CJC-1295: The Complete Guide, With and Without DAC, Checked Against the Evidence

What CJC-1295 is

Growth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH) is the hypothalamic signal that tells the pituitary to release growth hormone. Its first 29 amino acids carry its activity, and that fragment is itself a medicine: sermorelin. The problem with GHRH and sermorelin as drugs is that they last minutes.

CJC-1295 was designed to fix that. Chemists made three versions of GHRH(1-29) carrying a reactive maleimide group that bonds to albumin, the most abundant protein in blood. All three resisted the enzyme that normally breaks GHRH down (dipeptidyl peptidase-IV) and stayed active on pituitary cells. The best of them, CJC-1295, has four amino-acid substitutions plus the albumin-binding lysine, and in rats gave four times the growth hormone of unmodified GHRH(1-29) over two hours ¹. The albumin-binding part is what sellers call "DAC".

A short history

The line runs from a natural hormone to a drug that never reached market. GHRH(1-29) was approved in the US as sermorelin (Geref): a diagnostic ampoule on December 28, 1990 and treatment vials on September 26, 1997, for children with growth hormone deficiency. Both were later discontinued, and on March 4, 2013 FDA determined that Geref had not been withdrawn from sale for reasons of safety or effectiveness ². Its drawback, a duration of action measured in minutes, is what CJC-1295's albumin binder was designed to overcome ¹. The 2006 human studies below were the next step; no approval followed, and no later trial appears in our evidence set.

With DAC and without DAC are different drugs

The name CJC-1295 is used for two different peptides.

The difference is not academic. In 2009 Norwegian police and customs sent chemists an unknown preparation that turned out to be a 29-amino-acid peptide with an amide at the end, consistent with what was then being marketed as CJC-1295, meaning it had no albumin-binding lysine ³. A buyer cannot tell from the label which peptide is in a vial; the measured mass on a certificate of analysis can, and our COA Decoder checks one. Everything in the next section applies only to the albumin-binding form.

The human evidence

The dose-escalation trials. Two randomised, placebo-controlled, double-blind trials in healthy adults aged 21 to 61, lasting 28 and 49 days, gave CJC-1295 under the skin as single ascending doses or as two or three weekly or fortnightly doses. One injection raised mean growth hormone two- to tenfold for six days or more and IGF-1 1.5- to threefold for 9 to 11 days; the estimated half-life was 5.8 to 8.1 days, and after repeated doses IGF-1 stayed above baseline for up to 28 days. No serious adverse reactions were reported, and the authors found it relatively well tolerated, particularly at 30 or 60 µg/kg ⁴.

Pulses are preserved. Healthy men aged 20 to 40 had blood drawn every 20 minutes overnight before and a week after 60 or 90 µg/kg. Growth hormone kept its normal pulses, with unchanged frequency and size, but the trough between pulses rose 7.5-fold, mean growth hormone by 46% and IGF-1 by 45% ⁵.

What else exists. A 2009 analysis of serum from 11 of those men found protein changes that track growth hormone action ⁶. In mice lacking GHRH, daily CJC-1295 produced normal growth ⁷. None of this tests muscle, fat loss, recovery or ageing in people.

Safety

The trials reported no serious adverse reactions in healthy adults over 28 to 49 days ⁴. FDA's page of bulk substances that may present significant safety risks records serious adverse events associated with CJC-1295, including increased heart rate and a systemic vasodilatory reaction ⁸. Raising growth hormone and IGF-1 for weeks has consequences of its own that these short studies were not built to measure. There are no long-term human data, and none at all for the peptide sold "without DAC".

Claims you will see, checked

• "It builds muscle and burns fat." No trial has measured body composition, strength or fat loss with CJC-1295. The two human studies measured growth hormone and IGF-1 in healthy adults for up to 49 days ^{4 5}.
• "It is safer than growth hormone because it keeps your natural pulses." Pulses did persist a week after a dose, but the trough between them rose 7.5-fold and IGF-1 by 45% ⁵. No study compares its safety with growth hormone, there are no long-term data, and FDA records serious adverse events associated with it ⁸.
• "No-DAC is the same drug, just shorter-acting." It is a different peptide, without the albumin binder that gives CJC-1295 its week-long action, and it was not tested in the human studies ³.
• "A compounding pharmacy can make it legally." Not under 503A: its nomination was withdrawn and FDA's list names it in no category ⁸.
• "It will not show up on a test." WADA names it, and chemists have identified it in seized products and confirmed it in horse plasma despite its albumin binding ^{9 3 10}.

Dosing: what was studied and what circulates

The studied doses were weight-based and spaced a week or more apart because the albumin-bound form lasts for days. Community schedules of frequent small injections usually refer to the shorter-acting peptide, for which no human dose has been tested. If you are checking the arithmetic of a vial, the calculator below converts milligrams to syringe units; it cannot tell you which peptide is in the vial or whether a dose works.

Legal status in the US and in sport

United States. CJC-1295 has never been approved by FDA. It was placed in 503A Category 2 in 2023; its nomination was later withdrawn, and FDA's category list (updated May 14, 2026) names it in no category, so 503A pharmacies cannot compound it ⁸. It was not on either of the 2026 Pharmacy Compounding Advisory Committee agendas.

Sport. WADA's 2026 Prohibited List names CJC-1295 under S2.2.4 (growth hormone-releasing factors), prohibited at all times, alongside CJC-1293; the 2027 List keeps it unchanged ^{9 11}. Anti-doping chemists have built methods to confirm it even in horse plasma, where its albumin binding makes it hard to detect ¹⁰.

How it compares with other growth hormone peptides

CJC-1295 is most often sold alongside ipamorelin. Our CJC-1295 and ipamorelin guide covers what is and is not known about the pair.

Frequently asked questions

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

The form with DAC carries an albumin-binding lysine and has a half-life of 5.8 to 8.1 days in healthy adults. The peptide sold as 'without DAC', or modified GRF 1-29, lacks it, acts for a much shorter time and has not been studied in the human trials.

Has CJC-1295 been tested in humans?

Only a little: two small 2006 studies in healthy adults measured growth hormone and IGF-1 after injections of the albumin-binding form. No trial has tested it for muscle, fat loss, recovery or ageing.

Is CJC-1295 safe?

The 2006 trials reported no serious adverse reactions over 28 to 49 days, but FDA's safety-risk page records serious adverse events associated with CJC-1295, including increased heart rate and a systemic vasodilatory reaction. There are no long-term data.

Can a pharmacy compound CJC-1295 in the US?

No. Its 503A nomination was withdrawn and FDA's category list (updated May 14, 2026) names it in no category, so 503A pharmacies cannot compound it (as of September 28, 2026).

Is CJC-1295 banned in sport?

Yes. WADA's 2026 and 2027 Prohibited Lists name CJC-1295 under S2.2.4, prohibited at all times.

Related on Grey Peptides

• CJC-1295 encyclopedia entry
• Sermorelin encyclopedia entry
• Ipamorelin encyclopedia entry
• CJC-1295 and ipamorelin
• Regulatory tracker
• COA Decoder
• Reconstitution calculator

Sources

1. Jetté, L. et al. (2005). Human growth hormone-releasing factor (hGRF)1-29-albumin bioconjugates activate the GRF receptor on the anterior pituitary in rats: identification of CJC-1295 as a long-lasting GRF analog. Endocrinology, 146(7), 3052-8. PMID: 15817669
2. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Determination that GEREF (sermorelin acetate) injection was not withdrawn from sale for reasons of safety or effectiveness. Federal Register 78:14096, March 4, 2013 (Docket FDA-2012-P-1071). Federal Register notice
3. Henninge, J. et al. (2010). Identification of CJC-1295, a growth-hormone-releasing peptide, in an unknown pharmaceutical preparation. Drug Test Anal, 2(11-12), 647-50. PMID: 21204297
4. Teichman, S. L. et al. (2006). Prolonged stimulation of growth hormone (GH) and insulin-like growth factor I secretion by CJC-1295, a long-acting analog of GH-releasing hormone, in healthy adults. J Clin Endocrinol Metab, 91(3), 799-805. PMID: 16352683
5. Ionescu, M. & Frohman, L. A. (2006). Pulsatile secretion of growth hormone (GH) persists during continuous stimulation by CJC-1295, a long-acting GH-releasing hormone analog. J Clin Endocrinol Metab, 91(12), 4792-7. PMID: 17018654
6. Sackmann-Sala, L. et al. (2009). Activation of the GH/IGF-1 axis by CJC-1295, a long-acting GHRH analog, results in serum protein profile changes in normal adult subjects. Growth Horm IGF Res, 19(6), 471-7. PMID: 19386527
7. Alba, M. et al. (2006). Once-daily administration of CJC-1295, a long-acting growth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH) analog, normalizes growth in the GHRH knockout mouse. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab, 291(6), E1290-4. PMID: 16822960
8. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Certain Bulk Drug Substances for Use in Compounding that May Present Significant Safety Risks (current as of April 22, 2026), and Bulk Drug Substances Nominated for Use in Compounding Under Section 503A (updated May 14, 2026). FDA Category 2 page
9. World Anti-Doping Agency. The 2026 Prohibited List, section S2.2.4 (read September 27, 2026). WADA 2026 List
10. Timms, M. et al. (2019). A method for confirming CJC-1295 abuse in equine plasma samples by LC-MS/MS. Drug Test Anal, 11(8), 1248-1257. PMID: 30938069
11. World Anti-Doping Agency. The 2027 Prohibited List, in force January 1, 2027 (read September 27, 2026). WADA 2027 List

This article is for education. It is not medical or legal advice, and it is not a guide to buying or using any peptide. CJC-1295 is not approved as a medicine anywhere and is prohibited in sport.