Encyclopedia

AOD-9604 is a synthetic peptide based on the C-terminal lipolytic fragment of human growth hormone (residues 176-191, with an added tyrosine). It was developed as an anti-obesity agent intended to stimulate fat metabolism without growth hormone's effects on IGF-1 or blood sugar. It received FDA 'Generally Recognized As Safe' (GRAS) status as a food ingredient but is not FDA-approved as a drug, and its pivotal human obesity trials did not meet their primary weight-loss endpoint.

AOD-9604 (Tyr-hGH Frag 176-191) is a modified C-terminal fragment of human growth hormone, developed at Monash University in Australia. In obese-mouse models it increased fat oxidation and reduced body-weight gain without affecting IGF-1, blood glucose, or tissue growth, with effects linked in part to beta-3 adrenergic receptor signaling. It was advanced as an anti-obesity drug candidate but did not demonstrate significant weight loss versus placebo at the primary endpoint in human trials. It later received FDA GRAS status as a food/supplement ingredient (a different regulatory category from drug approval). It has appeared in sports-doping contexts. It is among peptides reviewed by the FDA for compounding.

Mechanism of Action

Mimics the lipolytic (fat-metabolizing) activity of the C-terminal region of growth hormone, increasing fat oxidation and lipolysis and reducing new fat formation, reportedly without the IGF-1-mediated or glucose effects of full growth hormone. Animal data implicate beta-3 adrenergic receptor signaling.