Is AOD9604 a peptide?

Technically yes - it is a 15-amino-acid fragment of HGH. Marketing-wise it gets grouped with peptides, but it has none of the growth-promoting activity of full-length HGH. It is a lipolytic fragment, not a growth fragment.

Will it suppress my own HGH?

No. It does not bind the GH receptor in the feedback loop. That is part of the safety pitch - and probably also part of why the lipolytic effect is so modest in vivo.

Why did the trials fail?

The Phase 2 obesity trials missed their primary weight-loss endpoint. The mechanism worked in isolated cells, but the in-vivo signal in humans was not strong enough to justify Phase 3 spend. The sponsor pivoted to a food-supplement framing in Australia.

Worth running it solo?

Probably not. If you are already training fasted and eating in a deficit, the marginal effect of AOD is unlikely to be visible. If you are not doing those things, no peptide will compensate.

There is an oral lozenge formulation approved as a food supplement in Australia, but oral bioavailability of a 15-amino-acid peptide is poor. Subcutaneous is the route used in the actual trials.

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Fat lossBeginner-friendly

AOD9604

Also known as: Anti-Obesity Drug 9604

A short fragment of human growth hormone (residues 177-191) that was sold the lipolytic tail of HGH without the growth signal. The marketing outpaced the trial data by a wide margin.

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⚠MeinePeptide is an educational resource. Information here is not medical advice and is not a substitute for consultation with a qualified clinician.

Overview

AOD9604 is a 15-amino-acid tail-end of HGH that Metabolic Pharmaceuticals took into Phase 2 obesity trials in the 2000s. The pitch was elegant: keep the fat-burning bit of growth hormone, strip the IGF-1 arm, and you get a lean-out tool with none of the carpal tunnel or glucose problems. The trials missed their primary endpoint. The company shelved the obesity programme, the molecule got rebranded as a research peptide, and the surviving anecdotal use is mostly people who tried it once, felt nothing dramatic, and moved on. It is also worth saying out loud: AOD has TGA approval in Australia as a food supplement adjunct, which is not the same thing as efficacy data.

Evidence quality

Limited human data

Metabolic Pharmaceuticals ran Phase 2a and 2b obesity trials in the early 2000s; the published data showed weight changes that did not separate convincingly from placebo at 12 and 24 weeks. The lipolytic mechanism is real in isolated adipocyte preparations. The translation to clinically meaningful fat loss in vivo is what the human data did not deliver. Anything you read selling AOD9604 as a fat-burner is selling the mechanism, not the trial results.

Benefits & timeline

Benefits

Mild support for fat oxidation when paired with fasted morning training
No appetite suppression and no growth-hormone-like side effects (no carpal tunnel, no insulin sensitivity issues at clinical doses)
Daily microdosing is well tolerated; injection-site reactions are uncommon
Reasonable adjunct in a stack with appetite-suppression tools like Semaglutide where the lipolytic arm is genuinely missing

Timeline

Week 1-2
Nothing felt subjectively. Do not expect a stimulant-like edge.
Week 4
If anything is happening, it shows up as a slightly easier fasted cardio session, not on the scale.
Week 8
The honest checkpoint. If the tape measure has not moved, more weeks will not fix it.
Week 12
End of standard cycle. Stop and reassess.
Off-cycle
4 weeks off. Most users do not feel a regression because the effect was modest to begin with.

Dosage protocols

Advanced

1000 mcg

daily AM, fasted

Routesubcut

12 weeks on / 4 weeks off

Beginner

250 mcg

daily AM

Routesubcut

8 weeks on / 4 weeks off

Standard

500 mcg

daily AM, fasted

Routesubcut

12 weeks on / 4 weeks off

Titration & adjustment

Most users start at the standard 250–300 mcg dose from day one — there is no GI titration to manage. If injection-site irritation appears, halve the dose for a week and then resume full dose. No taper required when stopping; effect simply fades over ~1–2 weeks.

Injection timing

Best dosed in the morning on an empty stomach (at least 30 minutes before food). Lipolysis is most active during the fasted state, so AM dosing pairs well with morning fasted cardio. Do not stack with high-carb breakfast within 30 minutes of injection — insulin spikes blunt the effect.

Side effects & contraindications

mildOccasional injection-site redness for an hour or two.
mildSome users report transient headache in the first few days; usually resolves without dose change.
moderateThe original Phase 2 obesity trial missed its primary efficacy endpoint. The compound was abandoned for that indication, which is itself a side-effect of the evidence base you should weigh.

Contraindications

Pregnancy or breastfeeding - no data
Pediatric use - no data and no plausible indication
Active malignancy - while AOD lacks the IGF-1 arm of HGH, residual proliferative signalling has not been ruled out in humans
Severe insulin resistance - not because AOD causes it, but because the population that wants AOD is often the population that needs a GLP-1, not this

Reconstitution & injection

Standard vial is 5 mg. Mix with 2 ml bacteriostatic water to give 2.5 mg per ml. A 250 mcg dose is 0.1 ml, which is 10 units on a U-100 insulin syringe. Subcutaneous into the abdomen, morning fasted. Refrigerate after reconstitution; the peptide is reasonably stable for 4 weeks in BAC water at fridge temperature.

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Storage after reconstitution

Refrigerate at 2–8 °C after reconstitution. Do not freeze. Light-protected. AOD9604 (HGH 176-191 fragment) is less stable than full-length somatropin in solution — usable potency is realistically 2–3 weeks at fridge temperature. Mix smaller batches if you dose infrequently; do not over-dilute and stretch one vial across 6 weeks.

Common mistakes

Expecting Semaglutide-grade results from AOD9604.
Better approach: These two are in different leagues. If your goal is meaningful weight loss, the GLP-1 incretins are the tool. AOD is at best a marginal adjunct in a stack already doing the heavy lifting through diet and training.
Dosing AOD with a high-carb breakfast right after the injection.
Better approach: Insulin blunts lipolysis. The whole point of the morning fasted dose is to ride the body's own catecholamine-driven fat-burning window. Inject, do 30-45 minutes of low-intensity cardio fasted, then eat.
Running it for 24 weeks at a time hoping the effect builds.
Better approach: There is no evidence that longer cycles produce bigger results. Stick to 8-12 weeks on, 4 weeks off. If the scale has not moved by week 8, the molecule is not the bottleneck.
Treating the 500 mcg or 1 mg doses as obviously better than 250 mcg.
Better approach: The dose response is shallow in the trial data. 250-300 mcg daily is the most-studied range. Going higher rarely improves outcomes and just burns through vials faster.

Real-world tips

Inject before fasted cardio, not after. Lipolysis is most active during the catecholamine-rich early-morning fasted state.
Keep a tape measure and a weekly photo log. AOD's effect, if present, is subtle and you will gaslight yourself either way without objective markers.
Do not stack with high-stim pre-workouts in the same hour - they don't conflict mechanistically, but you will not be able to tell what is doing what.
Rotate injection sites across the lower abdomen. The molecule is gentle but local lipoatrophy from repeated same-site injections has been reported with other peptides.
If you are also on Semaglutide or Tirzepatide, AOD is at best a small percentage on top. Do not budget it as a primary tool.

When something else is the better tool

Semaglutide or Tirzepatide
Use instead when: Your goal is clinically meaningful weight loss. The GLP-1 incretins have Phase 3 data showing 15-20 percent body weight reduction. AOD has Phase 2 data showing a non-significant trend. The two are not in the same conversation.
Fasted morning cardio with no peptide
Use instead when: Honestly, for most users. The behavioural change of consistent fasted training delivers more reliable fat loss than AOD ever did in trials. Add the peptide only if you are already doing the boring work and want to test a marginal lever.
Tesamorelin
Use instead when: The fat you want to lose is specifically visceral. Tesamorelin has FDA approval for visceral adiposity in HIV-associated lipodystrophy with real outcome data. Different mechanism, different evidence quality, different price.

Is AOD9604 a peptide?: Technically yes - it is a 15-amino-acid fragment of HGH. Marketing-wise it gets grouped with peptides, but it has none of the growth-promoting activity of full-length HGH. It is a lipolytic fragment, not a growth fragment.
Will it suppress my own HGH?: No. It does not bind the GH receptor in the feedback loop. That is part of the safety pitch - and probably also part of why the lipolytic effect is so modest in vivo.
Why did the trials fail?: The Phase 2 obesity trials missed their primary weight-loss endpoint. The mechanism worked in isolated cells, but the in-vivo signal in humans was not strong enough to justify Phase 3 spend. The sponsor pivoted to a food-supplement framing in Australia.
Worth running it solo?: Probably not. If you are already training fasted and eating in a deficit, the marginal effect of AOD is unlikely to be visible. If you are not doing those things, no peptide will compensate.
Can I oral-dose it?: There is an oral lozenge formulation approved as a food supplement in Australia, but oral bioavailability of a 15-amino-acid peptide is poor. Subcutaneous is the route used in the actual trials.

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