Ipamorelin
Reviewed
Short answer
A short human study measured growth-hormone release, but it did not prove health benefits. A different phase 2 study did not show benefit on its main or other measured outcomes. Still being studied; no FDA-approved product identified.
The Peptide Field explains research. Its pages are not independently medically reviewed, and they do not diagnose, prescribe, or recommend treatment.
Read the study findingsAlso known as ipamorelin acetate · NNC 26-0161 · growth hormone secretagogue
Part of Growth hormone peptides
Compared with Sermorelin · Tesamorelin · GHRP-6
Legal status Is Ipamorelin legal? See the status table
Study and product details
What it is
Ipamorelin can trigger the body to release growth hormone. Ipamorelin is a synthetic peptide that activates the ghrelin receptor and stimulates growth-hormone release. Human pharmacology studies and a clinical efficacy trial exist, making it a useful example of why biological activity and clinical benefit must be graded separately.
Type of peptide: Ghrelin-receptor agonist · GH secretagogue. This describes what the substance is or how it works. It does not show that it is safe, effective, or approved.
What has been studied?
- Limited: Research is too small or incomplete, or does not directly answer this question.
- Moderate: Useful evidence exists, but important limits remain.
- Unclear: There is not enough reliable detail about the product or research to judge.
A phase 2 trial did not show significant benefit on its key efficacy endpoint.
Dose-escalation work characterizes short-lived GH release in healthy volunteers.
Route-specific data are sparse and FDA identifies serious safety concerns.
No approved formulation anchors identity, purity, or equivalence in the consumer market.
Products with the same ingredient can differ.
The ingredient name does not tell you everything about a product. Check its other ingredients, its form, how it enters the body, and the use and people covered by the research or approval.
None identified in the United States.
- No FDA-approved indication
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What studies found
The short hormone-response study was in healthy male volunteers. The phase 2 study was after bowel surgery. A dose-escalation study in healthy male volunteers characterized ipamorelin exposure and a short episode of GH release. In a multicenter, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase 2 trial after bowel surgery, the drug was described as well tolerated in that setting but did not significantly improve the key or secondary efficacy outcomes.
Those studies do not establish popular claims about muscle gain, fat loss, recovery, anti-aging, or sleep. They also do not establish the safety or quality of consumer products, compounded combinations, or different routes.
Which products do these findings apply to?
Human studies used defined study material and routes. They do not establish the identity, safety, or equivalence of compounded mixtures or consumer-market products.
Ipamorelin side effects and safety: what FDA has said
This page has no trial or drug-label side-effect table for Ipamorelin. FDA keeps a page of bulk substances that may be risky when a pharmacy mixes (compounds) them. Here is what that page says about Ipamorelin, in plain words.
- FDA points to a published study that reported serious health events, including death. In that study, ipamorelin was given into a vein to help the gut move food along.
- FDA found no safety information for some other ways of injecting it. It says it cannot tell whether ipamorelin given those ways would harm people.
- It contains amino acids not found in nature. That makes it harder to check what a product contains.
- The body's immune system may react against it. FDA says this risk depends on how it is given.
- The peptide may clump, or making it may leave unwanted peptide by-products.
These points come from FDA's review of compounded drugs. They are not a full list of side effects. Having no reports does not mean a product is safe.
Read FDA's exact words
Ipamorelin acetate: “Compounded drugs containing Ipamorelin acetate may pose risk for immunogenicity for certain routes of administration due to the potential for aggregation or peptide-related impurities. Ipamorelin acetate also contains unnatural amino acids, which add to the complexity of peptide characterization. A study published in literature identified serious adverse events including death when ipamorelin was administered intravenously for improving gastric motility. FDA has not identified safety-related information regarding ipamorelin acetate via certain other injectable routes of administration. Therefore, the agency lacks sufficient information to know whether the drug would cause harm if administered to humans via those routes.”
Source: FDA, Certain bulk drug substances for use in compounding that may present significant safety risks , page dated .
Compare side-effect data across peptides
Report a side effect
You can report a suspected side effect to the FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088 or through FDA MedWatch . If a reaction feels serious, get medical care first.
FDA page checked .
Fact checks
3 statements checked. Read what the results mean.
“Ipamorelin stimulates GH release in people.”
A human dose-escalation study measured an episode of GH release. That is a pharmacodynamic effect.
- What this answer is based on
- Studies of body changes in people
- Limits of this answer
- Short-term GH pharmacodynamics in the healthy volunteers and route studied.
Sources for this fact check (1)
“A GH response proves better recovery or body composition.”
A biomarker response is not a clinical outcome, and the identified studies did not establish those benefits.
- What this answer is based on
- No reliable studies showing this health result in people
- Limits of this answer
- Recovery and body-composition outcomes not established by GH pharmacology or the postoperative-ileus trial.
Sources for this fact check (2)
“Ipamorelin worked in its phase 2 surgical trial.”
The randomized trial reported no significant difference from placebo on its key and secondary efficacy analyses.
- What this answer is based on
- Health results from a study with randomly assigned groups
- Limits of this answer
- The postoperative-ileus population, intervention, and efficacy endpoints in the phase 2 trial.
Sources for this fact check (1)
Questions people ask about Ipamorelin
FDA's page on risky compounding substances says this about Ipamorelin. FDA points to a published study that reported serious health events, including death. In that study, ipamorelin was given into a vein to help the gut move food along. FDA found no safety information for some other ways of injecting it. It says it cannot tell whether ipamorelin given those ways would harm people. It contains amino acids not found in nature. That makes it harder to check what a product contains. The body's immune system may react against it. FDA says this risk depends on how it is given. The peptide may clump, or making it may leave unwanted peptide by-products. These points come from FDA's review of compounded drugs. They are not a full list of side effects.
Risks and safety limits
FDA identifies immunogenicity, aggregation, impurity, and characterization concerns. The agency also cites serious adverse events, including death, in intravenous gastric-motility research and says it lacks sufficient information for other promoted injectable routes.
Growth-hormone secretagogues and mimetics are prohibited under the current WADA framework.
Reviewed .Check the rules for athletes ↗Read the official rules ↗Terms used in the studies
- phase 2
- a mid-stage study in people that checks effects and safety before larger studies
- outcome
- what the study measured
- placebo
- an inactive treatment used for comparison
- compounded
- made for one patient by a pharmacy, or in batches by a permitted outsourcing facility; a compounded drug is not FDA-approved
- route
- how the product enters the body
- formulation
- the ingredients and physical form of the finished product
- pharmacodynamics
- how a substance affects the body
- human pharmacology
- a study of how a substance changes the body in people
Read the sources
Show 4 sources
Review history
Expanded trial-outcome, route, and product-quality boundaries.
Not independently medically reviewed. This page is not a dosing, sourcing, or treatment guide.
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