CJC-1295 WO/Dac

Origin and structure

Growth-hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH) is a 44-amino-acid hormone from the hypothalamus that tells the pituitary to release growth hormone. Its first 29 amino acids, GRF (1-29), carry the full activity; that fragment on its own is sermorelin. CJC-1295 without DAC is GRF (1-29) with four swaps: D-alanine at position 2, glutamine at 8, alanine at 15 and leucine at 27. Its sequence is 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-NH2, its formula C152H252N44O42 and its molar mass 3,367.95 g/mol, and it is 86% identical to the natural fragment.

The four-swap backbone comes from the Montreal company ConjuChem, which published it in 2005 as the core of CJC-1295. ConjuChem's molecule has a 30th amino acid: a lysine carrying a reactive maleimidopropionyl group, the drug affinity complex (DAC), which latches onto albumin in the blood. The version without that lysine was never developed as a medicine. It is documented mainly in forensic chemistry: in 2010 Norwegian anti-doping chemists described a preparation, seized by police and customs in 2009, that contained the 29-amino-acid peptide and matched a product marketed as CJC-1295.

How it is thought to work

Like natural GHRH, the peptide is meant to bind the GHRH receptor on the growth-hormone-producing cells of the pituitary, which release growth hormone in pulses; growth hormone in turn raises IGF-1. The four swaps target known weak points of the natural fragment: the enzyme DPP-4 cuts it between positions 2 and 3, the asparagine at position 8 rearranges in water, the methionine at 27 oxidises, and alanine at 15 binds the receptor more tightly than the original glycine.

None of this has been tested on the finished peptide. FDA found no study showing that it is pharmacologically active, and its half-life has never been measured. The closest human data come from a 1994 study in 10 healthy men: infused GRF (1-29) disappeared from the blood with a half-time of 4.3 minutes, and the version with only the D-alanine swap in 6.7 minutes. The figure of about 30 minutes often quoted online has no published measurement behind it. FDA also noted that results for the DAC version cannot be carried over to the peptide without it.

Is CJC-1295 without DAC approved?

No. No regulator has authorised it and no company has ever taken it into clinical development, so there is no approved dose, label or safety file. FDA's 2024 review found no form of CJC-1295 authorised by the EMA, and none in the European Pharmacopoeia. Even tesamorelin (Egrifta), a GHRH analogue approved in the US, never reached the EU market: its application to the EMA was withdrawn on 21 June 2012, before the CHMP had given an opinion. In the Netherlands CJC-1295 without DAC is therefore not a registered medicine; it is sold only as research material, which is the basis our shop operates on.

In the United States, FDA treats the no-DAC peptide as a separate substance, 'CJC-1295 (free base)', next to 'CJC-1295 DAC'. CJC-1295 had been nominated for pharmacy compounding; the nominations were withdrawn and FDA reviewed the substances on its own initiative. That review found no pharmacology, toxicity, human safety or effectiveness data for the no-DAC form, and on 4 December 2024 FDA's Pharmacy Compounding Advisory Committee voted 13 to 0 against allowing the free base and 12 to 1 against its acetate salt. FDA's page on bulk substances that may present significant safety risks, current as of 22 April 2026, still lists CJC-1295 among the substances whose nominations were withdrawn, citing immunogenicity, impurity concerns, a raised heart rate and vasodilatory reactions.

In sport, GHRH and its analogues are prohibited at all times under S2.2.4 of the WADA Prohibited List, which names CJC-1295 as an example and is not limited to the examples it gives. In the Netherlands the 2026 list was published in the Tractatenblad and took effect on 1 January 2026.

What the research shows

For the peptide itself, the record is close to empty. The well-known CJC-1295 numbers, growth hormone up 2- to 10-fold and IGF-1 up 1.5- to 3-fold after one injection, come from trials of the DAC version and do not describe this molecule. What does exist:

• FDA evaluation (2024): no published studies of its pharmacology, pharmacokinetics, toxicity or genotoxicity, and no human safety or effectiveness data. FDA could not confirm from the literature that the peptide is pharmacologically active at all.
• Dominikowski et al. (Frontiers in Endocrinology, 2026): a clinical review of GH-axis peptides put it in tier D, no peer-reviewed human studies, and noted that claims about natural GH pulses or body composition rest on extrapolation from sermorelin and on non-academic sources.
• No registered trial: the only CJC-1295 trial on record, ConjuChem's phase 2 study in HIV-associated abdominal fat (NCT00267527; EudraCT 2005-003797-25), was of the company's own DAC molecule and was stopped in 2006.
• Forensic chemistry: the 2009 Norwegian seizure described by Henninge et al. (2010), and Danish customs seizures that contained a variant of modified GRF 1-29 with an extra glycine at its start (Gajda et al., 2019).
• Nearest human data, for relatives only: the 1994 clearance study of GRF (1-29) and its D-alanine variant, and the 2006 trials of the DAC version described below.

With DAC versus without

The DAC version, the molecule ConjuChem developed, is the only form with human data. In two randomised, placebo-controlled trials in 66 healthy adults aged 21 to 61, 55 of them on the active drug (Teichman et al., 2006), a single injection raised mean growth hormone 2- to 10-fold for six days or more and IGF-1 1.5- to 3-fold for 9 to 11 days, with an estimated half-life of 5.8 to 8.1 days. In rats it was still in plasma after 72 hours, while unmodified GRF (1-29) was detectable for only about an hour. ConjuChem withdrew it from clinical trials in 2006 after a participant in its phase 2 trial died of a heart attack; according to the reports FDA cites, the attending physician's likeliest explanation was undiagnosed coronary artery disease.

Without DAC, none of that applies. The two are different molecules, about 3,650 against 3,370 g/mol, built for different durations: one to circulate for days, the other with no albumin anchor and a duration nobody has measured. FDA counted at least nine names for five CJC-1295-related substances and called the confusion a safety risk, because patients may be given a different substance from the one intended. A certificate of analysis that reports the measured mass is the practical way to tell them apart.

Frequently asked questions

Is CJC-1295 without DAC the same as Mod GRF 1-29?

Yes. Modified GRF (1-29), Mod GRF 1-29, tetrasubstituted GRF (1-29) and CJC-1295 without DAC are names for the same 29-amino-acid peptide; FDA calls it CJC-1295 (free base). Strictly, the code CJC-1295 belongs to ConjuChem's DAC version, which is where the confusion comes from.

What is the difference between CJC-1295 with and without DAC?

The DAC version carries an extra lysine with a reactive group that binds albumin, which in human trials gave it a half-life of 5.8 to 8.1 days. The version without DAC lacks that anchor; its half-life has never been measured and it has no human data of its own. They are different molecules, about 3,650 against 3,370 g/mol, and results for one do not apply to the other.

What is the half-life of CJC-1295 without DAC?

Unknown. No study has measured it, and the figure of about 30 minutes that circulates online has no published source. The nearest measurement is from 1994: in 10 healthy men, GRF (1-29) disappeared from the blood with a half-time of 4.3 minutes and its D-alanine variant in 6.7 minutes. The effect of the other three swaps on clearance in people has never been tested.

Is CJC-1295 without DAC legal in the Netherlands?

It is not a registered medicine in the Netherlands or anywhere else in the EU, so it may not be sold or advertised as a medicine for human use. It is sold as research material, which is the basis for our shop.

Is CJC-1295 banned in sport?

Yes, both versions, at all times, in and out of competition. WADA lists GHRH and its analogues under S2.2.4 and names CJC-1295 as an example; the no-DAC peptide falls in the same class because the list is not limited to the examples it names.

Has it been studied together with ipamorelin?

No. The pairing is common in online protocols, but no published study has tested the combination, and none has tested the no-DAC peptide on its own either.

Storage and handling

Store according to product-label instructions and batch handling notes. Lyophilized research peptides are commonly kept dry, protected from light, and handled with clean laboratory technique.

References

Checked against these sources on 28 October 2026.