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AOD-9604

Taken to burn fat

Modified growth hormone fragment 177–191

Match every finding to its exact substance, formulation, route and study population. A related molecule or approved medicine does not validate a catalog vial.

Animal / laboratory evidence · Human / product-specific records
Explore the evidenceWhy people take it
Compare this compoundRead original sources Community reports
Schematic illustration · View structure evidence

Simplified drawing of a chain of 16 amino acids

At a glance

Why people take it. And what backs it up.

  1. Burn stubborn fat

    Animal studies; failed in people

    Clinics and dieters use daily shots to speed up fat loss, sometimes on top of semaglutide or tirzepatide when progress slows.

    Sources (5)

  2. Repair worn joints

    Animal studies only

    Some clinics inject it into arthritic knees, often with hyaluronic acid, hoping to rebuild worn cartilage and ease pain.

    Sources (4)

Evidence briefing

Sources checked

What the sources support.

AOD-9604 is a synthetic 16-amino-acid hGH fragment, not an approved obesity medicine. Earlier obesity development did not establish meaningful efficacy; a 2024 FDA advisory committee opposed adding it to the 503A compounding list.

Keep in mind

Animal results do not establish benefit or safety for human formulations or routes.

Identity and research status reviewRead the original sources

The research. What’s been studied.

TapClick a dotted word to see what it means.

  • Animal & lab studies

    Fat metabolism research

    AOD-9604 reduced fat mass in some animal studies; this did not translate into meaningful weight loss in its obesity trial.

  • Early human studies

    Human evidence

    An obesity Phase 2b study failed to show meaningful weight-loss benefit over placebo. Available safety information is limited and does not establish safety for seller products or routes.

  • Animal & lab studies

    Other proposed uses

    Cartilage-repair findings are from animal research and do not establish a human treatment benefit.

What do these labels mean?
  • Human evidence: approved-drug data or larger human studies, within the populations and uses studied.
  • Early human studies: small, preliminary or limited human studies.
  • Animal & lab studies: animal or laboratory findings that do not establish effects in people.
  • Unverified: a proposed use or claim without verified supporting clinical evidence.
How each claim was reviewed (4)

Reported effects and evidence.

A citation may support, qualify or correct a claim. Read the study scope; a laboratory result is not an established benefit in people. Each review covers a claim as it was first collected; the tiles above show the collection’s current wording.

  1. Preclinical animal experiment

    Review of “Fat breakdown”

    AOD9604 reduced weight gain/fat measures and increased fat oxidation in specific obese-mouse experiments.

    Limitations and applicability. Animal finding is accurately scoped. Keep visible beside the headline; human weight-loss efficacy is not established.

    Original collected claim and review history

    Original title: Fat breakdown

    Stimulated fat breakdown and reduced body fat in obese animals.

    Original label: animal. Preserved for traceability; the reviewed wording above qualifies this record.

    Record aod-9604:benefit:1 · Annotated 2026-10-01 · Review method

  2. Human trials pooled safety report

    Review of “No blood sugar or IGF-1 rise”

    A developer-linked analysis of six trials reported no increase in IGF-1 or adverse carbohydrate-metabolism signal under studied conditions.

    Limitations and applicability. Limited trial findings do not guarantee absence of metabolic effects in all routes/products or long-term use.

    Original collected claim and review history

    Original title: No blood sugar or IGF-1 rise

    Designed to keep growth hormone’s fat-burning effect without its effects on blood sugar and growth; human trials confirmed it didn’t raise IGF-1.

    Original label: early. Preserved for traceability; the reviewed wording above qualifies this record.

    Record aod-9604:benefit:2 · Annotated 2026-10-01 · Review method

  3. Preclinical rabbit experiment

    Review of “Cartilage repair”

    AOD9604 improved histological cartilage outcomes in a rabbit osteoarthritis model.

    Limitations and applicability. Specific collagenase-induced knee model and intra-articular research cannot establish human cartilage repair.

    Original collected claim and review history

    Original title: Cartilage repair

    Studied in rabbits with arthritis, where injections into the joint improved cartilage repair.

    Original label: animal. Preserved for traceability; the reviewed wording above qualifies this record.

    Record aod-9604:benefit:3 · Annotated 2026-10-01 · Review method

  4. Limited human safety evidence; overbroad safety label

    Review of “Well tolerated”

    Trials reported favorable tolerability under specific conditions. This does not establish safety of marketed injectable products or meaningful human weight loss.

    Limitations and applicability. “Safe” and “proven” overgeneralize limited clinical exposure; FDA identifies unresolved safety issues for compounded AOD9604.

    Original collected claim and review history

    Original title: Well tolerated

    Human trials found it safe and well tolerated. Note that its main trial did not produce meaningful weight loss in people.

    Original label: proven. Preserved for traceability; the reviewed wording above qualifies this record.

    Record aod-9604:benefit:4 · Annotated 2026-10-01 · Review method

The research in detail

Evidence category

Human trials, not approved

AOD-9604 was studied as a possible obesity drug, but a Phase 2b trial in about 500 people did not show meaningful weight loss versus placebo and development for obesity ended. FDA has identified limited safety information for proposed compounded routes.

Evidence is assessed claim by claim above. Regulatory approval, study design, findings and relevance are separate questions; there is no single evidence score.

Risks and unknowns. What to know first.

Collected cautions follow. These are not an exhaustive or independently validated safety assessment; claim references do not automatically support every caution.

  • It was well tolerated in trials, one of the few things the human data established.

What people report

Show all 5 cautionsShow fewer cautions

Read this first: what “research use only” means

Published dosing records. What the trials used.

Historical label and trial records for the named product, route, population and indication. These records are not a personal schedule or a validated regimen for a catalog vial. Source attribution does not establish applicability.

Phase 2b trial

Phase 2b trial (METAOD006) in adults with obesity, reported in a 2013 safety summary of six company trials (Journal of Endocrinology and Metabolism)

Long-termClinical trial

Source: Stier, Vos and Kenley, Journal of Endocrinology and Metabolism, 2013

Weeks 1–24
1 mg
How
By mouth (tablet)
How often
Once a day
How long
24 weeks in the trial

Limit. Highest dose in this trial: 1 mg a day. An earlier 12-week study went up to 30 mg a day.

  • These were tablets taken by mouth, not injections. No injected dose has been established.
  • Other groups took 0.25 mg or 0.5 mg a day, or placebo.
  • An earlier 12-week study gave capsules of 1, 5, 10, 20 or 30 mg once a day.
  • Two early safety studies gave single drips into a vein of 25–400 mcg per kg of body weight; these did not set a dose for regular use.
  • The paper reports safety results only.

These doses were tested in clinical trials under medical supervision. They aren’t approved for use, and a research vial is not the product that was tested.

Community protocols. Reported online. Not clinically validated.

Community reports Collection date: 30 Sep 2026

The standard clinic protocol is 300 mcg injected under the skin every morning on an empty stomach, rising to 400–500 mcg, for about 12–16 weeks with a break of about 4 weeks.

More about this

Compounding pharmacies also make oral troches, capsules and creams at 250–500 mcg, and some clinics inject it into joints with hyaluronic acid.

Not testedFrequently encountered in reviewed sources

Daily fasted injection for fat loss

Collected report · exact form and route are only as reported below. Source date and reporter identity are not separately verified. Collection checked 30 Sep 2026; presentation annotated 2026-10-01.

Frequency labels describe this collection, not a measured population. Contradictory records remain available.

Details and sourcesHide details
Dose
300 mcg to start; 400–500 mcg later (sometimes 250 mcg twice a day)
How often
Once a day (or twice a day at higher doses)
Route
Injection under the skin, usually the belly
Timing
Morning, fasted, about 30 minutes before the first meal
How long
8–16 weeks
Cycle
12–16 weeks on, then about 4 weeks off
Ramp
300 mcg for the first 4 weeks, then 400 mcg; 500 mcg split morning and late afternoon for “advanced” users
Mixing
5 mg vial + 2 mL bacteriostatic water; some use a glycerin and acetic acid water instead
  • Forum users describe the effect as “hit or miss”.
Sources (4)

Not testedSometimes seen

Compounded oral, troche or cream forms

Collected report · exact form and route are only as reported below. Source date and reporter identity are not separately verified. Collection checked 30 Sep 2026; presentation annotated 2026-10-01.

Frequency labels describe this collection, not a measured population. Contradictory records remain available.

Details and sourcesHide details
Dose
250 or 500 mcg strengths (also 500 mcg/mL liquids)
How often
Not stated in the source
Route
Oral (troche, dissolving tablet, capsule or suspension) or topical cream
  • A 2024 filing to the FDA said pharmacies had dispensed more than 158,000 AOD-9604 prescriptions in troche, cream, injection and capsule forms, with obesity as the proposed use.
Sources (3)
Show all 3 protocolsShow fewer protocols

Not testedFringe

Joint injection with hyaluronic acid

Collected report · exact form and route are only as reported below. Source date and reporter identity are not separately verified. Collection checked 30 Sep 2026; presentation annotated 2026-10-01.

Frequency labels describe this collection, not a measured population. Contradictory records remain available.

Details and sourcesHide details
Dose
0.5–0.75 mL of a 1 mg/mL AOD-9604 + 10 mg/mL hyaluronic acid mix (about 0.5–0.75 mg AOD-9604)
How often
Once a week for 4 weeks, then once a month for 5 months
Route
Injection into the joint (done by a clinician)
How long
About 6 months
Mixing
Supplied pre-mixed in a 5 mL vial
  • Aimed at osteoarthritis and cartilage repair; the supporting evidence cited is mainly a rabbit study.
Sources (2)

Where the numbers come from

Unclear. The human trials in the early 2000s used oral and intravenous forms, and the drug’s development was stopped in 2007 after later trials failed. The injected 300–500 mcg morning dose used by clinics has no published trial behind it. Compounding pharmacies and practitioner monographs (such as the IPS-branded one above) spread the troche and joint-injection uses.

Home-made sprays and serums

On the skin: home-made serums. Community recipes. Not tested.

Original source recordsHide

AOD-9604 was sold by compounding pharmacies as a cream rubbed into the skin, and users applied it over ‘stubborn fat’. It is meant to act through the skin, not as a skincare product.

Best evidence: Compounding-pharmacy product and user reports only; no topical studies were found.

Not testedCreamSometimes seen

Compounded AOD-9604 cream, 600 mcg per mL

Original source-specific report. Collection checked 30 Sep 2026; presentation annotated 2026-10-01. Source date and reporter identity are not separately verified. Exact form and route are limited to the source’s description.

Batch: 30 mL

Ingredients and methodHide the recipe

Ingredients

IngredientAmountRole
AOD-9604600 mcg per mLActive
Cream base (not specified)Base

Method

Made by the pharmacy; no method is published.

How it’s used
4 clicks (1 mL) a day, rubbed between the inner forearms.
Per dose
Calculated: 600 mcg per mL × 1 mL = 600 mcg AOD-9604 per day.
Sources (4)

How the method was put together, step by step with its sources

Editorial synthesis and reported strength comparison

This synthesized method combines source records. It has not been validated for preparation, sterility, compatibility, absorption or storage. Select a reported strength to inspect the arithmetic; no strength is selected for you.

Not testedOn the skin

No amounts were found in the reviewed recipe records for this one. What was found is under “Original source records”.

The general method for home-made serums, with its sources

Good to know

  • Use distilled water, not tap: tap water carries minerals, chlorine and microbes that can spoil the serum.
What people report
Research notes

Oral forms are sold even though forum discussion questions whether the peptide survives digestion. Forum reports on AOD-9604 are few; the Reddit archive could only be searched in part (rate limits).

On the skin

A user says the compounded cream stopped being available after an FDA reclassification. Whether the cream works through the skin is untested.

Measurement basics and calculator

Explore vial arithmetic

What it is. In plain English.

A fragment of growth hormone once developed as a fat-loss drug. It failed its main trial.

Amino acids 177–191 from the tail end of human growth hormone, with an extra tyrosine added. A closely related version is sold as “HGH Frag 176-191.”

It was designed to keep growth hormone’s fat-breakdown effect without raising or blood sugar.

Reviewed 2026-10-01.

Structure. A close relative’s structure.

Specs. The facts at a glance.

Length
16 amino acids
Sold as
  • AOD-9604 2 mg
Regulatory status
Not FDA-approved. In 2024 the Pharmacy Compounding Advisory Committee recommended against adding AOD-9604 bulk substances to the 503A Bulks List. This was a compounding recommendation, not a drug-approval decision. lists AOD-9604 as prohibited.
Also known as
Modified growth hormone fragment 177–191

Sources. What this page rests on.

Every source behind this page, with what it says and when it was checked, is in the Source library.

AOD-9604 in the Source library

Original overview and research notes · annotated 2026-10-01

Historical collection text. Read alongside the claim corrections above; identity or evidence qualifications may supersede this wording.

Fat-burning growth hormone fragment

A fragment of growth hormone once developed as a fat-loss drug. It failed its main trial.

Amino acids 177–191 from the tail end of human growth hormone, with an extra tyrosine added. A closely related version is sold as “HGH Frag 176-191.”

It was designed to keep growth hormone’s fat-breakdown effect without raising IGF-1 or blood sugar.

Animal studies showed fat loss. In a 2007 Phase 2b trial in roughly 500 people with obesity, it didn’t produce meaningful weight loss compared with placebo, and development for obesity ended.

Original status record: Not approved as a drug. An FDA advisory panel voted against letting pharmacies compound it in 2024. WADA lists it by name as prohibited.

More in Weight & metabolism.

Glossary

IGF-1

Insulin-like growth factor 1, made in the liver in response to growth hormone. It carries out many of GH’s effects.

Full glossary

Glossary

Phase 1 / 2 / 3

Stages of human drug testing: safety in a few people, then effectiveness in hundreds, then large confirmatory trials in thousands. Most compounds fail along the way.

Full glossary

Glossary

WADA

The World Anti-Doping Agency. Its S0 category bans any substance not approved for human use, which covers most of this catalog.

Full glossary

Glossary

X-ray crystallography

Molecules are packed into a crystal and hit with X-rays; the pattern the rays make reveals where each atom sits.

Full glossary

Glossary

Resolution

How sharp a structure is, measured in ångströms (Å; a ten-billionth of a meter). Smaller is sharper.

Full glossary

Glossary

Protein Data Bank (PDB)

The free worldwide archive of 3D structures of proteins and other molecules measured in experiments. Each entry has a four-character code, like 7KI0.

Full glossary