AOD-9604 vs Tesamorelin: Research Comparison

AOD-9604 is a synthetic peptide made of the last 15 amino acids of human growth hormone (positions 177 to 191) with an extra tyrosine at the start. Its exact target is not known. In cell tests it did not bind the growth hormone receptor or drive cell growth as growth hormone does, and in obese rodents it changed markers of fat breakdown and fat synthesis (Heffernan et al., 2001). It is often described as acting on beta-3 adrenergic receptors, but the mouse study usually cited concluded it does not act on that receptor directly. Tesamorelin is a synthetic analogue of GHRH with a hexenoyl group attached, which makes it resistant to the enzyme DPP-4 (Ferdinandi et al., 2007). It binds the GHRH receptor in the pituitary and triggers the body's own growth hormone release, which raises IGF-1. In 2010 the US FDA approved it for one use in adults with HIV-associated lipodystrophy, based on two phase 3 placebo-controlled trials (Falutz et al., 2007 and 2010). It is not licensed in the UK or EU; the European application was withdrawn in 2012. On human data: AOD-9604 entered phase 2 trials in the early 2000s (Wilding, 2004), but we found no peer-reviewed report of the results. Tesamorelin has published phase 3 trials in one patient group, people with HIV.