Peptide data sheet
AOD-9604
Performance · AOD9604 · Anti-Obesity Drug 9604 · hGH fragment 176-191 · Tyr-hGH 177-191
Verdict
unprovenThe unproven label is generous, not harsh: AOD-9604 has a clean early-safety record and a tidy animal-model story, but the human obesity trials that were supposed to prove fat loss did not beat placebo, so the headline benefit people chase remains unestablished rather than confirmed.
By MrPepTalks Editorial
Reviewed for scientific accuracy · research information, not medical advice
Last updated Reviewed
Quick answer
AOD-9604 is a synthetic peptide copied from the tail end of human growth hormone, the region linked to fat metabolism. It is commonly researched for fat loss and body composition without the growth-promoting effects of full growth hormone. Animal work looked promising, but the human obesity trials did not show meaningful weight loss over placebo. It is not FDA-approved and is sold for research use only.
- Class
- Modified growth-hormone fragment (hGH 176-191 analogue), lipolytic peptide
- Half-life
- short, on the order of minutes to a few hours (reported)
- FDA status
- Not FDA-approved. Studied in clinical trials for obesity but never approved for any use; sold for laboratory research use only.
- WADA banned?
- Yes
Which form actually works?
Injectable (subcutaneous)
Unproven
The form used in the clinical obesity trials and the one most research references. This is where the human data lives, and it is also where the trial disappointment lives: injections were generally well tolerated in early studies, but the expected fat-loss advantage over placebo did not materialize.
Oral / topical
Risky
Marketed by some sellers as capsules or creams, but there is essentially no controlled human evidence that a peptide this fragile survives digestion or crosses skin intact to do anything. Treat oral and topical claims as unsupported by the research.
Third-Party Testing & Certificate of Analysis (COA)
A certificate of analysis (COA) is a lab document that reports what a specific batch of material actually contains. Reputable research suppliers publish one for every batch, tied to a lot number you can match against the vial you received.
- HPLC — purity
- High-performance liquid chromatography reports purity as a percentage: how much of the sample is the intended compound rather than impurities.
- Mass spectrometry (MS) — identity
- Mass spectrometry confirms identity by measuring the sample's molecular mass, so it matches the peptide the label names.
It also matters who ran the test. In-house results come from the seller's own lab; an independent third-party lab has no stake in the result, so its COA generally carries more weight. Look for a named testing laboratory, a batch or lot number, and a test date that lines up with the vial in hand.
New to reading one? This guide walks through a COA line by line: how to read a peptide COA.
Sources
- Ng FM et al. Metabolic studies of a synthetic lipolytic domain (AOD9604) of human growth hormone, Horm Res 2000;53(6):274-8.
- Heffernan M et al. The effects of human GH and its lipolytic fragment (AOD9604) on lipid metabolism following chronic treatment in obese mice and beta3-AR knock-out mice, Endocrinology 2001;142(12):5182-9.
- Stier H, Vos E, Kenley D. Safety and Tolerability of the Hexadecapeptide AOD9604 in Humans, J Endocrinol Metab 2013;3(1-2):7-15.
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