Sermorelin is the first 29 amino acids of growth hormone-releasing hormone, the shortest fragment retaining full activity. It was approved for paediatric growth hormone deficiency, both diagnostically and therapeutically, and later discontinued.

The discontinuation is worth being precise about, because it gets misrepresented in both directions. It was a commercial decision, not a safety withdrawal. That is not an endorsement either: a product that was not commercially viable in its approved indication tells you nothing about whether it does anything useful in healthy adults, which is how it is mostly discussed now.

Binds the GHRH receptor on pituitary somatotrophs, stimulating synthesis and pulsatile release of endogenous growth hormone, with pituitary negative feedback intact.

Its half-life is short, minutes rather than hours, so it amplifies existing GH pulses rather than raising a baseline. That is a meaningfully different pharmacology from long-acting GHRH analogues, and the distinction is the same one that matters for CJC-1295 with and without DAC.

Early clinical, and largely historical. Its approved use was in paediatric growth hormone deficiency, where it raised GH and IGF-1 and supported growth in responsive children.

For the uses that dominate current discussion, body composition, sleep, recovery and ageing in healthy adults, there is no adequately powered controlled evidence. The reasoning is again mechanistic: it raises GH, therefore it should do the things GH is associated with. That step is the one that has to be tested and has not been.

Historical clinical use in children was generally well tolerated, with injection site reactions, flushing and headache reported.

Chronic use in healthy adults is uncharacterised. The mechanistic concerns are those of sustained GH and IGF-1 elevation: insulin resistance, fluid retention, arthralgia, and the mitogenic implications of chronic IGF-1 elevation.

Compounded preparations are not manufactured to the standard of the withdrawn approved product, and their identity and potency are unverified.

Approval withdrawn after commercial discontinuation. Now supplied mainly through compounding pharmacies in some jurisdictions, with a legal status that has moved repeatedly and differs sharply by country. Prohibited in sport under WADA's S2 category.