Metabolic Research

AOD-9604

3.0/10

BioHarmony verdict

Caution

AOD-9604 is a human growth hormone fragment (hGH 176 to 191) marketed for fat loss, but its only controlled human weight-loss program failed to beat placebo, per the developer Metabolic Pharmaceuticals, and no positive human efficacy trial exists in the literature.

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What is AOD-9604?

AOD-9604 is a lab-made fragment of human growth hormone, specifically the tail-end piece (residues 176 to 191) that carries growth hormone's fat-burning activity. It is sold grey-market for fat loss, and more recently for joint repair, and the short version is this: the fat-loss idea is real in animals but failed in people. The pitch makes sense on paper. Growth hormone helps mobilize stored fat, that activity lives in its C-terminus, so a small fragment might copy the fat loss while dropping the rest of the molecule's effects. In rodents that pans out, with oral AOD-9604 cutting body-weight gain by more than half in obese rats, per Heffernan 2000.

From the BioHarmony report, reviewed 2026-09-20.

Safety watch-outs

  • Injection-site infection signs (spreading redness, pus, fever): stop and seek care, since the main real risk is contaminated grey-market…
  • Any active or suspected cancer: do not use
  • any growth-hormone-derived molecule warrants caution without human cancer-safety data.
  • Pregnancy or breastfeeding: do not use
  • there is no safety data.

Full risk profile in the BioHarmony report.

Dosing as published

No approved-label or study protocol is recorded for AOD-9604 yet.

More reported protocols

Members

Members can compare additional reported doses, schedules, and preparation notes.

Educator coverage (2)

Attributed viewpoints, separate from primary research.

Trust & sourcing

US approvalNot FDA approved
CompoundingNot established as eligible for compounding
Last checked2026-07-12
Next review2026-10-10

FDA says compounded products containing AOD-9604 may pose immunogenicity and impurity-characterization risks and that it lacks sufficient information to know whether the drug would cause harm in humans.

Primary sources

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