of its compounding lists on September 29, 2023, the category for bulk substances that may present significant safety risks 3 . Third, and least advertised: ipamorelin is not an undiscovered frontier compound. It was a real drug candidate, developed by Novo Nordisk in the 1990s under the code NNC 26-0161 and taken into phase 2 human trials for a hospital indication by Helsinn. The randomized trial that reported results found no significant benefit, the larger follow-up trial was never published, and the program stopped 5 7 . This monograph documents that history with primary sources: the selectivity pharmacology at its true evidence grade, the complete human trial record, the animal literature the marketed benefits actually trace to, and what remains unknown. Our evidence table holds 16 study rows, each labeled by species; 3 are human, and none of the human rows tests muscle gain, fat loss, anti-aging or recovery 2 5 .
Sources: https://europepmc.org/article/MED/9849822 ; https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cder/daf/ ; https://www.fda.gov/drugs/human-drug-compounding/certain-bulk-drug-substances-use-compounding-may-present-significant-safety-risks ; https://europepmc.org/article/MED/25331030 ; https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT01280344 ; https://europepmc.org/article/MED/10496658

## About ipamorelin (NNC 26-0161)
Ipamorelin is a pentapeptide with the sequence Aib-His-D-2-Nal-D-Phe-Lys-NH2, molecular formula C38H49N9O5 and molecular weight 711.9 (PubChem CID 9831659; CAS 170851-70-4) 8 . Two of its five residues are unnatural amino acids, a design choice that raised its stability and, in FDA's later assessment, adds to the complexity of characterizing compounded versions 3 . The molecule came out of a deliberate medicinal-chemistry program at Novo Nordisk: the team removed the central Ala-Trp dipeptide of GHRP-1 and screened the resulting series, publishing the result in 1998 as the first growth hormone secretagogue with GHRH-like selectivity 1 . Its internal code, NNC 26-0161, appears throughout the primary literature and in chemical registries 10 8 . Despite the marketing category it now lives in, ipamorelin is not a fragment of any human hormone. It is a designed drug molecule whose development was later abandoned.
Sources: https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/9831659 ; https://www.fda.gov/drugs/human-drug-compounding/certain-bulk-drug-substances-use-compounding-may-present-significant-safety-risks ; https://europepmc.org/article/MED/9849822 ; https://europepmc.org/article/MED/9879640

## Regulatory status: what Category 2 means
Ipamorelin is not FDA approved. FDA has placed it in Category 2 of its compounding lists over significant safety concerns, and products sold online are research chemicals. The precise status: no drug product containing ipamorelin has ever been approved by FDA 4 . Ipamorelin acetate was nominated for the list of bulk substances that outsourcing facilities may compound under section 503B, and on September 29, 2023 FDA placed it in Category 2, the category for nominated substances that may present significant safety risks 3 . FDA's stated reasons are specific and worth reading in full. The agency writes that compounded drugs containing ipamorelin acetate "may pose risk for immunogenicity for certain routes of administration due to the potential for aggregation or peptide-related impurities," that the molecule's unnatural amino acids "add to the complexity of peptide characterization," and that "a study published in literature identified serious adverse events including death when ipamorelin was administered intravenously for improving gastric motility." For other injectable routes, FDA states it "lacks sufficient information to know whether the drug would cause harm" 3 . The study FDA references is the intravenous postoperative-ileus program in seriously ill surgical patients described below; the published trial itself reported adverse-event rates similar to placebo in that setting 5 . Because compounded drugs are never FDA-approved products, even a compounding route would not make ipamorelin a reviewed medicine: FDA states plainly that it does not verify the safety, effectiveness or quality of compounded drugs before marketing 28 . What is actually sold online is labeled for research use, a labeling convention that places the entire quality burden on the buyer 24 .
Sources: https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cder/daf/ ; https://www.fda.gov/drugs/human-drug-compounding/certain-bulk-drug-substances-use-compounding-may-present-significant-safety-risks ; https://europepmc.org/article/MED/25331030 ; https://www.fda.gov/drugs/human-drug-compounding/compounding-and-fda-questions-and-answers ; https://europepmc.org/article/MED/41966639

## The abandoned drug: from Novo Nordisk to Helsinn to nothing
Ipamorelin's history is the strongest argument against the way it is marketed, so we lay it out in order. 1994 to 1998: a real discovery program. Novo Nordisk's growth hormone group designed ipamorelin, characterized it in vitro, in rats and in swine, and published the selectivity result that still powers every sales page today 1 . The company valued the scaffold enough to build follow-on series from it, seeking orally available successors; in dogs, oral ipamorelin itself raised basal GH more than 10-fold at 2.7 mg/kg, and a derived tetrapeptide reached 10% oral bioavailability 9 . Rat pharmacokinetics, including a nasal-absorption estimate of roughly 20%, were published the same year 10 . 1999: the only human pharmacology ever published. A dose-escalation study infused ipamorelin intravenously in healthy men, eight subjects per dose across five dose levels, establishing a 2-hour half-life and a single clean pulse of GH peaking about 40 minutes after dosing 2 . No human study of repeated dosing has ever been published. 2008 to 2014: the clinical program, and its end. Helsinn took ipamorelin into phase 2 for postoperative ileus, the gut shutdown that follows bowel surgery, on the strength of rodent motility data 16 17 . The proof-of-concept trial (NCT00672074) randomized 117 patients to 0.03 mg/kg intravenously twice daily or placebo: median time to first tolerated meal was 25.3 hours on drug versus 32.6 on placebo, p = 0.15, with no significant differences on any key or secondary efficacy analysis 5 6 . A second, larger dose-finding trial (NCT01280344) enrolled 320 patients across three regimens and completed in May 2014 7 . Its results were never posted to the registry and, as of August 14, 2026, no publication reporting them exists among the 54 ipamorelin records in PubMed 7 . A 2026 endocrinology review states the proof-of-concept failure "tempered further clinical investigation" 22 . What that sequence means. A pharmaceutical company with the molecule's inventor, a specialty developer, two phase 2 trials and roughly twenty years had every incentive to demonstrate a use for ipamorelin. The one randomized result made public is negative, the larger dataset is dark, and no company is developing the compound today in any indexed trial 6 7 . The vials sold online are not early access to a coming therapy. They are the aftermarket of a program that ended.
Sources: https://europepmc.org/article/MED/9849822 ; https://europepmc.org/article/MED/9733495 ; https://europepmc.org/article/MED/9879640 ; https://europepmc.org/article/MED/10496658 ; https://europepmc.org/article/MED/19289567 ; https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4863553/ ; https://europepmc.org/article/MED/25331030 ; https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT00672074 ; https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT01280344 ; https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13322892/

## Mechanism of action
Ipamorelin is an agonist of the growth hormone secretagogue receptor (GHS-R1a), the receptor for ghrelin. Activating it triggers the pituitary to release a pulse of growth hormone; in the human study, a single intravenous dose produced one episode of GH release that peaked at about 0.67 hours and then declined to negligible levels, at every dose tested 2 . The concentration for half-maximal GH stimulation was 214 nmol/L 2 . Its potency was defined in animals: EC50 of 1.3 nmol/L in rat pituitary cell culture, ED50 of 80 nmol/kg in anaesthetised rats and 2.3 nmol/kg in conscious swine, all comparable to GHRP-6 1 . Because it works through the ghrelin receptor, ipamorelin carries ghrelin-like baggage that marketing rarely mentions: in mice it increased body fat, leptin and food intake through mechanisms independent of GH 18 , and in rat pancreatic tissue it directly stimulated insulin release 19 . A ghrelin mimetic is, mechanistically, an appetite-axis drug as much as a growth-hormone one.
Sources: https://europepmc.org/article/MED/10496658 ; https://europepmc.org/article/MED/9849822 ; https://europepmc.org/article/MED/11162489 ; https://europepmc.org/article/MED/15665799

## The selectivity story: what "cleanest peptide" actually rests on
The claim that ipamorelin is the cleanest GH peptide is not invented. It has a real source, and the source has a real grade: swine. In the 1998 Novo Nordisk study, older secretagogues (GHRP-2, GHRP-6) raised ACTH and cortisol alongside GH. Ipamorelin did not: in swine, ACTH and cortisol stayed at levels no different from GHRH stimulation even at doses more than 200-fold above the GH ED50, and none of the compounds tested moved FSH, LH, prolactin or TSH 1 . That is a genuinely distinctive pharmacological profile, and it is why the paper's title calls ipamorelin the first selective GH secretagogue 1 . In humans, the footprint is thinner than the marketing implies. The single-dose intravenous study is summarized in a 2026 review as showing no significant effects on other pituitary or adrenal hormones in that setting; the same review classifies ipamorelin's cortisol and prolactin sparing under chronic use as theoretical and not characterised, and observes that the cleaner endocrine profile "is often presented as a practical distinction" in how these compounds are sold 22 . No published human study has measured cortisol or prolactin under weeks of repeated dosing, because no such study exists for any endpoint 22 . So the honest version of the selectivity claim reads: demonstrated at single doses in animals at up to 200-fold the effective dose; consistent with the one human single-dose study; never tested in humans under the chronic dosing schedules actually used by buyers 1 22 .
Sources: https://europepmc.org/article/MED/9849822 ; https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13322892/

## Human evidence: the complete list
The published human record on ipamorelin consists of exactly two things. 1. Pharmacokinetics in healthy men (1999). Five ascending intravenous infusion rates, 4.21 to 140.45 nmol/kg over 15 minutes, eight healthy male subjects per level. Results: dose-proportional kinetics, terminal half-life about 2 hours, clearance 0.078 L/h/kg, a single GH pulse peaking at 0.67 hours 2 . This study measured hormones, not outcomes. 2. The postoperative ileus program (2008 to 2014). One published randomized trial in 117 bowel-resection patients: no significant benefit on any efficacy endpoint (median time to first tolerated meal 25.3 vs 32.6 hours, p = 0.15) 5 . One completed but unpublished 320-patient dose-finding trial 7 . That is the entire interventional record. There is no human trial of ipamorelin for muscle, fat loss, body composition, skin, sleep, recovery, injury, longevity or any of the goals it is sold for; a 2020 review of secretagogues in men's health describes a paucity of clinical-effect data for the class, and a 2026 review finds evidence in non-approved indications remains minimal 23 22 . Where a clinic quotes body-composition numbers at you, ask which compound they belong to: for ipamorelin, none exist.
Sources: https://europepmc.org/article/MED/10496658 ; https://europepmc.org/article/MED/25331030 ; https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT01280344 ; https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7108996/ ; https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13322892/

## Animal evidence: where the marketed benefits actually come from
The benefit claims attached to ipamorelin trace almost entirely to a cluster of rodent studies, most of them from the original Novo Nordisk program. They are real studies with real effects, in animals, at doses far above anything humans inject. Bone and growth. In rats, 15 days of subcutaneous ipamorelin dose-dependently raised longitudinal bone growth rate from 42 to up to 52 micrometers per day and increased weight gain, without moving IGF-I 11 . Twelve weeks of 0.5 mg/kg/day increased bone mineral content in adult female rats, but by making bones bigger, not denser: volumetric density was unchanged 12 . Steroid-catabolism models. In rats given glucocorticoids, ipamorelin preserved the GH response, restored muscle tetanic tension, quadrupled periosteal bone formation versus steroid alone, reduced steroid weight loss, and partially corrected nitrogen wasting (20% reduction in hepatic urea-nitrogen synthesis capacity, versus 33% for GH itself) 13 14 15 . Gut motility. The rodent work that launched the clinical program: single intravenous doses shortened time to first bowel movement and accelerated gastric emptying in surgical-ileus models 16 17 . This is the one area where the animal-to-human translation was actually tested, and it failed 5 . Appetite, fat and insulin. The inconvenient rows: in mice ipamorelin increased body fat, leptin and food intake by GH-independent mechanisms 18 ; in rat pancreas it stimulated insulin release from normal and diabetic tissue 19 ; in ferrets it reduced chemotherapy weight loss by about 24%, the class effect that made its cousin anamorelin a cachexia drug 21 . A ghrelin agonist's natural direction is weight gain.
Sources: https://europepmc.org/article/MED/10373343 ; https://europepmc.org/article/MED/10828840 ; https://europepmc.org/article/MED/11735244 ; https://europepmc.org/article/MED/10629165 ; https://europepmc.org/article/MED/19231263 ; https://europepmc.org/article/MED/19289567 ; https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4863553/ ; https://europepmc.org/article/MED/25331030 ; https://europepmc.org/article/MED/11162489 ; https://europepmc.org/article/MED/15665799 ; https://europepmc.org/article/MED/39043357

## The CJC-1295 combination, examined
Ipamorelin is most often sold stacked with CJC-1295. The rationale is mechanistic: CJC-1295 is a long-acting GHRH analog (half-life 5.8 to 8.1 days in the human trial) that raises baseline GH and IGF-I for days 29 , while ipamorelin is a short-acting ghrelin-receptor agonist producing a single 2-hour pulse 2 . Two receptors, two time courses; the theory is that together they amplify GH release. Here is the evidentiary status of that theory in humans: no randomized trial of the combination exists for any endpoint. A 2026 review states the pairing "is largely driven by anecdotal rationale" without controlled clinical evidence of synergy 22 . Each half also carries its own regulatory freight: FDA has placed both compounds on its compounding safety-risk list, citing for CJC-1295 reports of serious adverse events including increased heart rate and systemic vasodilatory reaction 3 . Our sister site covers CJC-1295 with the same standards; the comparison table below is the short version. The combination's popularity is a marketing architecture, not a data architecture: two abandoned or never-developed compounds packaged so that each covers the other's gap 22 3 .
Sources: https://europepmc.org/article/MED/16352683 ; https://europepmc.org/article/MED/10496658 ; https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13322892/ ; https://www.fda.gov/drugs/human-drug-compounding/certain-bulk-drug-substances-use-compounding-may-present-significant-safety-risks

## Dosage: what was studied versus what forums say
No dose of ipamorelin has ever been shown effective for any condition in humans, so there is no such thing as an evidence-based ipamorelin dose. What exists is a studied-dose record and a folklore record, and they do not match. Studied in humans. The PK study infused 4.21 to 140.45 nmol/kg intravenously over 15 minutes as single doses (for a 70 kg adult, roughly 0.2 to 7 mg, using the 711.9 g/mol molecular weight) 2 8 . The ileus trials used 0.03 mg/kg intravenously twice daily (about 2.1 mg per dose at 70 kg), with the unpublished trial adding 0.06 mg/kg arms twice and three times daily 5 7 . These were hospital infusions in monitored patients, and the tested indication failed 5 . Folklore. Bodybuilding forums, as documented in the 2026 review, run 200 to 300 micrograms subcutaneously two or three times daily, cycled 8 to 12 weeks, usually with CJC-1295 22 . Note what that means: the internet's standard protocol is a chronic subcutaneous schedule that no published human study has ever used, at roughly a tenth of the single trial dose, for goals no trial has tested 22 2 . Subcutaneous ipamorelin pharmacokinetics have never been published in humans at all. Our dose explorer tool lists every studied dose row with its species, so the distance between the literature and the folklore is visible at a glance. We do not recommend doses; there is nothing evidence-based to recommend.
Sources: https://europepmc.org/article/MED/10496658 ; https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/9831659 ; https://europepmc.org/article/MED/25331030 ; https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT01280344 ; https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13322892/

## Is ipamorelin safe?
Unknown at the schedules people actually use. That is the honest one-line answer, and here is what stands behind it. What human data exist. In the published trial, one week of intravenous ipamorelin in postsurgical patients produced treatment-emergent adverse events in 87.5% of drug patients versus 94.8% on placebo, and the authors called it well tolerated in that setting 5 . Single intravenous doses in healthy men raised GH without other reported hormone effects 2 22 . No human safety data exist for chronic subcutaneous use, the way it is actually taken 22 . What FDA flagged. Immunogenicity risk from aggregation and peptide-related impurities; characterization complexity from the unnatural amino acids; a literature report of serious adverse events including death with intravenous use in the gastric-motility program; and, for other injectable routes, insufficient information to know whether the drug would cause harm 3 . The death language refers to trials in seriously ill surgical patients, a population with substantial background mortality; the published trial reported similar adverse-event rates in both arms 5 . Neither fact cancels the other: FDA's conclusion was that the safety picture is insufficient, not reassuring. Mechanism-level cautions. Ghrelin-receptor agonism stimulated insulin release in rat pancreatic tissue 19 and increased fat and food intake in mice 18 ; GH-axis stimulation raises the standing class questions about glucose tolerance and growth-sensitive tissue that apply to every secretagogue 24 . Product quality is its own hazard: forensic analyses of seized products found glycine-modified ipamorelin analogs rather than the labeled compound 25 26 .
Sources: https://europepmc.org/article/MED/25331030 ; https://europepmc.org/article/MED/10496658 ; https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13322892/ ; https://www.fda.gov/drugs/human-drug-compounding/certain-bulk-drug-substances-use-compounding-may-present-significant-safety-risks ; https://europepmc.org/article/MED/15665799 ; https://europepmc.org/article/MED/11162489 ; https://europepmc.org/article/MED/41966639 ; https://europepmc.org/article/MED/29864719 ; https://europepmc.org/article/MED/30136411

## Who should not consider ipamorelin?
No label exists, so no contraindication list exists; what follows is class reasoning from the GH axis, stated as such. Anyone with an active malignancy or a cancer history sits in the highest-caution group: the one approved GHRH-analog product, tesamorelin, is contraindicated in active malignancy, and growth-axis stimulation is the shared mechanism 33 . People with diabetes or impaired glucose tolerance should note both the class glucose effects and ipamorelin's direct insulin-release signal in rat pancreas 19 24 . Pregnancy and breastfeeding have zero data of any kind 22 . And anyone subject to anti-doping rules is prohibited from using it at all times 27 .
Sources: https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cder/daf/index.cfm?event=overview.process&ApplNo=022505 ; https://europepmc.org/article/MED/15665799 ; https://europepmc.org/article/MED/41966639 ; https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13322892/ ; https://www.wada-ama.org/sites/default/files/2025-09/2026list_en_final_clean_september_2025.pdf

## Which medicines and conditions interact?
No human interaction study has ever been conducted, so this section reports mechanism-level signals from animal work, labeled as such. Glucose-lowering medicines: ipamorelin stimulated insulin secretion directly from rat pancreatic tissue through calcium-channel and adrenergic pathways 19 , and GH itself is counter-regulatory to insulin; the net effect of the two directions in a medicated human is unstudied. Glucocorticoids: in rats, methylprednisolone did not blunt the GH response to ipamorelin, and ipamorelin partially offset steroid catabolism 14 15 ; this is pharmacology, not a demonstrated clinical benefit. Appetite-active drugs: ghrelin-receptor agonism increased food intake in mice 18 . Nothing is known about interactions with any specific human medication 22 .
Sources: https://europepmc.org/article/MED/15665799 ; https://europepmc.org/article/MED/10629165 ; https://europepmc.org/article/MED/19231263 ; https://europepmc.org/article/MED/11162489 ; https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13322892/

## What about pregnancy and breastfeeding?
There are no human pregnancy data, no lactation data and no developmental toxicity publications for ipamorelin in the indexed literature as of this writing 22 . The compound was abandoned before any such program would have run. This is a complete unknown, on top of a compound whose adult safety is itself insufficiently characterized in FDA's assessment 3 .
Sources: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13322892/ ; https://www.fda.gov/drugs/human-drug-compounding/certain-bulk-drug-substances-use-compounding-may-present-significant-safety-risks

## How is ipamorelin stored and handled?
Honestly: nobody can tell you with authority, because no approved product and no label exist 4 . The published human studies used intravenous infusions prepared for a hospital setting 2 5 ; they are not a template for vial storage at home. What circulates commercially is lyophilized powder of research-chemical grade, and forensic analyses of seized products in this class found modified analogs rather than the labeled peptide, which is a sharper problem than storage temperature 26 25 . Any storage guidance you see on a vendor page is the vendor's assertion, not a validated standard.
Sources: https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cder/daf/ ; https://europepmc.org/article/MED/10496658 ; https://europepmc.org/article/MED/25331030 ; https://europepmc.org/article/MED/30136411 ; https://europepmc.org/article/MED/29864719

## What is actually in the vials?
Ipamorelin sits in what a 2026 sports-medicine review calls a parallel gray market operating largely outside regulatory oversight 24 . Two forensic findings show what that means in practice. German and Norwegian doping-control laboratories analyzing black-market growth products identified Gly-Ipamorelin, an ipamorelin analog carrying an extra N-terminal glycine, confirmed by custom synthesis 25 . Danish customs seizures of unlabeled powders likewise contained glycine-modified analogs of ipamorelin, GHRP-2, GHRP-6 and modified GRF 1-29 26 . These analogs are not the studied molecule: their pharmacology and immunogenicity are uncharacterized, which is precisely the impurity-and-characterization risk FDA cited when it placed ipamorelin acetate in Category 2 3 . A certificate of analysis from the seller is a self-issued document; the seized-product literature is what independent laboratories actually found.
Sources: https://europepmc.org/article/MED/41966639 ; https://europepmc.org/article/MED/29864719 ; https://europepmc.org/article/MED/30136411 ; https://www.fda.gov/drugs/human-drug-compounding/certain-bulk-drug-substances-use-compounding-may-present-significant-safety-risks

## What should athletes know?
Ipamorelin is prohibited at all times, in and out of competition, under the WADA Prohibited List: section S2.2.4 names it explicitly among growth hormone secretagogues and their mimetics, alongside anamorelin, ibutamoren and ghrelin itself 27 . CJC-1295, sermorelin and tesamorelin are banned in the same section as GHRH analogues, so the popular stack is prohibited twice over 27 . Anti-doping laboratories publish detection methods for ipamorelin and its metabolites in urine, and the glycine-modified analogs found in seized products were characterized specifically so screens could catch them 26 25 .
Sources: https://www.wada-ama.org/sites/default/files/2025-09/2026list_en_final_clean_september_2025.pdf ; https://europepmc.org/article/MED/30136411 ; https://europepmc.org/article/MED/29864719

## Pharmacokinetics
The human numbers all come from one intravenous study in healthy men 2 : terminal half-life about 2 hours; clearance 0.078 L/h/kg; steady-state volume of distribution 0.22 L/kg; dose-proportional exposure; a single GH pulse peaking at 0.67 hours and returning to negligible levels; half-maximal GH stimulation at an ipamorelin concentration of 214 nmol/L 2 . Animal kinetics add texture the human study could not: in rats, ipamorelin cleared 5-fold more slowly than GHRP-6, was excreted largely intact in urine, and reached about 20% bioavailability through the nasal route 10 . Two gaps matter for anyone reading vendor pages: subcutaneous pharmacokinetics have never been published in humans, and neither has any multiple-dose kinetic study 2 22 .
Sources: https://europepmc.org/article/MED/10496658 ; https://europepmc.org/article/MED/9879640 ; https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13322892/

## What we don't know yet
The list of unknowns is most of the map. No human efficacy has been demonstrated for any use: the one indication ever tested in a randomized trial, postoperative ileus, showed no significant benefit, and the larger trial's results were never made public 5 7 . Nothing is known from human trials about effects on muscle, fat, body composition, skin, sleep, recovery or aging 23 22 . Chronic-use selectivity (cortisol, prolactin), chronic-use safety, subcutaneous kinetics, long-term glucose effects, immunogenicity of repeated injections, cancer-relevant effects of sustained GH-axis stimulation and every drug interaction are unstudied 22 3 . IGF-I responses under the internet's chronic schedules have never been measured in a published study 22 . Where ipamorelin marketing quotes benefit numbers, they trace to rat and mouse studies from the abandoned development program, or to studies of other compounds entirely 11 12 .
Sources: https://europepmc.org/article/MED/25331030 ; https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT01280344 ; https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7108996/ ; https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13322892/ ; https://www.fda.gov/drugs/human-drug-compounding/certain-bulk-drug-substances-use-compounding-may-present-significant-safety-risks ; https://europepmc.org/article/MED/10373343 ; https://europepmc.org/article/MED/10828840

## References
Every claim on this page carries a numbered citation that resolves to a primary source: peer-reviewed journals, FDA pages, ClinicalTrials.gov records, PubChem and the WADA Prohibited List. The full numbered list is below, and the same data ships as a machine-readable manifest at /evidence.json . Where a free full text exists, the citation links it.

## Frequently asked questions
Direct answers to the questions readers actually bring to ipamorelin, each with its sources; the short version of every answer comes first.

## Related compounds and comparisons
Ipamorelin lives inside a family of GH-axis molecules that marketing blurs together and pharmacology separates. CJC-1295, its usual stacking partner, is a GHRH analog with a days-long half-life, studied in healthy adults but never approved 29 . Sermorelin is the GHRH fragment that briefly was an approved drug; FDA determined its withdrawal was not about safety or effectiveness 32 . Tesamorelin is the one GHRH analog with a current FDA approval, for a single HIV-associated indication 33 . Ipamorelin works on a different receptor from all three: the ghrelin (GH secretagogue) receptor 1 . Our comparison tables below hold the cited details, and each compound's sister site documents it at full depth.
Sources: https://europepmc.org/article/MED/16352683 ; https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2013/03/04/2013-04827/determination-that-geref-sermorelin-acetate-injection-05-milligrams-basevial-and-10-milligrams ; https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cder/daf/index.cfm?event=overview.process&ApplNo=022505 ; https://europepmc.org/article/MED/9849822

## Study results
| Study | Species/model | n | Duration | Outcome | Effect size |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Gobburu 1999: PK-PD modeling of ipamorelin in human volunteers (https://europepmc.org/article/MED/10496658) | human (Dose-escalation IV infusion study, healthy male volunteers) | 40 (8 per dose level x 5 levels) | Single dose | Dose-proportional PK; terminal half-life about 2 h; clearance 0.078 L/h/kg; Vss 0.22 L/kg; single GH pulse peaking at 0.67 h, declining to negligible levels at all doses | SC50 for GH stimulation 214 nmol/L; maximal GH production rate 694 mIU/L/h |
| Beck 2014: ipamorelin for postoperative ileus, proof of concept (https://europepmc.org/article/MED/25331030) | human (Phase 2 multicenter double-blind placebo-controlled RCT after bowel resection (NCT00672074)) | 117 enrolled; 114 mITT | Up to 7 days | FAILED primary comparison: median time to first tolerated meal 25.3 h vs 32.6 h placebo, p = 0.15; no significant differences on key or secondary efficacy analyses; TEAE 87.5% vs 94.8% | p = 0.15 on key endpoint (not significant) |
| NCT01280344: dose-finding after bowel resection, completed May 2014 (https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT01280344) | human (Phase 2 double-blind placebo-controlled dose-finding trial (registry record; never published)) | 320 (actual enrollment) | Postoperative dosing to GI recovery | Completed May 2014. No results posted to ClinicalTrials.gov and no publication indexed in PubMed as of 2026-08-14; the program ended | Unknown; results never disclosed |
| Raun 1998: ipamorelin, the first selective GH secretagogue (https://europepmc.org/article/MED/9849822) | rat; swine; in vitro (Primary rat pituitary cells; anaesthetised rats; conscious swine) | Not stated per group in abstract | Acute dosing | GH release comparable to GHRP-6; in swine no significant ACTH or cortisol rise vs GHRH even at >200-fold the GH ED50; no effect on FSH, LH, prolactin, TSH | Selectivity window >200-fold in swine |
| Johansen 1999: longitudinal bone growth (https://europepmc.org/article/MED/10373343) | rat (Adult female rats, tetracycline-labeled tibia) | Groups of adult female rats (n per group not in abstract) | 15 days | Longitudinal growth rate rose dose-dependently from 42 to 44/50/52 micrometers/day (P<0.0001); body weight gain rose; total IGF-I, IGFBPs and bone turnover markers unchanged | +24% growth rate at top dose vs vehicle |
| Svensson 2000: BMC in adult female rats (https://europepmc.org/article/MED/10828840) | rat (13-week-old female Sprague-Dawley rats, osmotic minipumps) | 7 ipamorelin; 8 GHRP-6; 7 GH; plus vehicle | 12 weeks | Total and cortical BMC increased via larger bone dimensions; volumetric BMD unchanged; BMC:body-weight ratio unaffected | BMC up with body-weight gain; density unchanged |
| Andersen 2001: counteracting glucocorticoid bone loss (https://europepmc.org/article/MED/11735244) | rat (8-month-old female rats on methylprednisolone 9 mg/kg/day) | Groups of 8-month-old rats (n per group not in abstract) | 3 months | Maximum tetanic muscle tension increased; periosteal bone formation rate increased four-fold vs glucocorticoid alone | 4x periosteal bone formation vs GC alone |
| Malmlof 1999: GH response preserved under steroid (https://europepmc.org/article/MED/10629165) | rat (Rats on methylprednisolone 5 mg/kg) | Two experiments (n per group not in abstract) | 8 to 10 days | Steroid did not blunt GH response to ipamorelin; ipamorelin reduced steroid weight loss from 13.6 g to 1.6-2.3 g with IGF-I rising | Weight loss reduced ~85% vs steroid alone |
| Aagaard 2009: nitrogen wasting under steroid (https://europepmc.org/article/MED/19231263) | rat (Prednisolone-treated rats (4 mg/kg/day), urea-synthesis capacity) | 5 groups (n per group not in abstract) | 7 days | Ipamorelin reduced hepatic urea-nitrogen synthesis capacity by 20% (p<0.05) and neutralised nitrogen balance; GH was more effective (33% reduction) at the doses given | -20% CUNS vs prednisolone alone |
| Venkova 2009: rodent POI transit (https://europepmc.org/article/MED/19289567) | rat (Laparotomy + intestinal manipulation model of postoperative ileus) | Fasted male rats (n per group not in abstract) | 48 h observation | Single 1 mg/kg dose shortened time to first bowel movement; repeated dosing increased fecal pellet output, food intake and weight gain | Direction and significance per abstract; no numeric effect sizes given |
| Greenwood-Van Meerveld 2012: gastric dysmotility (https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4863553/) | rat (Surgical gastroparesis model; isolated fundus strips) | Adult male rats (n per group not in abstract) | Acute | Gastric retention fell from 78% (vehicle) to 52% of meal; inhibited smooth-muscle contractility restored in vitro | -26 percentage points gastric retention |
| Lall 2001: GH-independent fat gain (https://europepmc.org/article/MED/11162489) | mouse (GH-deficient (lit/lit) and GH-intact mice) | lit/lit, +/lit and +/+ mice (n per group not in abstract) | 2 to 9 weeks | Ipamorelin increased body weight, relative fat pad weight, serum leptin and food intake, including in GH-deficient mice; GH decreased fat | ~15% body-weight increase by 2 weeks |
| Adeghate 2004: insulin secretion (https://europepmc.org/article/MED/15665799) | rat (ex vivo pancreas) (Pancreatic tissue fragments, normal and streptozotocin-diabetic rats) | Tissue from normal and diabetic rats | Acute incubation | Significant insulin release from normal and diabetic pancreas (p<0.04); blocked by calcium-channel and adrenergic antagonists | Significant increase vs baseline (p<0.04) |
| Jimenez-Reina 2002: somatotroph response (https://europepmc.org/article/MED/12168778) | rat (Young female rats; pituitary cell cultures after in vivo treatment) | Young female rats (n per group not in abstract) | 21 days | Somatotroph secretion-granule volume density increased (P<0.05); percentage of somatotroph cells and GH cell ratios unchanged | Granule density increase (P<0.05) |
| Lu 2024: anamorelin and ipamorelin in ferrets (https://europepmc.org/article/MED/39043357) | ferret (Cisplatin-induced emesis and weight-loss model) | Ferret groups (n per group not in abstract) | 72 h | No effect on acute or delayed emesis; delayed-phase weight loss reduced by ~24% | ~24% reduction in delayed-phase weight loss |
| Johansen 1998: PK with emphasis on nasal absorption (https://europepmc.org/article/MED/9879640) | rat (Male rats, multiple administration routes) | Male rats (n per group not in abstract) | Single dose | Biexponential decline; plasma clearance 5-fold lower than GHRP-6; mainly excreted intact in urine (60-80% recovered); nasal bioavailability ~20% | Clearance 5-fold lower than GHRP-6 |

## What we do not know yet
What we do not know yet, as of this writing. No human efficacy has been demonstrated for any use of ipamorelin: the one indication ever tested in a randomized trial, postoperative ileus, showed no significant benefit, and the larger 320-patient trial's results were never made public. No human study has tested muscle gain, fat loss, body composition, skin, sleep, recovery, injury repair or longevity. The selectivity that anchors its marketing was demonstrated at single doses in animals and is consistent with one single-dose human study; under chronic dosing, cortisol and prolactin sparing is untested and classified as theoretical in the 2026 review literature. Subcutaneous pharmacokinetics, multiple-dose kinetics, IGF-I responses under forum schedules, immunogenicity of repeated injections, long-term glucose effects, cancer-relevant effects of sustained GH-axis stimulation, and all drug interactions are unstudied in humans. FDA states it lacks sufficient information to know whether the drug would cause harm by some injection routes. Where ipamorelin marketing quotes benefit numbers, they trace to rodent studies from the abandoned development program or to other compounds entirely.

## Questions and answers
### Is ipamorelin FDA approved?
No. No ipamorelin product has ever been FDA approved, and on Sept 29, 2023 FDA placed ipamorelin acetate in Category 2 of its compounding lists over significant safety concerns. Vials sold online are unapproved research chemicals.

No. No drug product containing ipamorelin has ever been approved by FDA for any use; a Drugs@FDA search returns nothing. FDA went further on September 29, 2023 and placed ipamorelin acetate in Category 2 of its compounding lists, the category for bulk substances that may present significant safety risks, citing immunogenicity and impurity concerns and a literature report of serious adverse events with intravenous use.Everything sold online is a research chemical, and compounded drugs are not FDA-approved products either: FDA does not verify their safety, effectiveness or quality before marketing.

### Why was ipamorelin abandoned as a drug?
Its only tested indication failed. The phase 2 trial for postoperative ileus found no significant benefit (p = 0.15), the larger 320-patient trial was completed in 2014 but never published, and development stopped.

Because its one tested indication failed. Novo Nordisk designed ipamorelin (NNC 26-0161) and published its pharmacology in 1998; Helsinn later ran it in phase 2 for postoperative ileus. The published randomized trial in 117 bowel-resection patients found no significant benefit: median time to first tolerated meal was 25.3 hours on drug versus 32.6 on placebo, p = 0.15.A larger 320-patient dose-finding trial completed in May 2014, and then nothing: no results posted, no publication, no further trials by any sponsor. A 2026 review records that the failed proof-of-concept "tempered further clinical investigation". Drug programs do not go quiet after twenty years of investment because the data were good.

### Does ipamorelin build muscle?
Unknown; it has never been tested. No human trial of ipamorelin for muscle, strength or body composition exists. The muscle-adjacent findings are rat studies from the abandoned drug program.

No human study has ever tested it. The complete human record is one pharmacokinetic study and two postoperative-ileus trials; muscle, strength and body composition have never been endpoints. Reviews of the secretagogue class state the clinical-effect data are a paucity and that evidence in non-approved indications remains minimal.What exists is animal data from the abandoned development program: rats grew faster and gained weight, and glucocorticoid-treated rats kept more muscle tension. Rats at hundreds of micrograms per kilogram are not evidence about humans at forum doses. The honest answer is absence of evidence, stated as such.

### Is ipamorelin really the cleanest growth hormone peptide?
Partly. Selectivity is real in the 1998 animal study (no cortisol rise at 200-fold the GH dose, in swine) and consistent with the single human dose study; chronic-use selectivity in humans is untested and classified theoretical by a 2026 review.

The claim has a real source with a real limit. In the 1998 Novo Nordisk study, ipamorelin released GH without significantly raising ACTH or cortisol even at more than 200-fold the effective dose, in swine; older GHRPs raised both. That is where cleanest comes from, and as single-dose animal pharmacology it is solid.In humans, the evidence is one single-dose intravenous study, summarized in a 2026 review as showing no significant effects on other pituitary or adrenal hormones in that setting; the same review classifies cortisol and prolactin sparing under chronic use as theoretical and not characterised, and notes this cleaner profile "is often presented as a practical distinction" in how secretagogues are marketed. Nobody has measured selectivity in humans over weeks of use, because no such study exists for any endpoint.

### What does FDA Category 2 actually mean?
Category 2 is FDA's list of nominated compounding substances that may present significant safety risks. Ipamorelin acetate was placed there Sept 29, 2023, with FDA citing immunogenicity and impurity concerns and a trial report of serious adverse events.

FDA sorts bulk substances nominated for compounding into categories; Category 2 holds those where the agency identified potential significant safety risks during review. Ipamorelin acetate entered Category 2 on September 29, 2023 under section 503B.For ipamorelin specifically, FDA cited immunogenicity risk from aggregation and peptide-related impurities, characterization complexity from its unnatural amino acids, and a published report of serious adverse events including death with intravenous use in the gastric-motility trials; for other injection routes FDA states it lacks sufficient information to know whether the drug would cause harm. It is a formal FDA judgment that the safety file is inadequate, attached to the exact compound being sold.

### What is ipamorelin's half-life?
About 2 hours after IV dosing in healthy men, with the GH pulse peaking around 40 minutes. Subcutaneous kinetics in humans have never been published.

About 2 hours, measured after intravenous infusion in healthy men, with clearance of 0.078 L/h/kg and dose-proportional kinetics. The GH pulse it triggers is even shorter-lived: a single episode peaking at about 40 minutes and declining to negligible levels. Subcutaneous half-life, the route people actually use, has never been published in humans.

### Why is ipamorelin combined with CJC-1295?
Theory: CJC-1295 raises baseline GH for days (half-life 5.8-8.1 days) while ipamorelin adds 2-hour pulses. Reality: zero combination trials exist; a 2026 review calls the pairing anecdotal rationale.

The theory is complementary mechanisms: CJC-1295 is a GHRH analog with a 5.8 to 8.1 day half-life that raises baseline GH and IGF-I for days, while ipamorelin adds short 2-hour pulses through the ghrelin receptor. Two receptors, one axis.The practice's evidence status: no randomized human trial of the combination exists for any endpoint, and a 2026 review states the pairing is "largely driven by anecdotal rationale" without controlled evidence of synergy. Both halves are on FDA's compounding safety-risk list; for CJC-1295, FDA cites reports of serious adverse events including increased heart rate and systemic vasodilatory reaction. Our sister site documents CJC-1295 in full.

### What doses were actually studied in humans?
IV only: single infusions of 4.21-140.45 nmol/kg in the PK study and 0.03-0.06 mg/kg twice or three times daily in the ileus trials. The forum protocol of 200-300 mcg SC daily was never studied.

Two regimens, both intravenous, both in hospitals. The PK study used single infusions of 4.21 to 140.45 nmol/kg (roughly 0.2 to 7 mg for a 70 kg adult at MW 711.9). The ileus trials used 0.03 mg/kg twice daily, with 0.06 mg/kg arms in the unpublished trial (about 2.1 to 4.2 mg per dose at 70 kg).The internet's 200 to 300 micrograms subcutaneously two to three times daily, documented as forum practice in a 2026 review, matches no studied regimen: different route, different schedule, chronic use, and goals no trial ever tested. There is no evidence-based ipamorelin dose because there is no demonstrated ipamorelin benefit to dose for.

### What happened in the postoperative ileus trials?
The 117-patient trial found no significant benefit (meal tolerance 25.3 vs 32.6 h, p = 0.15); the 320-patient dose-finding trial completed in 2014 but was never published. Development ended there.

The proof-of-concept trial (NCT00672074) randomized 117 bowel-resection patients to ipamorelin 0.03 mg/kg IV twice daily or placebo for up to 7 days. Median time to first tolerated meal was 25.3 versus 32.6 hours, p = 0.15: no significant difference on the key endpoint or any secondary analysis. Adverse events were similar in both arms (87.5% vs 94.8%).The follow-up dose-finding trial (NCT01280344) enrolled 320 patients across three regimens and completed in May 2014; its results were never posted or published. FDA's Category 2 entry later cited a literature report of serious adverse events including death with intravenous use in this program's setting, seriously ill surgical patients. This program is the entire human efficacy record for ipamorelin.

### Does ipamorelin raise cortisol or prolactin?
Not in the acute studies: swine showed no cortisol or prolactin rise at up to 200-fold the GH dose, and the single human dose study reported none. Chronic use is untested; the sparing is theoretical there.

Not at single doses in the animal work: in swine, ACTH and cortisol stayed at GHRH-like levels even at 200-fold the effective GH dose, and prolactin did not move; that separation from GHRP-2 and GHRP-6 is ipamorelin's defining published feature. The single human dose study is summarized as showing no significant effects on other pituitary or adrenal hormones.Under chronic use, nobody knows: a 2026 review classifies ipamorelin's cortisol and prolactin sparing as documented only in that acute setting and theoretical beyond it. No repeated-dose human hormone panel has ever been published.

### Does ipamorelin burn fat?
No human trial exists, and the animal data lean the opposite way: ipamorelin increased body fat and food intake in mice and reduced weight loss in ferrets. It agonizes the hunger-hormone receptor.

The animal evidence points the other way. Ipamorelin is a ghrelin-receptor agonist, and ghrelin is the hunger hormone: in mice it increased body fat, serum leptin and food intake through GH-independent mechanisms, including in GH-deficient animals. In ferrets it reduced chemotherapy weight loss, the anti-wasting direction that made the related compound anamorelin a cachexia drug.No human fat-loss trial of ipamorelin exists. A compound whose receptor drives appetite is a strange candidate for fat loss, and nothing in its data supports the use.

### Is ipamorelin banned in sports?
Yes. WADA's Prohibited List names ipamorelin under S2.2.4 (growth hormone secretagogues and mimetics), banned at all times. CJC-1295 and sermorelin are banned in the same section.

Yes, at all times, in and out of competition. The WADA Prohibited List names ipamorelin explicitly in section S2.2.4 among growth hormone secretagogues and their mimetics. CJC-1295, sermorelin and tesamorelin appear in the same section as GHRH analogues, so the standard stack is banned on both halves. Detection methods exist, including for the glycine-modified analogs found in seized products.

### Can a compounding pharmacy legally provide ipamorelin?
FDA placed ipamorelin acetate in Category 2, its list of compounding-nominated substances with significant safety risks. Compounded drugs are never FDA-approved: FDA does not verify their safety or quality before marketing.

Ipamorelin acetate sits in Category 2 of FDA's lists for compounding nominations, the category for substances FDA determined may present significant safety risks. That placement is FDA's public signal about the substance's suitability for compounding; we are not a law firm and do not render legal conclusions about any specific pharmacy's conduct.The consumer-relevant fact is simpler: even where compounding occurs, compounded drugs are not FDA-approved, and FDA does not verify their safety, effectiveness or quality before marketing. An ipamorelin vial from any source is an unreviewed product of a compound whose safety file FDA has formally flagged.

## References
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33. Drugs@FDA: BLA 022505 EGRIFTA (tesamorelin) record, approved November 10, 2010. https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cder/daf/index.cfm?event=overview.process&ApplNo=022505