AOD-9604
Failed for fat loss in human trials.
A piece of the growth-hormone molecule that was developed as an obesity pill in the 2000s. The trials failed and the company dropped it. It is still sold as a fat-loss injection. A , also called hGH fragment 177-191 and Anti-obesity drug 9604.
What the evidence shows
Side effects and risks
Who should avoid it: Athletes, and anyone expecting fat loss: the trials found none.
Athletes: Prohibited at all times (class S2). Named on the current list as a growth-hormone fragment. WADA said in 2013 it had been banned under S0 since 2011. USADA advisory on 2027 WADA list, 2026-10
How it works
- Where it acts
- Thought to mimic the fat-burning tail of growth hormone without raising IGF-1.
- What it changes
- More fat breakdown in animal studies.
- What people notice
- In human trials, no more weight loss than placebo.
How it has been given in studies
By mouth, 0.25 mg to 54 mg a day for up to 24 weeks. Two small early trials gave single doses into a vein. The under-the-skin injections sold online were never tested.
Getting it in the United States
The legal route for AOD-9604
Not FDA-approved and not eligible for pharmacy compounding. Vials sold for research use only are unapproved drugs when marketed for people.
Routes people use for any peptide in the United States
Telehealth prescribing
Online clinics prescribe after a questionnaire, sometimes with no live doctor visit, and mail the drug. FDA moved in February 2026 to restrict mass-marketed compounded copies and claims that they are generic equivalents.
Risk: Thin medical screening. Compounded versions are not reviewed by FDA for quality.
Covers: Approved GLP-1 drugs, compounded semaglutide and tirzepatide
Source: GZERO Media, Apr 2026
Clinical trial enrolment
The only lawful way to get an unapproved peptide drug with medical monitoring. ClinicalTrials.gov lists eligibility, sites and phone numbers. Researchers note recruitment is hard when people can buy the drug on the gray market instead of risking placebo.
Risk: Possible placebo assignment, strict eligibility and travel to a study site.
Covers: Investigational peptide drugs still in development
Source: NIH, finding a clinical trial
Online research-use-only sellers
Many buyers order vials from websites that label peptides for research only while marketing to people. The FDA sent warning letters to such sellers in late 2024. Purity and identity are unverified.
Source: Frier Levitt, Jan 2026
Wellness clinics and compounding pharmacies
Clinics and compounders still supply it although it is not on the list of substances allowed for compounding. Regulators in Ohio have suspended licences over it. The FDA flags immune reaction risk from injected product.
Source: Frier Levitt, Jan 2026
Routes people use for any peptide in the United States
Compounding pharmacy with prescription
A clinician prescribes and a pharmacy compounds. Twelve peptides left the FDA do-not-compound category in April 2026 and a panel backed six in July, but they are not yet formally eligible. Pharmaceutical-grade ingredient is scarce.
Risk: Legal status is unsettled until FDA rulemaking ends. Pharmacies may use research-grade ingredient.
Covers: BPC-157, TB-500, KPV, MOTS-c, Semax, Epitalon and similar
Source: Frier Levitt, Apr 2026
Med spas and weight-loss clinics
Very common. Secret shoppers called 75 clinics and med spas in two states after shortages ended. 92 percent offered compounded semaglutide and 87 percent tirzepatide, often mixed with B vitamins to look custom.
Risk: Four of 23 suppliers lacked sterile compounding licenses and four had disciplinary records.
Covers: Compounded semaglutide and tirzepatide
Source: American Med Spa Association on JAMA Health Forum study, Jul 2026
Concierge and longevity doctors
Cash-pay physicians build peptide plans for wealthy clients. Reporting from San Francisco says some source from overseas channels, domestic research-use-only sellers or the few compounding pharmacies that will supply clinicians.
Risk: A doctor's involvement does not guarantee a pharmaceutical-grade product.
Covers: BPC-157, thymosin alpha-1, Selank, Semax, CJC-1295, ipamorelin, retatrutide
Source: San Francisco Standard, Sep 2025
Cross-border purchase or import
FDA says importing drugs for personal use is illegal in most cases but it may not object to small personal quantities in limited situations. Reporting also describes people travelling to Mexico for injections.
Risk: Packages can be seized. Product origin and cold-chain handling are hard to check.
Covers: Approved prescription peptides sold abroad
Source: FDA, personal importation
Routes people use for any peptide in the United States
Research-chemical websites
Sites sell vials marked for research or not for human consumption, with no prescription. FDA says some ship direct to consumers with dosing directions, and it has sent warning letters. Retatrutide exists only through this route or trials.
Risk: Unknown identity, strength and sterility. No pharmacist or prescriber involved.
Covers: Retatrutide, semaglutide, tirzepatide, BPC-157 and most unapproved peptides
Source: FDA, unapproved GLP-1 drugs page
Direct orders from Chinese factories
Buyers message factory sales agents and pay by crypto or payment app. A minimum order of about ten vials pushes people to buy in bulk and share. A blockchain analysis found US buyers were the largest source of funds.
Risk: Many of the same vendors list fentanyl precursors. Lab reports sent by sellers cannot be verified.
Covers: GLP-1 copies, melanotan II, BPC-157, TB-500, GHK-Cu, epitalon
Source: TRM Labs, Oct 2026
Chat groups and social sellers
Dealers are found through Telegram, WhatsApp, Discord and influencer discount codes. In a May 2026 survey of 1,000 US users, 14.5 percent bought this way and three quarters asked an AI chatbot for dosing.
Risk: 45 percent of social media buyers in that survey reported an emergency or urgent care visit for a reaction.
Covers: Retatrutide and other research-use-only peptides
Source: The Ethos, May 2026
This describes what people do. It is not advice. The decision is yours.
What users report
Recurring themes in public forum posts, unverified and with no comparison group.
Reported benefits
- A few report mild fat loss
Reported problems
- Most notice nothing
- Injection-site irritation
Consistent with the failed trials.
More contextCase reports, what public figures say, videos and articles and the chemistry
Case reports
From journals, regulators and studies of users. One case proves little.
No effecttrial result - 502 people - 2024
The FDA memo cites the largest obesity trial, about 500 people randomised, which found no significant weight loss difference from placebo. The developer ended the obesity program in 2007.
Source: FDA briefing memo, Nov 2024
FDA notes serious events possibly tied to AOD-9604
Harm reportedcase series - 2023
The FDA says it identified serious adverse events that may be associated with AOD-9604 but that causality is unclear. It adds that it has little or no safety information for the proposed routes.
What experts and influencers say
Paraphrased from the linked sources.
Calls the craze unfounded. He found no randomized human trial showing the advertised benefits for any of the unapproved peptides he reviewed, and warns about stacking several at once. He points to animal work in which TB-500 sped up dormant tumor growth and to a theoretical cancer concern with growth-hormone peptides and BPC-157. He treats the GLP-1 drugs as the well-studied exception.
Source: Eric Topol, "The Peptide Craze", Jul 2025, Associated Press, Nov 2025
Eric TopolWebsiteWarns against
In a briefing memo for its compounding advisory committee, found no evidence of effectiveness for obesity and raised concerns about immune reactions, impurities, poor characterization and animal findings in bone and liver.
Source: FDA briefing memo, Nov 2024
US Food and Drug AdministrationSourceWarns against
Stated during the Essendon football scandal that AOD-9604 is banned at all times as an unapproved substance, correcting an Australian Crime Commission report that had said it was not prohibited.
Source: AFL.com.au, 2013
World Anti-Doping AgencySourceWarns against
According to a health law firm review, issued suspension orders and settlements against clinics and distributors found holding AOD-9604 and similar peptides, treating them as unapproved drugs that cannot be compounded.
Source: Frier Levitt, Jan 2026
Ohio Board of PharmacySourceWarns against
Its advisory on the 2027 list says peptides are now named in the non-approved class. It lists BPC-157, TB-500, AOD-9604, GHRPs, ipamorelin and thymosin beta-4 and urges caution with any unnamed peptide.
Source: USADA athlete advisory, 2026-10
Told an Adelaide outlet the six-month obesity trial gave a clear negative answer, that no clinical evidence supports tissue repair claims, and that it is at best a failed anti-obesity drug.
Source: InDaily, May 2013
Gary WittertWebsiteWarns against
Money: Ran the trials for the manufacturer and co-patented it as an antidepressant
Photo source: research.sahmri.org.au
Publicly acknowledged in 2013 that he was given AOD-9604 in the club program. Later one of 34 players banned over thymosin beta-4. In November 2016 the AFL Commission ruled him ineligible for his 2012 Brownlow Medal and awarded it jointly to two other players.
Source: Wikipedia, Essendon supplements saga, 2016
Jobe WatsonInstagramMixed viewSays they used it
Issued show-cause notices to 34 Essendon players over thymosin beta-4 in 2014. Did not pursue AOD-9604 use before April 2013 because its status had been unclear.
Source: Wikipedia, Essendon supplements saga, 2016
Australian Sports Anti-Doping AuthoritySourceWarns against
Coach during the 2012 injection program. The AFL suspended him from any football club role for 12 months from August 2013, as part of agreed penalties over governance failures. Fought the joint investigation in court and lost. Resigned in 2015.
Source: Wikipedia, Essendon supplements saga, 2015
James HirdWikipediaMixed view
Photo source: Totallynotarandomalt69 / CC BY-SA 4.0
The AFL fined the club 2 million Australian dollars and barred it from the 2013 finals over its 2012 injection program. Thymosin beta-4 was the banned substance at the centre. AOD-9604 was also given to players.
Source: Wikipedia, Essendon supplements saga, 2013
Essendon Football ClubSourceWarns againstSays they used it
Watch and read
Explainers, reporting and podcasts worth your time. Summaries are ours. No sellers.
Certain Bulk Drug Substances for Use in Compounding that May Present Significant Safety Risks
FDA
FDA list of compounding substances with safety concerns. AOD-9604 appears among those nominated then withdrawn, with immunogenicity worries and little safety data.
Official regulator view on safety evidence gaps
Amino-acid sequence
Positions 7 and 14 are joined by a disulfide bridge, closing a ring.
Questions people ask
Does AOD-9604 work for fat loss?
The human trials say no. Six company trials covered 893 people, and the largest, a 24-week trial of 502 people, found no weight loss beyond placebo.
Is AOD-9604 safe?
Side effects matched placebo in the trials, which gave it by mouth. Nothing is known about repeated injections, and FDA has identified serious adverse events that may be linked to it, cause unclear.
Were the AOD-9604 injections sold online ever tested?
No. The trials gave it by mouth, and two small early trials gave single doses into a vein. The under-the-skin injections sold online were never tested.
Is AOD-9604 legal?
In the US its nomination for pharmacy compounding was withdrawn. In Australia it is Schedule 4 and Appendix D of the Poisons Standard, so possession without authority is illegal.
Your notebook
Taking it? A ten-second daily check-in keeps a record of how you feel, to talk through with your clinician.
Sources
- Stier et al.: safety summary of six AOD9604 trials
- More & Kenley: no weight loss in the final trial
- FDA: bulk substances that may present significant safety risks
- WADA Prohibited List
Structure: PubChem