AOD-9604
/A · O · D ninety-six oh-four/aka AOD9604, Tyr-hGH 177–191, Modified hGH fragment 176–191
A 16-amino-acid fragment from the tail of human growth hormone, designed to trigger fat breakdown without GH's other effects.
AOD-9604: educational research discussion. Not medical advice. Not a protocol for you.Details
- Reported range
- 250–500 mcg daily
- Frequency
- Once daily
- Cycle length
- Not standardized
- Half-life
- Poorly characterized
- Route
- SC (trials used oral tablets)
Reported figures describe what is published or discussed. None of them is a dose for you.
Mechanism
What it is proposed to do
AOD-9604 matches residues 177–191 of human growth hormone with a tyrosine added at the front (equivalently, hGH 176–191 with tyrosine in place of phenylalanine). This C-terminal region was proposed to carry GH's fat-mobilizing activity. In obese rodents the fragment increased fat breakdown, reduced fat synthesis and slowed weight gain without worsening insulin sensitivity. The sponsor's human data showed no change in IGF-1. None of this produced meaningful weight loss in people.
- 01
AOD-9604
hGH 177–191 plus an N-terminal tyrosine; 16 aa
established - 02
Lipolysis ↑ · lipogenesis ↓
Rodent fat tissue and isolated-tissue studies
proposed - 03
β3-adrenergic receptor expression ↑
Obese mice; long-term effect absent in β3-knockout mice (2001)
proposed - 04
Slower weight gain in obese rodents
Did not translate to significant weight loss in the 536-person trial
proposed
Half-life. Poorly characterized in humans. Anti-doping labs have studied its breakdown products for detection purposes, not for dosing.
Dosing & cycles
What is reported, and where it comes from
Numbers below are labeled FDA label, clinical trial range or commonly reported range. They describe the published and discussed landscape. They are not instructions and not a protocol for you.
Dosing studio
Every figure is labeled by where it comes from.
Scale view: Commonly reported injectable range
Probe at 375 mcg: inside the reported band (250–500 mcg). Drag it to read the scale. It does not pick a number for you.
Typical cycle, as a calendar
Trial pattern: daily oral tablets
24 weeks
The OPTIONS Phase 2b gave tablets once daily for 24 weeks. It is shown because it is the best-documented human schedule. It did not beat placebo.
Cycle patterns
Trial pattern: daily oral tablets
The OPTIONS Phase 2b gave tablets once daily for 24 weeks. It is shown because it is the best-documented human schedule. It did not beat placebo.
Community pattern: daily SC block
Daily injections for a block of weeks. The 8-week block shown is illustrative. No human data support any injectable schedule.
Stacks
What it gets combined with
Why people pair things, and what nobody has tested.
AOD + GH-axis
3 compounds- Why people combine these
- Pitched as fragment-driven fat breakdown plus GH pulses from secretagogues.
- Caution
- Neither half has good human fat-loss data, and no study has tested the pair.
- What is unknown
- No published human data on this combination: dosing, interactions and long-term effects are all unstudied.
AOD + GLP
2 compounds- Why people combine these
- Added to a GLP-1 drug in hopes of targeting fat more directly.
- Caution
- If weight drops, the GLP-1 drug is the likely reason. The fragment failed its own obesity trial.
- What is unknown
- No published human data on this combination: dosing, interactions and long-term effects are all unstudied.
Evidence
How much of this is known
Evidence grade
D
Little useful signal
Mechanism speculation, marketing, or almost no useful human signal.
How we gradeGraded D for fat loss. It was tested in humans. The results did not justify further development. Clean sponsor safety data answer a different question from whether it works.
Human trial status
Metabolic Pharmaceuticals (Melbourne) ran the human program with oral tablets. A 12-week trial in about 300 people reported about 2.6 kg lost on 1 mg vs 0.8 kg on placebo. The larger 24-week OPTIONS trial in 536 people (0.25–1 mg daily) failed to produce significant weight loss, and obesity development was terminated in 2007. A 2013 sponsor paper pooled six trials for safety. No efficacy trial has tested the injectable use common today.
Limitations
- Efficacy failed in the largest trial. The positive signal came from a smaller, shorter one.
- Human safety data are sponsor-published and pooled.
- Community use is injectable, a route and dose range the efficacy trials did not test.
- Rodent fat-loss effects did not predict the human result.
Sources to read
- Ng FM et al. Metabolic studies of a synthetic lipolytic domain (AOD9604) of human growth hormone (Horm Res 2000)
- Heffernan M et al. Human GH and its lipolytic fragment (AOD9604) in obese mice and β3-AR knock-out mice (Endocrinology 2001)
- Stier H, Vos E, Kenley D. Safety and tolerability of the hexadecapeptide AOD9604 in humans (J Endocrinol Metab 2013)
- Misra M. Obesity pharmacotherapy: current perspectives and future directions, noting the failed 536-person trial (Curr Cardiol Rev 2013)
- FDA. Certain bulk drug substances for use in compounding that may present significant safety risks
Links open PubMed, DailyMed, FDA or trial-registry searches. We do not cite what we have not described accurately.
Safety
Side effects, cautions, status
Commonly reported effects
- Sponsor-published pooled data from six placebo-controlled trials reported tolerability similar to placebo, no anti-AOD-9604 antibodies in tested patients, and no change in IGF-1 or carbohydrate metabolism.
- The large trials used oral tablets. Long-term safety of daily injections is poorly characterized.
- FDA has flagged possible immunogenicity (immune reactions) for certain routes, plus impurity and characterization concerns.
- Product quality is the largest practical risk: gray-market vials vary in purity, content and endotoxin.
Who should be extra cautious
- Tested athletes. Prohibited at all times (WADA S2.2.3, named).
- Pregnancy or breastfeeding. No data at all.
- Anyone expecting GH effects. It is a fragment, not growth hormone. The sponsor's data showed no IGF-1 change.
- Gray-market product. Purity, dose accuracy and endotoxin vary between vendors and batches.
Legal & regulatory status
Not approved as a drug anywhere. FDA's compounding-risk page lists AOD-9604 among substances formerly in Category 2 whose nominations were withdrawn, citing possible immunogenicity, impurity and characterization problems, and little or no safety information. It is not on the 503A bulks list.
2026 compounding context. Not among the 12 peptides FDA moved out of Category 2 in April 2026, and not reviewed by the July 2026 advisory committee. FDA lists it as a withdrawn nomination with stated immunogenicity and characterization concerns.
WADA. Prohibited at all times. Named under S2.2.3 (growth hormone fragments) alongside hGH 176–191.
Storage & handling, high level
Sold as lyophilized powder. Reconstituted peptides are generally kept refrigerated, away from light, and degrade over weeks. The human trials used a different product: the original sponsor's oral tablets.
Reconstitution and injection technique are clinical skills. The reconstitution calculator does arithmetic only.
FAQ
Questions people ask about AOD-9604
Is AOD-9604 the same as Fragment 176–191?
Did it work in humans?
Does it raise growth hormone or IGF-1?
Is it banned in sport?
The monthly Evidence Brief
Keep up with the evidence
One email a month: new trials, grade changes and FDA or WADA updates across the whole atlas, AOD-9604 included. You get the free guide right away.
Free guide · PDF
10 Peptide Claims, Fact-Checked
13 pages · sent to your inbox right away
Email only. Unsubscribe from any email in one click. We do not sell or rent your address. Nothing we send is medical advice. Privacy