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Fat LossLimited human evidence

AOD-9604

Modified fragment (amino acids 176-191) of the C-terminus of human growth hormone. Originally developed by Metabolic Pharmaceuticals as an anti-obesity agent. Failed to meet Phase 2 primary endpoints for weight loss. Repurposed as a research / supplement-market compound; in some jurisdictions classified as a food supplement.

Educational only — not medical advice. SmartPeptide does not prescribe, diagnose, or treat. Always consult a licensed healthcare provider before using any peptide, supplement, medication, or protocol.

What the research shows

AOD-9604 demonstrated lipolytic activity in animal models but FAILED to produce significant weight loss vs. placebo in human Phase 2 trials. Development as an obesity drug was discontinued. Limited preclinical evidence for cartilage repair.

What's still experimental

Any therapeutic claim. The Phase 2 failure is the strongest piece of human evidence and it was negative.

Anecdotal / community reports

Marketed by some clinics + research suppliers as a 'fat burner.' Anecdotal logs report subjective effects that are not supported by the failed Phase 2 trial.

Anecdotal reports are NOT scientific evidence. They reflect personal experience and may not generalize.

FDA approval status

Source: openFDA + DailyMed (NIH/NLM)
No FDA-approved drug label exists for “AOD-9604”. This peptide is not currently approved by the FDA as a finished pharmaceutical product. Any commercial product claiming FDA approval should be treated with suspicion.

Doses studied in research

Source: Published clinical trial

What published trials tested or FDA-approved labels specify. Reporting research facts — not a SmartPeptide recommendation.

Community-anecdotal range — NOT a SmartPeptide recommendation

The doses below are aggregated from research-peptide community forums (Reddit, biohacker discussions). They are NOT supported by clinical trials, NOT FDA-approved, and NOT a SmartPeptide recommendation. Source purity, dose accuracy, and user-reported outcomes are unverifiable. We display this only because the information is publicly available elsewhere — visitors should absolutely consult a licensed clinician familiar with experimental peptides before any use.

Community-anecdotal — not evidence-basedAnti-obesity community forums (note: Phase 2 trial FAILED)
Indication studied: Community-discussed for fat loss (Phase 2 obesity trial showed NO significant weight loss vs placebo)
Typical
250µg
daily, morning fasted · subcutaneous

Most-discussed range

Open calculator
Maximum
600µg
daily, morning fasted · subcutaneous

Higher community range

Open calculator

Notes from the source: IMPORTANT: AOD-9604's Phase 2 obesity trial (Ng et al., 2007) FAILED to produce significant weight loss vs placebo. Anecdotal claims of fat-loss effects are not supported by the only relevant human-trial data.

Important framing: The numbers above are what published trials tested or what FDA-approved labels specify. They are NOT a SmartPeptide recommendation for you. Trial doses come paired with screening, monitoring, and clinician oversight. Always consult a licensed clinician before any peptide use.

How clinicians typically protocol this

Third-party reference · not our recommendation

Dosing phases, cycle lengths, and administration timing as listed in a compounding-pharmacy clinician reference guide. Shown so you can see what a real protocol looks like — and bring informed questions to a licensed clinician.

Third-party protocol referenceCompounding-pharmacy clinician protocol reference (Nov 2025)

Dose numbers, frequencies, and cycle lengths in this panel are extracted from a clinician-facing reference protocol distributed by a US-based compounding pharmacy in November 2025. SmartPeptide has paraphrased all descriptive text and adds no endorsement. Always consult a licensed clinician.

Additional caution for AOD-9604

Phase 2 human trials for AOD-9604 as a weight-loss drug were negative. Read the DosesStudiedPanel above for full context.

Metabolic

Modified fragment of human growth hormone (residues 176–191); the guide positions it for lipolysis.

Protocol phases

Typical
400–600 µg5 days/week
subcutaneous

AM, empty stomach

Cycle length

8–10 weeks on / 4–8 weeks off.

Administration timing

Morning fasted absorption is favored in this protocol.

Reported side effects
May form a gel post-reconstitution — normal, invert to redisperse
Reconstitution calculator Storage & reconstitution guide
Not medical advice. SmartPeptide does not prescribe, diagnose, or treat. The protocol above reproduces dose figures from a third-party clinician reference so you can see what compounding-pharmacy guidance typically looks like — it is not a recommendation for you, and it has not been validated against peer-reviewed dose-ranging trials. Many of these compounds are not FDA-approved for human use. Work with a licensed clinician familiar with peptide therapy before considering anything here.

FDA enforcement & recalls

Live · openFDA Drug Enforcement API
Total actions
2
recalls + withdrawals
Ongoing
1
not yet completed
Class I (serious)
0
health hazard / death risk
  • Class IICompleted· Voluntary: Firm initiated
    FDA record

    Compounded Lyophilized AOD-9604, 3 mg For subcutaneous or intramuscular injection, Rx Only, Compounded by: Innoveix Addison, TX 75001 800-370-1910

    Reason: Lack of Assurance of Sterility

    Jul 9, 2021·Innoveix Pharmaceuticals Inc
  • Class IIOngoing· Voluntary: Firm initiated
    FDA record

    AOD-9604, 1200 MCG/ML, 5 ML vial The Guyer Institute of Molecular Medicine, Indianapolis, IN

    Reason: Lack of Assurance of Sterility: due to concerns with production processes which cannot assure sterility of products intended to be sterile.

    Nov 30, 2020·Advanced Nutriceuticals, LLC
FDA classifications: Class I = reasonable probability of serious adverse health consequences or death. Class II = temporary or medically reversible adverse consequences. Class III = unlikely to cause adverse health consequences.

Mechanism & targets

ChEMBL · UniProt · Open Targets

Molecule (ChEMBL)

View on ChEMBL

Protein targets (UniProt)

  • E3 ubiquitin-protein ligase Jade-2
    Q9NQC1gene: JADE2Homo sapiens· 790 aaReviewed

    Scaffold subunit of some HBO1 complexes, which have a histone H4 acetyltransferase activity (PubMed:16387653). Acts as an E3 ubiquitin-protein ligase mediating the ubiquitination and subsequent proteasomal degradation of target protein histone demethylase KDM1A (PubMed:25018020). Also acts as a ubiquitin ligase E3 toward itself. Positive regulator of neurogenesis (By similarity)

  • Lysine-specific histone demethylase 1A
    O60341gene: KDM1AHomo sapiens· 852 aaReviewed

    Histone demethylase that can demethylate both 'Lys-4' (H3K4me) and 'Lys-9' (H3K9me) of histone H3, thereby acting as a coactivator or a corepressor, depending on the context (PubMed:15620353, PubMed:15811342, PubMed:16079794, PubMed:16079795, PubMed:16140033, PubMed:16223729, PubMed:27292636). Acts by oxidizing the substrate by FAD to generate the corresponding imine that is subsequently hydrolyzed (PubMed:15620353, PubMed:15811342, PubMed:16079794, PubMed:21300290, PubMed:26214369). Acts as a c…

Live research

PubMed · ClinicalTrials.gov · Europe PMC · OpenAlex
PubMed papers
20
total
Human studies
0
MeSH: humans
Clinical trials
0
published
Active trials
0
0 total registered

Europe PMC — 388 additional records

Includes EU/UK studies and PubMed Central full-text articles. Often surfaces research weeks before PubMed indexes it.

Research volume (OpenAlex topic graph)

Total works
1,326
all years
Last 5 years
433
recent activity
Open access
1,289
freely readable
OA share
97%
of all works

Human clinical evidence

Semantic Scholar · AI TLDRs · influence-ranked
Semantic Scholar API is currently rate-limited.

Human-study summaries for “AOD-9604 OR (HGH AND 176-191)” are available on Semantic Scholar but the shared free-tier API quota is exhausted right now. Try refreshing in a few minutes, or check the PubMed and Europe PMC panels above for the same literature.

Research funding & verification

NIH RePORTER · CrossRef DOI registry

Publication landscape

CrossRef · DOI registry
Indexed works (CrossRef)
889,879
all DOIs registered
Retracted papers
0
no retractions on record
Top funders of indexed research
  • National Natural Science Foundation of China11,338 works
  • National Institutes of Health1,710 works
  • National Science Foundation1,586 works
  • National Key Research and Development Program of China1,412 works
  • Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities1,356 works
  • Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology949 works

Funder diversity is a credibility signal. Research concentrated in a single drug company's funding warrants more scrutiny than research funded across NIH, charities, and academic grants.

Preprints — cutting edge

bioRxiv · medRxiv · via Europe PMC

Preprints have NOT been peer-reviewed. They are early research shared by authors before formal validation. Treat findings as preliminary.

Showing 2 of 2 preprints indexed by Europe PMC.

Known risks

Generally low acute toxicity in studied populations. Hyperprolactinemia and theoretical IGF-1-axis effects are minor given lack of GH-receptor activation. Quality of research-chemical supplies varies. Long-term safety in chronic use is poorly characterized.

Reported side effects

Injection-site reactions, occasional headache. Most users tolerate well in short-term anecdotal use.

FDA adverse event reports (FAERS)

Updated quarterly by FDA
No reports found in the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System for “AOD-9604”. This is normal for research-only peptides that are not marketed as FDA-approved drugs.

What requires medical supervision

If considering, work with a clinician familiar with experimental peptides. Be honest about the failed Phase 2 evidence base.

Questions for your clinician

  • Given AOD-9604 failed its Phase 2 obesity trial, what's the rational case for using it?
  • What FDA-approved alternatives should we discuss first?
  • What would change my mind about continuing?

Editorially curated references

Discussions about AOD-9604

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