The answer, first. A 16-amino-acid fragment of human growth hormone, residues 177 to 191 plus a tyrosine, developed by Metabolic Pharmaceuticals in Australia from the late 1990s. The strongest evidence is for acute rise in free fatty acids, graded C — small or open-label human only.
Non-esterified fatty acids rose two hours after intravenous dosing in 23 adults with obesity, and four hours after oral dosing in 16 men 12.
The marker moved. Weight did not. Every other use — body-fat reduction in rodents, cartilage repair in the joint, fat loss in obesity — grade D or E: animal or mechanism data only, or a claim the human trials have already tested and not supported.
What it is used for
Every use graded on its own evidence, not the compound as a whole. 4 outcomes, ranked by what the human record supports.
How it works
The proposed mechanism, in three steps. A mechanism is a reason to run a trial, never a substitute for one.
What it does not do
Claims the current record does not support. Worth knowing before you set expectations.
- Burns fat in humans. The 502-person trial missed its weight endpoint at 12 and 24 weeks, and the sponsor ended development 1.
- Works injected under the skin. FDA found no human data for the subcutaneous or transdermal route, the two routes it is compounded for 1.
- A safer growth hormone. No human pharmacokinetic or bioavailability data exist for any route, so no exposure comparison is possible 1.
- Vial contents match the label. Belgian authorities seized preparations sold as AOD9604 and needed laboratory characterisation to establish what was in them 8.
How it is used
What published protocols administered, and what the community reports doing. Descriptive on both counts, and never a recommendation.
This site does not publish protocols to follow. The doses above are what studies administered or what users report, stated as facts about the literature and the market. How protocols are structured, mixing and storage and the reconstitution calculator cover the arithmetic.
What to expect
Where a trial measured it, the trial. Where only the community reports it, that is said out loud.
Approval and status
What regulators and sport bodies have actually said, separately from what the evidence shows.
Check the vial
The grade above describes a molecule studied under controlled conditions. It says nothing about the powder in a particular vial.
That gap is the one part of this market a reader can actually close. How to read a certificate of analysis covers the five measures in five minutes, and the 2026 audit grades vendors on the documents they publish against a rubric printed in full.
Questions we get
What is AOD-9604 used for?
It is sold for fat loss. The human record does not support that. A 502-participant randomised trial, powered to detect a 1.8 kg difference against placebo, found none at 12 weeks.
The sponsor ended development in February 2007. Three earlier placebo-controlled trials also found no significant weight loss. Clinics also market it for joint and cartilage repair, where FDA found no human study at all.
How is AOD-9604 used?
Descriptively: the trials used intravenous infusion and oral dosing only. Intravenous ran 25 to 400 micrograms per kilogram. Oral ran 9 to 54 mg weekly, 1 to 30 mg daily, and 0.25 to 1 mg daily in the phase 2b.
Vendors and clinics sell it for subcutaneous injection and topical cream. FDA looked and found no human data for either of those routes.
How long does AOD-9604 take to work?
The published trials ran 1 week, 4 weeks, 12 weeks and 24 weeks, and none of them separated body weight from placebo. So no duration has been shown to work.
Free fatty acids do rise within two to four hours of a dose, which is a marker moving rather than fat lost. No human pharmacokinetic data exist for any route, so even exposure is unmeasured.
Is AOD-9604 an approved drug?
No. AOD-9604 is sold as a research chemical, not as an approved medicine. It was never approved anywhere, obesity development stopped in 2007, and in December 2024 FDA proposed not adding it to the 503A compounding bulks list.
On our index it is graded early human on clinical evidence and moderate on community adoption, and those two are rated separately on purpose.
References
- US Food and Drug Administration. Evaluation of AOD-9604-related Bulk Drug Substances for Inclusion on the 503A Bulk Drug Substances List. Pharmacy Compounding Advisory Committee briefing document, 4 December 2024. fda.gov
- Wilding J. AOD-9604 Metabolic. Curr Opin Investig Drugs. 2004. PMID 15134286
- Ng FM, et al. Metabolic studies of a synthetic lipolytic domain [AOD9604] of human growth hormone. Horm Res. 2000. PMID 11146367
- Heffernan M, et al. 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. Endocrinology. 2001. PMID 11713213
- Kwon DR, et al. Effect of Intra-articular Injection of AOD9604 with or without Hyaluronic Acid in Rabbit Osteoarthritis Model. Ann Clin Lab Sci. 2015. PMID 26275694
- Cox HD, et al. Detection and in vitro metabolism of AOD9604. Drug Test Anal. 2015. PMID 25208511
- World Anti-Doping Agency. Prohibited List 2026, International Standard, in force 1 January 2026. Section S2.2.3, growth hormone, its analogues and fragments. wada-ama.org
- Vanhee C, et al. Identification and characterization of peptide drugs in unknown pharmaceutical preparations seized by the Belgian authorities: case report on AOD9604. Drug Test Anal. 2014. PMID 24976118
- Heffernan MA, et al. Increase of fat oxidation and weight loss in obese mice caused by chronic treatment with human growth hormone or a modified C-terminal fragment. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord. 2001. PMID 11673763
Inside Your Peptides is published by the owners of the next lab, a vendor graded elsewhere on this site. We sell nothing here, and this page carries no vendor link. Grades follow the published criteria in our editorial policy — never referral terms. Research and education only. Not medical advice.