Limited evidenceMetabolic & fat loss

AOD-9604

Q: Did AOD-9604 fail its human trials?

Largely, yes. Obesity trials were run and did not demonstrate the hoped-for weight loss versus placebo. That failure is meaningful evidence.

Q: Why is it still marketed?

Because the market rarely retires a compound for failing trials. The marketing typically cites the mechanism and early work, not the trial outcomes.

Q: Is it at least safe?

The trials reported reasonable short-term tolerability — but tolerability without efficacy is not a reason to use something.

Growth-hormone fragment. Human trials did not show meaningful weight loss.

What it is

A modified fragment of human growth hormone corresponding to its C-terminal region.

What it does

Originally investigated for fat metabolism without the systemic growth effects of full growth hormone.

Does it work?

This one is unusual in that human trials were run — and largely failed to demonstrate the weight-loss benefit hoped for. It is still marketed heavily. Treat historical trial failure as meaningful evidence.

Claims vs data

Each marketing claim, tagged by what the evidence actually supports.

Burns fat without growth-hormone side effects	weak evidence
Failed to beat placebo in human trials	supported

Reference figures

Quoted from published reference material. These are not Peptuity recommendations.

Vial5 mg

Diluent2 ml

Listed dose300 mcg

Units / 1 ml11

Open in the calculator — prefilled →

The evidence, counted

Live counts from Europe PMC and ClinicalTrials.gov.

Publications 26

Randomised trials 0

Clinical trials 0

Registered studies 0

26 publications indexed, 0 registered interventional studies, no randomised controlled trials indexed. Evidence is minimal.

query: "AOD-9604" · checked 2026-08-07

Most-cited literature

Rimonabant for overweight or obesity
Curioni C, André C. · Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2006 · 76 citations
Analytical approaches for the detection of emerging therapeutics and non-approved drugs in human doping controls
Thevis M, Schänzer W. · J Pharm Biomed Anal 2014 · 45 citations
Obesity drugs in clinical development
Halford JC. · Curr Opin Investig Drugs 2006 · 39 citations
Simplifying and expanding the screening for peptides <2 kDa by direct urine injection, liquid chromatography, and ion mobility mass spectrometry
Thomas A, Görgens C, Guddat S, Thieme D, Dellanna F, Schänzer W, Thevi · J Sep Sci 2016 · 36 citations

Regulatory status

Formal, dated regulatory actions.

WADA — Prohibited List 2026

Prohibited in sport — WADA S0 (substance without any health-authority approval)

source →

Common questions

Did AOD-9604 fail its human trials?

Largely, yes. Obesity trials were run and did not demonstrate the hoped-for weight loss versus placebo. That failure is meaningful evidence.

Why is it still marketed?

Because the market rarely retires a compound for failing trials. The marketing typically cites the mechanism and early work, not the trial outcomes.

Is it at least safe?

The trials reported reasonable short-term tolerability — but tolerability without efficacy is not a reason to use something.

Related compounds

FDA approved