Peptide guide

CJC-1295

A synthetic GHRH analog studied for raising the body's own growth-hormone and IGF-1 output. Sold in two forms — with DAC (long-acting) and without DAC, also called Mod GRF 1-29 (short-acting).

CJC-1295 is a lab-made copy of growth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH) that tells your pituitary to put out more of its own growth hormone, which in turn raises IGF-1. Unlike most gray-market peptides, it has real human pharmacology data behind it: a 2006 study showed it durably raised GH and IGF-1 in healthy adults. What it doesn't have is any approval, any efficacy trial, or long-term safety data — its developer halted trials after a patient death and walked away. It comes in two forms that behave very differently (with DAC and without), it's usually stacked with Ipamorelin, and it's banned in sport. The practical questions are which form you're actually holding, how to prepare it, and how not to get scammed buying it.

By the Zapify Research team

Reviewed against 10 clinical & research sources · Updated June 2026 · Educational use only

Type: GHRH analog29-aa + DAC variant
Route: Subcutaneous
Typical dose: ~100–300 mcg/dayno-DAC; DAC dosed weekly
Cycle: Weeks on/offoften 8 on, 8 off
Storage: Mixed: 2–4 wksSealed: months
Status: Not FDA-approved

What is CJC-1295?

A synthetic GHRH analog built from the first 29 amino acids that prompts your pituitary to release more GH, sold in non-interchangeable DAC and no-DAC forms.

CJC-1295 is a synthetic analog of growth hormone-releasing hormone, the natural signal your hypothalamus uses to tell your pituitary gland to release growth hormone. Instead of being growth hormone itself, it works one step upstream: it nudges your own pituitary to put out more GH, which then raises IGF-1, the downstream hormone that does much of growth hormone's actual work in tissue. It's built from the first 29 amino acids of GHRH, with a few substitutions that keep the body's enzymes from chewing it up as fast.

It's sold in two forms, and they are not interchangeable. The plain version, usually called CJC-1295 without DAC or Mod GRF 1-29, clears the body in roughly half an hour and produces a short, sharp pulse of GH that mimics the body's own rhythm. The other version adds a drug affinity complex, the "DAC," which latches onto albumin in your blood and turns it into a slow-release reservoir. That single change stretches the half-life from minutes to several days, so one injection keeps GH and IGF-1 elevated for a week or more. Most of the section below on dosing turns on which of these two you're holding.

CJC-1295 was developed by a Canadian biotech, ConjuChem, in the mid-2000s. It reached human trials, then the company shelved it. It has lived in research and gray-market peptide channels ever since, frequently paired with Ipamorelin, a separate compound that triggers GH release through a different receptor.

CJC-1295 isn't FDA-approved for anything, in either form. Its developer halted clinical trials in 2006 and never brought it to market, so there's no approved use, no approved dose, and no long-term human safety data. Treat it as an experimental compound, not a proven medicine.

What is it studied for?

A 2006 study showed the DAC version durably raised GH and IGF-1 in healthy adults, but no trial links that bump to any clinical benefit.

CJC-1295 sits in an unusual spot for a gray-market peptide: it actually has published human data. A 2006 study in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism gave the DAC version to healthy adults and measured what happened. A single injection raised mean GH 2- to 10-fold for six days or more, raised IGF-1 by 1.5- to 3-fold for nine to eleven days, and showed a half-life of 5.8 to 8.1 days. With repeat doses, IGF-1 stayed above baseline for up to 28 days. So the core claim — that it durably raises your own growth-hormone output — is one of the better-supported things in this whole category.

Evidence base, by question

Human PK dataDoes it raise GH/IGF-1?

No efficacy trialsDoes that improve any outcome?

That gap is the whole story. The research clusters around three things:

GH & IGF-1 elevationThe one well-documented effect. Human pharmacology studies confirm CJC-1295 raises both hormones and, in the DAC form, keeps them up for days.

Sustained vs pulsatile releaseThe DAC version holds GH high steadily; the no-DAC version recreates the body's natural pulses. Which pattern is healthier long-term isn't settled.

Lipodystrophy & GH deficiencyThe original trials targeted HIV-related fat redistribution and low GH. The program was halted before efficacy was established.

The mechanism is well characterized: it binds the GHRH receptor on the pituitary and amplifies GH output, and the DAC's albumin binding explains the long duration. What's missing is the next link. Raising a hormone on a lab readout is not the same as improving body composition, recovery, sleep, or anything else people take it for. No completed trial has shown that the GH and IGF-1 bump translates into a clinical benefit, and the company that knew the molecule best stopped studying it.

Why people use it

People chase leaner body composition, recovery, and sleep, but no trial shows it delivers these, and chronically high IGF-1 cuts both ways.

Most people who try CJC-1295 are chasing the effects associated with higher growth hormone. These are the reasons they reach for it, not evidence that it delivers:

Body composition — leaner mass and less fat, the headline reason GH-axis compounds get attention.
Recovery and sleep, since GH release is tied to deep sleep and people report dosing before bed to ride the natural nocturnal surge.
An alternative to injecting growth hormone directly, on the logic that prompting your own pituitary is gentler than overriding it.
The Ipamorelin stack specifically, where the two are combined so a GHRH analog and a ghrelin-mimetic push GH release through two different doors at once.

No trial has shown CJC-1295 will improve body composition, recovery, or sleep in people. What it has is real human evidence that it does the upstream thing — it raises GH and IGF-1, durably in the DAC form. Whether that produces the outcomes people want is unproven, and chronically elevated IGF-1 is a double-edged tool, not a free upgrade. It's worth being curious about. It isn't enough to rely on, and it won't replace training, sleep, and nutrition, which move the same outcomes with far more evidence and far less risk.

How to reconstitute CJC-1295

Mix gently with bacteriostatic water; a 5 mg vial in 2 mL gives 2.5 mg/mL, so 10 units on a U-100 syringe is 250 mcg.

Your vial arrives as a small puck of dry powder. Before you can use it, you mix it into a liquid. That step is called reconstitution, and it's the same process used for most research peptides. Many people buy CJC-1295 pre-blended with Ipamorelin in one vial, which doesn't change the mixing steps.

Step 1Start with powderWipe the rubber stopper with an alcohol swab.

Step 2Add bac. waterRun it slowly down the inside wall — never shake.

Step 3Draw your doseThe calculator gives the exact units to draw to.

Wipe the rubber stopper with an alcohol swab first, every time.
Use bacteriostatic water, not plain sterile water and not saline. The trace of benzyl alcohol in it holds back bacteria, which matters because you'll be drawing from the same vial for weeks.
Add the water slowly, running it down the inside glass wall. Don't blast it straight onto the powder.
Don't shake it. Swirl gently and let it dissolve on its own. Shaking foams the solution and can damage the peptide.

A common setup is a 5 mg vial mixed with 2 mL of bacteriostatic water, which gives 2.5 mg/mL. On a U-100 insulin syringe, 10 units is then 250 mcg. For a 5 mg CJC-1295 / 5 mg Ipamorelin blend in the same vial, that one draw delivers 250 mcg of each. The water doesn't change how much peptide is in the vial; it only sets the concentration, which decides how many units you draw. More water means a more dilute mix and a bigger draw for the same dose. You can't ruin it with too much or too little, you only change the draw math, and that's exactly what the calculator handles.

Calculate your exact CJC-1295 reconstitution →

Dose & units

No FDA-approved dose exists; no-DAC is dosed up to three times daily while DAC is dosed once or twice weekly, so confirm your form first.

There is no FDA-approved dose for CJC-1295. Everything below is a range that clinics and online protocols report, not a medical standard, and most of these numbers describe the CJC-1295 + Ipamorelin blend rather than CJC-1295 alone. The two forms — with DAC and without — are dosed on completely different schedules, so confirming which one you have comes before any number. Decide what goes into your body with a licensed provider, not with this page.

Which form sets the schedule

The no-DAC form (Mod GRF 1-29) clears in about half an hour, so reported protocols dose it once to three times a day to land each pulse when it's wanted, often on an empty stomach and before bed. The DAC form stays active for days, so it's dosed roughly once or twice a week instead. Carrying a daily no-DAC dose over to the weekly DAC form, or the reverse, is the easiest way to get this badly wrong.

Typical range

For the no-DAC form and the common blend, reported daily amounts cluster around 100 to 300 mcg of each peptide, with the 250 mcg dose appearing most often. The 2006 human study of the DAC form used weight-based doses, and 30 to 60 mcg per kilogram were the doses it described as best tolerated.

Titration

Reported protocols usually open near the low end, around 100 mcg a day for the first two to four weeks, then move up. Starting low lets the GH flush, head-pressure, and water retention that some people report show up before you've committed to more. There's no medal for starting high.

Cycling

A frequently reported pattern runs the no-DAC blend five days on and two off each week, in blocks of roughly eight weeks on followed by a break of similar length, on the reasoning that the GH axis shouldn't be driven indefinitely. The exact split varies source to source, which itself tells you how soft these numbers are.

On~8 weeks

Off~8 weeks

For the exact mark to draw to on your insulin syringe, don't eyeball it. The calculator turns your vial size, water, and dose into the precise number of units.

Get your exact units →

Storage

Sealed powder keeps for months at room temperature, but a reconstituted vial belongs in the fridge and should be used within 2–4 weeks.

Sealed & drySealed dry powder stays stable for months at room temperature and shrugs off shipping heat before mixing.

ReconstitutedRefrigerate at 2–8 °C in the main compartment and use within about 2–4 weeks; don't freeze, keep out of light, discard if cloudy.

You'll see longer windows quoted for peptide vials. Those figures are beyond-use dates for a sealed, unmixed vial that a compounding pharmacy has stability-tested, and they stop applying the moment you add water. A mixed vial runs on the shorter clock instead, because that's how long the preservative in bacteriostatic water reliably keeps the solution clean once you're drawing from it.

That limit is about contamination, not potency — the peptide itself often stays good well beyond it. Reconstitute with plain sterile water instead of bacteriostatic and you drop to a day or two, since there's no preservative holding bacteria back.

Don't freeze a reconstituted vial, keep it out of direct light, write the mix date on the label, and throw it out if the solution ever turns cloudy or discolored, whatever the date says.

Side effects & safety

Short-term effects are mild GH-spike symptoms, but the 2006 Phase 2 program was halted after a participant died of a cardiovascular event.

The reported short-term side effects are mostly mild and tied to the GH spike itself. That picture comes from the 2006 trials and scattered user reports, not large modern safety studies, so hold it loosely.

Most common: flushing, warmth, or a head-pressure feeling shortly after injecting, plus redness or irritation at the injection site.
Common: water retention, mild swelling or puffiness, tingling or numbness in the hands, headache, and vivid or restless dreams.
Reported with sustained use: increased hunger, joint aches, fatigue, and elevated IGF-1 that can nudge blood sugar in the wrong direction.

Talk to a doctor before you start if you have a history of cancer, diabetes or insulin resistance, or heart disease. Driving IGF-1 up is the whole point of the compound, and IGF-1 is a growth signal that, in theory, could feed tissue you don't want growing. The cardiovascular question is not hypothetical here: the 2006 Phase 2 lipodystrophy program was halted after a participant died of a cardiovascular event. Later accounts report the attending physician attributed that death to pre-existing coronary disease and judged it unrelated to the drug, and one event can't prove causation either way. But it's the reason the most informed people in the room stopped, and it's worth taking seriously.

If you compete, CJC-1295 is banned. WADA lists it under S2.2.4, growth hormone releasing factors, alongside other GHRH analogs, and it's prohibited at all times, both in and out of competition. A positive test is a doping violation.

And the biggest risk here isn't really the molecule. It's whether what's in the vial is actually CJC-1295, in the form the label claims, at the strength stated. With two versions that dose on completely different schedules, a mislabeled DAC-versus-no-DAC vial isn't just a purity problem, it's a dosing hazard. That comes down to where you buy it.

How to vet a source

DAC and no-DAC look identical as powder and are routinely mislabeled, so insist on a COA that names the exact form you intended.

This is an unregulated market, and a real share of independently tested vials come back underdosed, impure, or not even the compound on the label. CJC-1295 carries an extra trap: the with-DAC and without-DAC forms look identical as powder, dose on entirely different schedules, and are routinely confused or mislabeled. A certificate of analysis is the one document that confirms both what's in the vial and which form it is — a third-party lab's report on the actual contents.

A real COA shows

An identity test (usually mass spectrometry) confirming the peptide is what the label says.
A purity figure from HPLC, typically 98% or higher.
A lot or batch number that matches the number printed on your vial.
A named, independent accredited lab and a recent test date.

Walk away if

There’s no COA, or it’s a generic image with no lot number.
The “certificate” comes from the seller instead of a third-party lab.
The lot number doesn’t match your vial, or there isn’t one at all.
It’s a flat image you can’t trace back to the lab that issued it.

That's the standard worth holding any seller to, ours included. Ask for the batch-specific COA before you buy, confirm it names the DAC or no-DAC form you intended, match the lot number to your vial, and don't accept a screenshot in place of a traceable report.

See the Zapify compound catalog →

Common questions about CJC-1295

CJC-1295 with DAC or without DAC — what's the actual difference?

It's the same GHRH backbone with one addition. The DAC (drug affinity complex) binds the peptide to albumin in your blood, turning it into a slow-release depot, so the half-life jumps from about half an hour to roughly 5.8–8.1 days. That changes everything downstream: the no-DAC form (Mod GRF 1-29) is dosed daily and produces short GH pulses like your body's own rhythm; the DAC form is dosed about once or twice a week and holds GH and IGF-1 elevated steadily for days. Don't carry one form's schedule over to the other.

Is CJC-1295 approved or proven to work in people?

No. It's not FDA-approved for any use, and its developer halted clinical trials in 2006 without bringing it to market. It does have more human data than most gray-market peptides — a 2006 study showed it durably raises GH and IGF-1 in healthy adults — but raising those hormones on a lab readout isn't the same as a proven benefit. No completed efficacy trial shows it improves body composition, recovery, or anything else people take it for.

Why is CJC-1295 almost always stacked with Ipamorelin?

They raise growth hormone through two different receptors, so people combine them to push harder than either does alone. CJC-1295 is a GHRH analog that amplifies the size of a GH pulse; Ipamorelin is a ghrelin mimetic that triggers a pulse and does it cleanly, without the appetite spike or cortisol bump of some older secretagogues. Many vendors sell the two pre-blended in a single vial. Neither is FDA-approved, and stacking doesn't change that.

What happened in the original CJC-1295 trials?

ConjuChem ran Phase 2 trials in the mid-2000s, including one for HIV-related lipodystrophy. That program was halted in 2006 after a participant died of a cardiovascular event. Later accounts report the attending physician attributed the death to pre-existing coronary artery disease and considered it unrelated to the drug, but development stopped and the company never restarted it. That's why there's no modern trial data and no FDA pathway — the people who knew the molecule best walked away.

Why bacteriostatic water and not saline or sterile water?

Because you'll be drawing from the same vial across weeks. Bacteriostatic water carries a trace of benzyl alcohol that holds back bacteria between draws; plain sterile water and saline have no preservative. On a multi-dose peptide vial, the professional sources all point the same way: bacteriostatic.

References

This page is for research and educational purposes only. It is not medical advice or a recommendation to use any compound. The dose ranges shown are reported by clinics and research literature, not validated medical standards, and CJC-1295 is not FDA-approved. Talk to a licensed medical provider about anything you put in your body.