Sermorelin — questions, answered plainly.

Sermorelin is the C-terminally amidated 29-residue N-terminal fragment of human GHRH — essentially the active core of native GHRH. It was historically FDA-approved as Geref for paediatric growth hormone deficiency.

The originator product (Geref) was discontinued from US distribution in 2008 and is no longer marketed by the original sponsor. Current availability and regulatory status vary by jurisdiction. Clinical use today involves alternative pathways such as compounding.

All three are GHRH-pathway analogues. Sermorelin is the native GHRH(1–29) fragment with C-terminal amidation. Tesamorelin is a longer (44-residue) analogue with an N-terminal trans-3-hexenoyl modification for stability. CJC-1295 adds further stabilising modifications including (in the DAC variant) covalent albumin binding.

Kirk et al. 1994 (Clinical Endocrinology, PMID 7955460; n=18) was an uncontrolled trial in children with idiopathic short stature, reporting increased height velocity from 4.8 to 7.2 cm/year over 12 months of twice-daily sermorelin injections. Larger, modern controlled trials are limited in this indication.

Growth hormone-releasing hormone is an endogenous hypothalamic peptide that stimulates the pituitary to secrete growth hormone. Sermorelin is essentially the active 29-residue N-terminal fragment of GHRH — Grossman 1986 (PMID 2429796) is a foundational review of this biology.

Originator FDA-approved product is no longer marketed in the United States. Foundational paediatric clinical evidence is from small, often uncontrolled, single-centre studies from the 1990s. Modern controlled trials are limited; the compound is referenced in research and historical-clinical contexts.