Sermorelin
Sermorelin prompts the body to release its own growth hormone. It was once an FDA-approved drug for children. Today it is available only as a compounded prescription, mostly for adult uses that have not been tested in controlled trials.
- Legal lane: long-standing compounded prescription. No FDA-approved product is currently sold.
- Evidence grade: B
- Form: injection under the skin
- Typical cost: roughly $100 to $350 a month
What it is
Sermorelin is the first 29 amino acids of growth-hormone-releasing hormone, the signal the brain sends to the pituitary gland. It does not supply growth hormone. It tells the pituitary to release its own, and it is cleared from the blood within minutes.
What the evidence shows
Sermorelin has real clinical history. The FDA approved it in the 1990s under the brand name Geref, first as a diagnostic test and then, in 1997, to treat growth failure in children with growth hormone deficiency. The manufacturer discontinued it in 2008 for commercial reasons. The FDA later confirmed it was not withdrawn over safety or effectiveness.
That history shows sermorelin does raise growth hormone. It does not show that it delivers the adult benefits it is sold for today, such as better body composition, sleep or slower aging. Adult studies are small or uncontrolled, and there are no randomized trials for those outcomes.
Legal status
Licensed pharmacies can compound sermorelin on prescription, and have done so for years. Compounded sermorelin is not an FDA-approved product. Sermorelin is prohibited in sport at all times.
Reported dosing
There is no current FDA label for adult use. The figure most often reported for prescriber-directed adult use is 200 to 500 micrograms injected under the skin once nightly, usually before bed. Two independent summaries give that range. It reflects prescriber practice, not a modern dose-finding trial.
Oral and under-the-tongue forms are also sold. Peptides are poorly absorbed through the gut, and published validation for those forms is scarce.
Safety
- The body can form antibodies to sermorelin, which may blunt the response over time.
- Compounded products are not checked by the FDA for potency or sterility, so pharmacy quality matters.
What it costs
Listings we have seen run from about $100 to $350 a month for a compounded prescription, depending on the provider and form.