Sermorelin
PMID 8329830 reports mean six-month height velocity of 9.2 cm/year in one Sermorelin group (checked: 2026-08-25). The other group reached 9.3 cm/year. Each group had 20 children at the start. The growth-hormone group reached 14.6 cm/year. Its height velocity was higher than both test groups. The p-value was below 0.01. The trial found no significant difference between the two test groups.
What is Sermorelin?
The United States GSRS lists a peptide made of 29 amino acids (checked: 2026-08-25). The base has UNII 89243S03TE and CAS 86168-78-7. It has ATC codes H01AC04 and V04CD03. The second code is for tests of pituitary function.
GSRS lists the acetate on its own. It has UNII 00IBG87IQW and CAS 114466-38-5. It carries the name GEREF and an Orange Book flag. Both forms point to the same peptide.
The accepted human abstract calls the study drug GHRH(1-29)-NH2. This amide maps to CAS 86168-78-7. GHRH(1-29) without the amide is a different indexed substance. Its CAS is 90830-28-7.
→ mod-GRF(1-29) in the register
What did the six-month human trial report?
PMID 8329830 studied 60 children with growth hormone deficiency from the hypothalamus (checked: 2026-08-25). The trial split them at random into three equal groups. Only the abstract could be read. It does not state how many children finished the study. It reports no effect interval.
| Group | People at randomisation | Amount studied | Mean height velocity at six months |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lower amount | 20 | 30 micrograms/kg/day | 9.2 cm/year |
| Higher amount | 20 | 60 micrograms/kg/day | 9.3 cm/year |
| Growth hormone comparator | 20 | 0.1 IU/kg/day | 14.6 cm/year |
These are the amounts used in PMID 8329830. They do not set a Sermorelin dosage for use outside the trial. The study's comparison drug was growth hormone, not ipamorelin.
IGF-I rose at first. It then fell back to its value before the trial.
All 20 children in the higher group formed GHRH antibodies. Nineteen of 20 in the lower group formed them. The abstract reports no GH antibodies. They had almost gone nine months after treatment stopped. Antibody level did not track with height gain.
The abstract reports no serious side effects. Three people in the test groups reported mild irritation at the injection site. Those three people are a side-effect count, not a sample size.
The authors called the study drug "unlikely to be as effective as GH" for growth in these children. That view does not replace the two measured height speeds.
Funding unresolved from available sources. The PubMed record contains no Grant element or PMCID; no paper-level funding statement was available when verified on 2026-08-25.
How strong is the human evidence?
Evidence tier: B. Human work exists, but this page has one older abstract on one use. A 65-record PubMed search found no Phase 3 tag. One record in the wider set was Phase I (checked: 2026-08-25).
Name and code searches found no bound study in ClinicalTrials.gov (checked: 2026-08-25). Four possible records were read. None named the peptide. The EudraCT result is unclear rather than zero.
What is the United States approval history?
The openFDA Drugs@FDA record returns two old Geref files (checked: 2026-08-25). NDA 019863 was approved on 1990-12-28. NDA 020443 was approved on 1997-09-26. Both products are listed as discontinued.
Both files say the products were not withdrawn for safety or effectiveness reasons. That fact does not make either product current. DailyMed returned no current label for the base. A Geref query also returned zero results (checked: 2026-08-25).
What do European product records show?
EU status: unclear. The peptide has no row in the EMA central medicines report dated 2026-08-25. The check used working controls. This central list does not settle whether a national approval exists.
The Swedish product workbook contains one Geref row (checked: 2026-08-25). It lists the base peptide as the active drug. Its ATC code is V04CD03. The product was approved on 1990-03-16. It was removed from the register on 2007-07-31. Its status is Avregistrerad. The row names Serono Nordic AB as holder. It says the product needed a prescription. It also says the product was not narcotic.
The old Swedish entry is not a current approval. The EMA and Swedish files answer two different questions.
Where does Germany name Sermorelin?
Germany's official DmMV 2023 Anlage names the peptide under heading II and category 2.4 (checked: 2026-08-25). The category is Wachstumshormon Releasingfaktoren. It also lists Somatorelin, Tesamorelin, mod-GRF and CJC-1295. This is a name and group in one German list. It is not drug approval or an evidence grade.
What did grey-market vial testing find?
A 2026 preprint used 6,285 lab reports across 14 compounds. It defines abundance as the measured amount as a share of the label claim. Sermorelin had the lowest median abundance in the set at 97.45% (checked: 2026-08-25).
The paper does not print a count for the Sermorelin reports. It gives no wrong-peptide rate for this compound. It gives no purity value for it. It gives no endotoxin or sterility result for it. No rate is worked out from the median.
→ What vial testing can and cannot show
When was Sermorelin first observed outside research?
No sound first month is known. The vial-study window closed in April 2026. The paper gives no first date for this peptide. April is the last possible month in that window, not the first. The register thus keeps first_observed: null (checked: 2026-08-25).
Old approval dates do not show when a grey-market vial was first seen. A paper's date does not show that month either.
What do users report?
Forum archive result: no full first-person thread under Sermorelin, Geref or GHRH (checked: 2026-08-25). This page has no forum quote or group claim.