What is ipamorelin?
Short answer
Ipamorelin is a synthetic pentapeptide, five amino acids long, that acts as a selective agonist at the ghrelin receptor and is classed as a growth hormone secretagogue. Its evidence is preclinical pharmacology plus one randomized human trial in postoperative ileus that did not meet its primary endpoint. In this catalog it appears only inside two blends. It is not FDA-approved for any use; compounded medications are not FDA-approved. It is prohibited in sport.
| Type | Synthetic pentapeptide (5 amino acids); selective ghrelin-receptor agonist |
|---|---|
| Origin | Designed in the 1990s as a growth hormone secretagogue, before ghrelin itself was identified |
| Also known as | Ipamorelin acetate; the Ipa in CJC / Ipa and Tesa / Ipa stacks |
| Evidence to date | Preclinical pharmacology; one randomized surgical trial that did not meet its primary endpoint |
| Form in this catalog | Not sold alone; in the CJC-1295 / Ipamorelin and Tesamorelin / Ipamorelin blends, supplied already reconstituted |
| Regulatory status | Compounded medication; not FDA-approved for any use |
| Anti-doping | Prohibited at all times (WADA S2, growth hormone secretagogues) |
| Prescription units | Written in micrograms; the CJC-1295 / Ipamorelin calculator handles the blend math |
| Study type | Sources |
|---|---|
| Human clinical trials | 3 |
| Other human studies | 0 |
| Animal and lab studies | 1 |
| Review articles | 0 |
Where does ipamorelin come from?
Ipamorelin is a synthetic pentapeptide, a chain of just five amino acids, built in the 1990s as part of a search for small molecules that could trigger growth hormone release through a receptor separate from the GHRH receptor. That receptor was known at the time as the growth hormone secretagogue receptor; the body's own ligand for it, ghrelin, was identified only afterwards, which is why ipamorelin is described today as a ghrelin-receptor agonist or ghrelin mimetic.
The 1998 paper that introduced the compound titled it the first selective growth hormone secretagogue. Selective, in that context, is the authors' description of its receptor profile compared with earlier secretagogues of the same family, based on animal and cell pharmacology. It is a statement about mechanism, not a clinical result.
What has ipamorelin been studied for?
Ipamorelin research is thin, and it is worth being exact about what exists. Two published entries stand behind it. The first is the 1998 preclinical pharmacology paper describing the compound and its selectivity in animal and cell models. The second is a 2014 prospective, randomized, controlled proof-of-concept study of ipamorelin for the management of postoperative ileus in patients who had undergone bowel resection, which is a surgical setting with no connection to body composition or performance.
Ipamorelin did not meet the primary endpoint in that 2014 trial. That is the only randomized human trial of the compound among the studies cited here, and it is a negative one in an unrelated indication. There are no published randomized trials of ipamorelin for lean mass, recovery, sleep or any performance goal, and no trials of either blend it appears in. Anyone presenting ipamorelin as established for those goals is going well beyond the literature.
| Area | Type of evidence | What the studies examined |
|---|---|---|
| Receptor pharmacology | Preclinical (animal and cell models) | Growth hormone release and receptor selectivity, 1998 |
| Postoperative ileus after bowel resection | Randomized controlled proof-of-concept trial | Recovery of bowel function after surgery; primary endpoint not met, 2014 |
| Body composition or performance | No randomized trials among the studies cited here | Not studied in controlled human trials |
| Blends with CJC-1295 or tesamorelin | No trials of the combinations | Each pairing rests on its components' separate literature |
Get CJC-1295 / Ipamorelin prescribed, pre-mixed
How is ipamorelin prescribed?
Ipamorelin is not prescribed on its own through Peptides.build. It appears in two blends: CJC-1295 / Ipamorelin, which pairs it with a long-acting GHRH analog, and Tesamorelin / Ipamorelin, which pairs it with a stabilized GHRH analog. In both, the two peptides are dissolved in the same vial, so every injection carries both in the ratio the pharmacy prepared.
Ipamorelin blends are compounded medications: a licensed US provider reviews an online intake, writes a prescription if appropriate, and a licensed 503A pharmacy prepares and ships the vial already reconstituted with each peptide's concentration on the label. Which blend, if any, fits a patient is the provider's decision, and doses are set by the provider rather than published here.
Is ipamorelin FDA-approved or allowed in sport?
Ipamorelin is not FDA-approved for any use. No branded ipamorelin product has been approved in the US, so the only route to a patient is a prescription for a compounded medication, and compounded medications are not FDA-approved. When ipamorelin is in a blend with tesamorelin, the blend is still a compounded product and not the branded tesamorelin that holds an FDA approval.
Ipamorelin is prohibited in sport at all times. The World Anti-Doping Agency names it as an example under S2 among growth hormone secretagogues, in the same group as ghrelin itself and its mimetics. Drug-tested athletes should check with their governing body before any blend containing it is prescribed.
How are ipamorelin doses measured?
Ipamorelin prescriptions are written in micrograms, and in a blend the label usually prints a separate strength for each peptide. That split is where most blend math goes wrong: a vial labelled with one total weight usually holds a share of each compound, so a dose written for one peptide has to be worked against that peptide's own concentration, not the total. The free CJC-1295 / Ipamorelin calculator on this site shows the units to draw for a per-peptide or whole-blend prescription, and the tesamorelin calculator has a blend mode for the Tesamorelin / Ipamorelin vial. Both do arithmetic only and never suggest a dose.
Prescribed Ipamorelin vs research peptides: what is different?
Prescribed Ipamorelin is not a research chemical. It is a prescription medication: a licensed US provider reviews your intake first, and a licensed 503A pharmacy compounds it for you by name. Vials sold online as “research use only” skip both steps. What you pay for here is that review, a pharmacy you can name, and a label that says what is in the vial.
A research seller’s certificate of analysis is a document the seller controls: it chooses the lab and the sample, and a PDF can be reused, edited or re-dated. No regulator checks it.
| Point | Prescribed through Peptides.build | Research use only |
|---|---|---|
| Access | Online intake reviewed by a licensed US provider; prescribed only when appropriate. | No prescription and no clinical review of whether it suits you. |
| How it's labeled | A prescription medication compounded for you by name. | Commonly sold labeled “research use only, not for human consumption.” |
| Who prepares it | A licensed 503A US compounding pharmacy under state and federal oversight. | Unregulated suppliers, often with no verifiable chain of custody. |
| Testing | Third-party tested. | Certificates of analysis are self-reported when provided at all. |
| Purity and identity | Prepared to a prescription for a specific patient. | Purity, strength, and even identity are unverified by any independent party. |
This compares two care models, not two products. Compounded medications are not FDA-approved, and we do not claim otherwise. What a prescription adds is a licensed provider deciding whether a protocol is appropriate for you and a licensed pharmacy preparing it. Read the full guide to research vs prescription peptides.
Ipamorelin FAQ
Is ipamorelin a growth hormone?
No. Ipamorelin is a five-amino-acid peptide that acts on the ghrelin receptor, which signals the pituitary to release its own growth hormone. It contains no growth hormone and is classified by anti-doping bodies as a growth hormone secretagogue, not as growth hormone.
Has ipamorelin been tested in humans?
One randomized controlled trial is in the verified citation pool, a 2014 proof-of-concept study in postoperative ileus after bowel resection. It did not meet its primary endpoint. There are no randomized trials of ipamorelin for performance or body-composition goals.
Is ipamorelin FDA-approved?
No. Ipamorelin is not FDA-approved for any use. It reaches patients in the US only as a compounded medication prescribed by a licensed provider and prepared by a licensed 503A pharmacy, and compounded medications are not FDA-approved.
Is ipamorelin banned in sport?
Yes. The World Anti-Doping Agency lists ipamorelin by name under S2 as a growth hormone secretagogue, prohibited at all times. Drug-tested athletes should check with their governing body.
Why is ipamorelin always paired with CJC-1295 or tesamorelin?
Ipamorelin acts on the ghrelin receptor while CJC-1295 and tesamorelin act on the GHRH receptor, so a blend signals the same pituitary axis through two routes. That is the rationale for the pairing; no published trial has tested either combination.
Can I get ipamorelin on its own through Peptides.build?
No. The catalog carries ipamorelin only inside the CJC-1295 / Ipamorelin and Tesamorelin / Ipamorelin blends. A provider decides at intake whether either blend fits.
CJC-1295 / Ipamorelin through Peptides.build
A licensed US provider reviews a short online intake and decides whether a protocol is appropriate. A US 503A pharmacy prepares it already reconstituted, labels the concentration and ships it cold-chain. Dosing is set by the provider and is not published on this site.
Start your CJC-1295 / Ipamorelin visit · from $183/mo- CJC-1295 / Ipamorelin protocol: pricing, who it is for, FAQ
- Tesamorelin / Ipamorelin protocol: pricing, who it is for, FAQ
- All performance protocols compared
- CJC-1295 / Ipamorelin Calculator: units, reconstitution and dosing chart
- What is the CJC-1295 / Ipamorelin blend?
- What is the Tesamorelin / Ipamorelin blend?
- Tesamorelin vs ipamorelin: what is the difference?
- What is tesamorelin?
References
- Ipamorelin, the first selective growth hormone secretagogue. European Journal of Endocrinology, 1998. doi:10.1530/eje.0.1390552Study type: Preclinical pharmacology
- Prospective, randomized, controlled, proof-of-concept study of the Ghrelin mimetic ipamorelin for the management of postoperative ileus in bowel resection patients. International Journal of Colorectal Disease, 2014. doi:10.1007/s00384-014-2030-8Study type: Randomized controlled trial (postoperative ileus; primary endpoint not met)
- 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. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, 2006. doi:10.1210/jc.2005-1536Study type: Randomized controlled trial (healthy adults; pharmacokinetics and safety)
- Effects of tesamorelin (TH9507), a growth hormone-releasing factor analog, in HIV-infected patients with excess abdominal fat: a pooled analysis of two multicenter, double-blind placebo-controlled phase 3 trials with safety extension data. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, 2010. doi:10.1210/jc.2010-0490Study type: Pooled analysis of two phase 3 trials (HIV-associated abdominal fat accumulation)
Citations are listed with their study type so the evidence can be weighed. Review articles summarize other studies; animal and in vitro findings do not describe outcomes in people.
This article is educational and is not medical advice. Compounded ipamorelin is not FDA-approved, and compounded medications are not FDA-approved. No results are implied or guaranteed. Talk to a licensed provider about your own history before starting any protocol.