Fat loss
AOD-9604
A growth hormone fragment engineered to isolate the fat-burning effect and drop HGH's blood sugar and tissue growth effects. Trialed for obesity, never reached market.
Failed efficacy trial Fat loss
- Full name
- Anti-Obesity Drug 9604 (a modified fragment of human growth hormone, amino acids 176-191)
- Also known as
- AOD-9604, hGH Fragment 176-191
- Regulatory status
- Failed to reach approval as an obesity drug after Phase IIb trials showed insufficient efficacy versus placebo; sold today only as a research chemical, with no clinical approval anywhere.
Origin
Australian biotech Metabolic Pharmaceuticals isolated the C-terminal fragment of human growth hormone (amino acids 176-191), the piece responsible for GH's lipolytic activity, and dropped the rest of the molecule that drives growth and blood-sugar effects.
Mechanism
Meant to stimulate lipolysis and block lipogenesis in adipose tissue, mimicking one piece of GH's action without touching IGF-1, bone/tissue growth, or insulin resistance.
Research summary
Evidence
Early studies, including some human work, suggested a modest fat-metabolism effect, enough to advance it to Phase IIb obesity trials. Those trials, the most rigorous human data that exists for this compound, found no statistically significant weight-loss benefit over placebo, and development for obesity was dropped. It hasn't been meaningfully re-investigated since.
Evidence tier: Failed efficacy trial — see the methodology note for how this is assessed.
Citations
- The effects of human GH and its lipolytic fragment (AOD9604) on lipid metabolism following chronic treatment in obese mice and beta(3)-AR knock-out mice — Heffernan et al. 2001
- Increase of fat oxidation and weight loss in obese mice caused by chronic treatment with human growth hormone or a modified C-terminal fragment — Heffernan et al. 2001
- Metabolic studies of a synthetic lipolytic domain (AOD9604) of human growth hormone — Ng et al. 2000
Reported benefits
- Marketed by research-chemical vendors as supporting fat loss, but this is not supported by the compound's own Phase IIb trial results
- Some anecdotal reports of mild fat-loss support when stacked with a caloric deficit and other compounds, difficult to disentangle from those other interventions
Dosing protocols reported in the literature & community
These are protocols reported by compounding pharmacies, published trials, or self-experimentation communities — not a prescription. Start low, especially for anything new.
| Route | Reported protocol |
|---|---|
| Subcutaneous injection | Community-reported doses commonly range 250-500 mcg/day; there is no validated effective human dose because the compound failed its efficacy trials at the doses tested. |
Side effects
- Reported as generally well tolerated in trials (this was not the reason development stopped — lack of efficacy was)
- Limited independent safety data outside the original manufacturer's trials
Safety notes
Community & reddit notes (anecdotal — not clinical evidence)
Still sold and discussed occasionally, but enthusiasm has cooled as the failed trial results became more widely known. Overshadowed now by tesamorelin, which has real approved-drug evidence for visceral fat, and by the GLP-1 drugs, which have far stronger trial results.
Related peptides
Mixing compatibility
Pulled from a community-charted mixing-compatibility reference (anecdotal, clinic-use, and community-reported signals) — not a safety guarantee. Verify independently before combining anything.