Mod GRF 1-29 — sold interchangeably as CJC-1295 without DAC — is the tetra-substituted GHRH(1-29) fragment. The single human study published under the CJC-1295 name tested the DAC-bearing version, at doses roughly forty times the amount usually quoted for this peptide, and its central finding depends on the very property the no-DAC molecule does not have. This guide covers what the record does and does not contain, and how to read a purity report. Research-use educational reference only.
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Mod GRF 1-29 Guide: Available Now
Educational use only — not medical advice. This guide summarizes information reported in published research and community practice for educational purposes. It is not medical advice and not a recommendation to use any compound. Any doses, schedules, or combinations shown are examples of what has been reported, not instructions for you. Many peptides described here are research compounds that are not FDA-approved for the uses discussed and may be investigational or restricted. Effects, risks, and legal status vary; individual needs and results vary. Consult a qualified, licensed healthcare professional before making any decision. Do not use this content to diagnose, treat, or dose yourself.
Mod GRF 1-29 at a glance
What it is
The tetra-substituted analog of GHRH(1-29) — the shortest fully active growth-hormone-releasing hormone fragment — without the DAC albumin-binding tag. Mod GRF 1-29, Modified GRF 1-29 and CJC-1295 no DAC all name the same molecule.
Human efficacy evidence
None indexed for the no-DAC form. PubMed contains no human efficacy trial of the tetra-substituted peptide without DAC; the one human CJC-1295 study (Ionescu & Frohman 2006) used the DAC version.
What the human CJC-1295 study actually dosed
60 or 90 mcg/kg as a single injection — about 4,200-6,300 mcg for a 70 kg adult, far above the figure quoted for Mod GRF. The two doses did not differ significantly.
Plasma half-life
No measured value has been published for this peptide. The ~30 minutes commonly quoted is an inference from DPP-IV resistance, not a measurement; for comparison, sermorelin's elimination phase has been measured at about 10.4 minutes.
Regulatory status
Not FDA-approved in any form. Prohibited in sport at all times by WADA under class S2. Research use only.
Educational reference. This page does not publish dose ranges or reconstitution arithmetic.
What it is / mechanism
Mod GRF 1-29 is a synthetic analog of the first 29 amino acids of growth-hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH), the shortest fragment that retains full activity at the pituitary GHRH receptor. It carries four amino-acid substitutions — at positions 2, 8, 15 and 27 — introduced to resist cleavage by dipeptidyl peptidase IV (DPP-IV) and to reduce oxidation and deamidation, giving it more stability in solution than unmodified sermorelin.
That tetra-substituted sequence is the molecule sold under two different names, and the naming split follows commercial history rather than chemistry. ConjuChem's CJC-1295 attached a Drug Affinity Complex (DAC) — a maleimide linker that bonds covalently to cysteine-34 of circulating serum albumin — to this same tetra-substituted GRF(1-29) backbone. Remove the DAC and what remains is Mod GRF 1-29. Suppliers, forums and study write-ups therefore use 'CJC-1295 no DAC' and 'Mod GRF 1-29' interchangeably, even though only one of those labels describes what is actually in the vial.
The mechanism itself is uncontroversial and shared with every GHRH analog: binding the pituitary GHRH receptor raises cyclic AMP in somatotroph cells and triggers release of stored growth hormone, which in turn drives hepatic IGF-1 production. Because the release is of stored hormone into an axis that retains its own negative feedback through somatostatin and IGF-1, a GHRH analog amplifies the pattern of GH secretion rather than overriding it. What separates the two versions of this molecule is not the receptor interaction but how long the peptide stays in circulation to keep engaging it — and that is precisely the difference the DAC creates.
Researched effects
Reported effects in community and research-chemical contexts centre on growth-hormone release and downstream IGF-1: improved sleep quality, recovery and body composition are the usual claims. None of these has been tested in a controlled trial of the no-DAC peptide, and the claims should be read as reports of what people say they experience rather than as measured outcomes.
What has been measured, in the DAC version, is narrower and more specific than the market summary suggests. In healthy men aged 20-40, a single injection of CJC-1295 (with DAC) increased mean GH by 46% and IGF-1 by 45% one week later, with the frequency and magnitude of GH pulses unchanged; what rose sharply — 7.5-fold — was the basal, between-pulse trough. The authors' conclusion was that continuous GHRH stimulation raises trough GH, and that this is what drives the IGF-1 increase. It is a real finding, and it is a finding about sustained exposure. A peptide cleared within an hour cannot produce a sustained trough elevation, so this result does not transfer to the no-DAC form even though the market routinely cites it as though it does.
Evidence & regulatory status
Human evidence for the no-DAC peptide: none indexed. A PubMed search for the tetra-substituted GRF(1-29) analog without DAC returns no human efficacy trial. The compound has never been through a published clinical program under either of its names in the no-DAC form.
The one human CJC-1295 study is a DAC study. Ionescu M, Frohman LA, J Clin Endocrinol Metab 2006;91(12):4792-7 (PMID 17018654) gave healthy men a single injection of 60 or 90 mcg/kg CJC-1295 — the albumin-binding version, half-life stated as 8 days — and sampled GH every 20 minutes overnight before and one week after. Mean GH rose 46% (p<0.01), IGF-1 45% (p<0.001), and trough GH 7.5-fold (p<0.0001), with pulse frequency and amplitude unaltered. No significant difference was observed between the 60 and 90 mcg/kg doses.
What else PubMed holds under 'CJC-1295' is analytical chemistry, not pharmacology. The indexed literature is dominated by doping-control method development: immunoaffinity purification with LC-HRMS/MS in human plasma (PMID 26879649), expanded testing for peptides above 2 kDa (PMID 26382721), an antibody-free ultrafiltration assay for GHRHs in urine at low pg/mL (PMID 35298973), cation-exchange SPE with triple-quadrupole UHPLC-MS/MS for GHRHs in urine (PMID 37806509), magnetic-bead immunopurification comparisons (PMID 32971474), and a confirmation method for CJC-1295 abuse in equine plasma (PMID 30938069). These papers establish that the compound can be detected and identified. They establish nothing about whether it works.
The GHRH(1-29) clinical record belongs to a different molecule. Sermorelin — GHRH(1-29)NH2, without the four substitutions — was an approved product (Geref) with published pharmacokinetics and trial data. Mod GRF 1-29 borrows the plausibility of that record without sharing its chemistry: the substitutions that make it more stable also make it a molecule no clinical program has tested.
Regulatory and sport status: not approved by the FDA or any regulator in either form. GHRH analogs including CJC-1295 are prohibited at all times under the WADA Prohibited List class S2 (peptide hormones, growth factors, related substances and mimetics), which is why so much of the indexed literature is detection methodology. Material sold under these names is for laboratory research only.
Research timeline
Dated milestones taken from the primary records: the molecule's discovery, its first registered human study, the trials that shaped the evidence and the regulatory decisions. Each entry links to the record it comes from.
Hoffmann-La Roche scientists set out why natural GHRH fails: an enzyme cuts it after its second residue, residue 8 rearranges in water and residue 27 oxidises. Their stabilised analogues carry the Gln8, Ala15 and Leu27 changes later found in Mod GRF 1-29, though with a different fix at the start of the chain. PMID 7937325
The human studies sold as evidence for Mod GRF 1-29 tested CJC-1295 with DAC, the albumin-binding version whose long action is the very property this molecule lacks; that record is on the CJC-1295 guide, and no human study of the version without DAC has been published. PMID 16352683
Forensic chemists at the University of Copenhagen analyse powders seized by Danish customs and identify analogues of modified GRF 1-29 and three other growth-hormone secretagogues, each carrying an extra glycine at the start of the chain, a change they say doping tests had to be updated to catch. PMID 30136411
Records checked Oct 4, 2026
Claims at a glance
The claims most often made about this compound, each with the strongest kind of evidence we found for it. The grade says what was studied, not whether the claim is true; the line beside it says what that study showed.
Raises growth hormoneNo study found. No study has given this exact molecule to people or animals. A related GHRH(1-29) analogue, used nightly in 19 older adults, raised night-time growth hormone compared with a placebo period. PMID 9141536
Keeps IGF-1 raised for as long as it is usedNo study found. In the related-analogue trial, IGF-1 rose within two weeks and then drifted back towards baseline by week 16, although use continued. PMID 9141536
Deepens sleepNo study found. Sleep was never measured with this molecule; in the related-analogue trial, questionnaire-rated sleep quality did not change in either sex. PMID 9141536
Burns body fatNo study found. In the related-analogue trial, a body scan showed no fat loss and no change in weight; lean mass rose in the men only. PMID 9141536
Improves skinNo study found. The related-analogue trial found skin slightly thicker in both sexes, measured with callipers at four sites on the hands and forearm. PMID 9141536
Speeds recovery from injuryNo study found. No study of this molecule or its close relatives measured healing; a published analysis of online forums records the claim being made, not tested. PMID 26771670
The reasoning behind each grade, study by study, is in this guide's Benefit & Outcome Review.
Grades checked Oct 7, 2026
A printable reference sheet with the compound's key facts, storage guidance and a vial record comes with All-Access Lifetime.
Half-life & pharmacokinetics
No published pharmacokinetic study reports a measured half-life for the tetra-substituted GRF(1-29) analog without DAC. This is worth stating plainly, because a specific figure — usually 'about 30 minutes' — circulates on essentially every commercial page about this peptide, presented as though it had been measured.
What can be said is where the figure comes from. The four substitutions were introduced to block DPP-IV cleavage, which is the principal route by which native GHRH and sermorelin are degraded, so a longer plasma residence than sermorelin is a reasonable inference. Sermorelin's own pharmacokinetics have been measured: a two-phase profile with an initial phase of about 1.9 minutes and an elimination phase of about 10.4 minutes, against roughly 4.3 minutes for native 44-residue GHRH. A DPP-IV-resistant analog of that molecule plausibly persists somewhat longer. 'Somewhat longer than 10.4 minutes' is the honest statement; '30 minutes' is a number with no study behind it.
The contrast with the DAC version is the part that matters for reading the literature. CJC-1295 with DAC is described at a half-life of about 8 days, because it is covalently tethered to serum albumin. That is not a modest difference in duration — it is the difference between a peptide that produces a transient pulse and one that produces the continuous stimulation whose effect on trough GH the 2006 study actually measured. Any claim about Mod GRF that is sourced to that study is a claim about a molecule with a half-life three orders of magnitude longer.
Reported side effects & toxicology
Reported effects in community contexts are the ones common to GHRH analogs: injection-site redness or itching, transient flushing or head-rush shortly after injection, water retention, tingling or numbness in the hands, hunger, and lethargy. In the published human CJC-1295 work the safety observations relate to the DAC-bearing molecule and to single injections in healthy young men, so they cannot be read as a safety profile for repeated use of the no-DAC form.
The honest summary is that no controlled safety data exist for this peptide as sold. Absence of reported harm in forum use is not a safety finding — it is the absence of systematic collection. The concerns recorded for sustained GH and IGF-1 elevation apply to this axis as a class.
Storage & handling
Lyophilized vials are described as stored refrigerated at about 2-8 C and protected from light; the sealed powder is the stable form, and the four substitutions were chosen partly for stability in solution rather than in powder.
After reconstitution, refrigerate at about 2-8 C, protect from light, do not freeze, and avoid shaking. Community handling reports generally describe use within two to four weeks of reconstitution; no stability study of this peptide in bacteriostatic water has been published, so that interval is practice rather than data.
Bacteriostatic water is the diluent these figures assume — the benzyl alcohol is what makes a multi-dose vial a multi-dose vial rather than a single draw.
References
Primary sources for this guide, last verified 2026-08-13. Human CJC-1295 pharmacodynamics: Ionescu M, Frohman LA. Pulsatile secretion of growth hormone (GH) persists during continuous stimulation by CJC-1295, a long-acting GH-releasing hormone analog. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2006;91(12):4792-7. PMID 17018654. Analytical and doping-control literature indexed under CJC-1295: PMID 26879649 (immunoaffinity purification and LC-HRMS/MS in human plasma), PMID 26382721 (expanded test method for peptides >2 kDa), PMID 35298973 (antibody-free ultrafiltration assay for GHRHs in urine), PMID 37806509 (cation-exchange SPE with UHPLC-MS/MS for GHRHs in urine), PMID 32971474 (magnetic-bead immunopurification comparison), PMID 30938069 (confirmation of CJC-1295 in equine plasma). Sermorelin pharmacokinetics used for the half-life comparison are cited in full on the Medibact sermorelin guide. A PubMed search for a human efficacy trial of the tetra-substituted GRF(1-29) analog without DAC returned no result on the verification date; that absence is reported here as a finding rather than filled with a figure.
Evidence File
The Mod GRF Evidence File
The free guide names one human study, and its thesis is right. The record around that thesis is larger than the free page implies, and three public databases each hold something it does not mention. This module reads every dataset ever published in which this molecule family was given to human subjects, traces each circulating number back to the paper it came from and reports what that paper actually said, names the exact PubMed and registry queries that establish where the evidence for the untagged molecule stops, and follows what the sponsor did with its platform after the programme ended.
3 datasets gave the compound to humans, every one the tagged molecule
0 registered studies of the untagged peptide, in any status
The human record is three datasets, not one
The 120-patient trial that was never reported
Three published half-lives for one molecule
Four market figures, traced to the paper each came from
Where the untagged evidence stops: the exact queries
The dosing-frequency experiment was run, in mice, and it points the wrong way
What the community protocol is, from a peer-reviewed source
The pipeline, and what a finished GHRH programme looks like
8 more sections in the Evidence File for Mod GRF 1-29
Unlock the Evidence File, Sourcing File and Benefit & Outcome Review for Mod GRF 1-29 for $14 — or every compound in the library, plus the printable reference sheets, for $99.
The sections above this one stay free to read without an account.
Sourcing File
The Mod GRF Sourcing File
This compound has a verification problem that is specific to it and that no ordinary certificate addresses, and a second one that starts in the public chemistry database a laboratory would consult to check its work. This module fixes the identity numbers from PubChem and the FDA substance registry, recomputes every mass from the elemental formula, works through the adulteration mode documented in customs-seized material and three others with the arithmetic to catch each, computes what a salt load does to the amount actually drawn, and reads a certificate line by line with a verdict on every field.
0.0000 Da: the mass change of the substitution the molecule exists for
+57.0215 Da: the adulterant documented in customs-seized material
4.28 mg of peptide in a vial labelled 5 mg
2 opposite molecules named on 1 public database record
Two molecules, three masses, and the one field that cannot lie
The public database record itself is a mislabelling source
The substitution mass spectrometry cannot see
Four failure modes, with the arithmetic to catch each
Salt arithmetic: what a vial labelled 5 mg actually contains
A certificate read line by line, with the verdicts
6 more sections in the Sourcing File for Mod GRF 1-29
Unlock the Evidence File, Sourcing File and Benefit & Outcome Review for Mod GRF 1-29 for $14 — or every compound in the library, plus the printable reference sheets, for $99.
The sections above this one stay free to read without an account.
Benefit & Outcome Review
The Mod GRF Benefit and Outcome Review
None of this is evidence about Mod GRF 1-29 itself, because no study has ever given the molecule to a human, an animal or a cell. Every marketed claim therefore has to be adjudicated on borrowed evidence, and the only honest way to do that is to say exactly how far each loan travels. This module sorts the record into three strict tiers, then works claim by claim through two nightly-injection trials of the closest published relatives, neither of which the free guide cites: months of dosing, absorptiometry body composition, quality-of-life scoring, and results that go several different ways.
0 studies in which this molecule itself was given to a human, an animal or a cell
19 subjects, 16 weeks: the closest placebo-controlled trial in the class
Week 16: IGF-1 back toward baseline with nightly dosing still running
2 nightly-injection trials measured fat by absorptiometry; neither moved it
Three tiers, and the first one is empty
Growth hormone: the mechanism is not in doubt, the dose response is missing
IGF-1 rises, and then it comes back down while dosing continues
Sleep: measured in the closest trial, and null
Body composition: two absorptiometry datasets, and neither found fat loss
Skin, well-being and insulin sensitivity: where the borrowed evidence is positive
Recovery, saturation and safety: three claims with nothing underneath them
The through-line nobody prints: sex
8 more sections in the Benefit & Outcome Review for Mod GRF 1-29
Unlock the Evidence File, Sourcing File and Benefit & Outcome Review for Mod GRF 1-29 for $14 — or every compound in the library, plus the printable reference sheets, for $99.
Quick answers about guide scope, access, and educational use context.
Is Mod GRF 1-29 the same thing as CJC-1295 no DAC?
Yes. They are two names for the same tetra-substituted GHRH(1-29) analog. The naming follows commercial history: CJC-1295 was the ConjuChem product built by attaching a Drug Affinity Complex to this backbone, so 'CJC-1295 without DAC' describes the backbone on its own. Only 'Mod GRF 1-29' actually describes what is in the vial.
Is there a human study of Mod GRF 1-29?
Not for the no-DAC form. PubMed indexes no human efficacy trial of the tetra-substituted peptide without DAC. The one human study published under the CJC-1295 name (Ionescu & Frohman 2006, PMID 17018654) used the DAC-bearing version, and its central finding — a 7.5-fold rise in trough GH from continuous stimulation — depends on the 8-day half-life the no-DAC peptide does not have.
What dose did the human CJC-1295 study actually use?
60 or 90 micrograms per kilogram as a single injection — roughly 4,200 to 6,300 mcg for a 70 kg adult, and about forty to sixty times the 100 mcg figure the market quotes for Mod GRF. The two doses produced no significantly different response.
Where does the Mod GRF 'saturation dose' come from?
Not from a trial of this peptide. It is a community figure. The nearest published anchor is the observation that 60 and 90 mcg/kg of the DAC version did not differ, which is a plateau at doses far larger than the community figure, in a different molecule. It is not a measured saturation point and should not be cited as one.
What is the half-life of Mod GRF 1-29?
No published study measures it. The '30 minutes' figure that appears on most commercial pages is an inference from DPP-IV resistance rather than a measurement. Sermorelin, the unsubstituted parent, has a measured elimination phase of about 10.4 minutes, so a modestly longer figure is a reasonable expectation — but it remains an expectation.
What does a Mod GRF 1-29 test report or COA actually tell you?
Less than most buyers assume, and more than nothing. An HPLC-UV purity figure is an area percentage of what elutes under that method — it says how much of the detected material is the main peak, not what that peak is. Mass spectrometry is what establishes identity: the four substitutions change the molecular mass, so a correct mass measurement does distinguish Mod GRF 1-29 from unmodified GRF(1-29). Neither measurement addresses potency, sterility, endotoxin, or residual solvents, and neither can tell you the vial you received is the vial that was tested unless the batch reference on the report matches the batch on your vial. How to read the fields is covered on our peptide certificate of analysis guide.
Why is most of the published CJC-1295 literature about urine testing?
Because GHRH analogs are prohibited in sport at all times under WADA class S2, and the research effort has gone into detecting them. The indexed papers are method-development work — immunoaffinity purification with high-resolution mass spectrometry, antibody-free ultrafiltration assays, cation-exchange extraction, and an equine plasma confirmation method. They demonstrate that the compound is identifiable in a biological sample. They say nothing about efficacy.
Is Mod GRF 1-29 legal or approved?
It is not approved by the FDA or any other regulator, in either the DAC or no-DAC form. It is sold as a research chemical for laboratory use only, and it is prohibited in sport at all times under WADA class S2. Nothing on this page is a recommendation for use in humans.
Compliance and trust notes
Educational content only; no personalized health or outcome claims.
No personalized use recommendation outputs.
Use this material for general learning and research-context literacy.
A certificate of analysis (COA) is a laboratory’s report on one sample of one batch. The single most useful thing to know about it is that purity and identity are two separate results that fail in different ways. A high purity figure says the sample was mostly one substance; it does not say that substance was Mod GRF 1-29. Identity — normally a mass-spectrometry result matching the expected molecular weight — is what establishes what the material actually is, and a certificate reporting purity alone has not answered that question.
Two further limits are worth holding onto. Mass per vial is its own test: a vial can be 99% pure and still contain less material than the label claims. And sterility, endotoxin, heavy metals and residual solvent screening are separately commissioned tests, usually priced individually — so a “third-party tested” badge asserts none of them unless the certificate names them. Check that the batch or lot number on the document matches the vial in front of you; an unmatched certificate describes someone else’s material.
Specific to Mod GRF 1-29
Mod GRF 1-29 and CJC-1295 without DAC are the same molecule sold under two names, so a certificate may legitimately carry either heading. What it must not be confused with is the DAC form, which is a different molecule with a different mass — check that the reported molecular weight matches the form you ordered rather than assuming the product name settles it.
Medibact does not test, endorse or resell peptides, and publishes no rating of any laboratory. How to read a peptide certificate of analysis walks through the document section by section, and what each COA field establishes covers the field-by-field detail and the laboratories that publish their methods.
You’ll need bacteriostatic water
The diluent for reconstituting Mod GRF 1-29
Reconstitution is volume arithmetic — it assumes a lyophilized vial is dissolved in bacteriostatic water, which is sterile water preserved with 0.9% benzyl alcohol. The preservative is what allows a vial to be entered more than once; plain sterile water carries none and is single-entry by design. Medibact supplies USP-grade Bacteriostatic Water for Injection in a 30 mL multi-dose vial, made in the United States and shipped from the United States, for research use only. One 30 mL vial covers 30 reconstitutions at 1 mL each, 15 at 2 mL, or 10 at 3 mL — division only, not a dosing recommendation.
Educational use only — not medical advice. This guide summarizes information reported in published research and community practice for educational purposes. It is not medical advice and not a recommendation to use any compound. Any doses, schedules, or combinations shown are examples of what has been reported, not instructions for you. Many peptides described here are research compounds that are not FDA-approved for the uses discussed and may be investigational or restricted. Effects, risks, and legal status vary; individual needs and results vary. Consult a qualified, licensed healthcare professional before making any decision. Do not use this content to diagnose, treat, or dose yourself.
