What sermorelin is, and why it stopped being sold as a medicine
In short
Sermorelin is the shortest active fragment of growth-hormone-releasing hormone. It was an approved medicine in the United States under the name GEREF, and both of its applications are now listed as discontinued. In children with deficiency, the high dose matched growth hormone on growth velocity but not on every parameter measured.
Sermorelin is growth-hormone-releasing hormone cut down to its first 29 amino acids, with an amidated end. That fragment retains the full activity of the whole hormone, which has 44: hence its use as a manageable synthetic version.
It does not stimulate growth directly. It acts one step earlier: it makes the pituitary release its own growth hormone. That difference explains what happened next.
It was a medicine, and stopped being one
This is not a historical footnote, it is the most informative fact about the compound.
Sermorelin was approved in the United States under the brand name GEREF, under two separate applications. In the US agency's public register, both now carry the status "discontinued" [4]. It is not that it never passed review: it passed, it was marketed, and then it left the market.
What was measured in people, and with what result
The data are from children with growth hormone deficiency, not from healthy adults, and that conditions everything that can be extrapolated.
- Direct comparison with growth hormone. In a randomised trial, 43 prepubertal children with deficiency of hypothalamic origin were split into three groups: low-dose sermorelin, high-dose sermorelin and growth hormone. After six months, growth velocity was lowest in the low-dose group and comparable between the high-dose and the growth hormone groups [2].
- And the part that did not match. In that same trial, the increase in height corrected for bone age occurred only in the growth-hormone-treated group [2]. The two treatments were not equivalent on everything measured.
- Earlier work. Using the releasing hormone to treat deficiency was described as early as 1987 [1], and another comparative study in deficient children was published alongside the one above [3].
What this does not say
None of the above was measured in healthy adults, or against outcomes of body composition, strength or recovery. A compound that partly matches growth hormone in children with a diagnosed deficiency has demonstrated nothing about what it does in a person whose axis works normally.
A 2026 review places sermorelin among the peptides found in the self-administration protocols circulating online, and ranks the whole group by evidence tier against what has actually been published [5].
This page describes published literature. It is not medical information, it does not describe a therapeutic use, and it does not replace any healthcare professional.
What to look at when comparing suppliers
- HPLC purity for the specific batch, with a certificate you can read before buying.
- Identity confirmation: this family contains several analogues of the same hormone with different lengths and modifications, and the trade name does not always separate them.
- Real net content of the vial, not the nominal figure.
References
- [1] Ross R.J. et al. (1987). Treatment of growth-hormone deficiency with growth-hormone-releasing hormone. Lancet. PMID 2879138 View source
- [2] Neyzi O. et al. (1993). Growth response to growth hormone-releasing hormone(1-29)-NH2 compared with growth hormone. Acta Paediatr Suppl. PMID 8329826 View source
- [3] Chen R.G. et al. (1993). A comparative study of growth hormone (GH) and GH-releasing hormone(1-29)-NH2 for stimulation of growth in children with GH deficiency. Acta Paediatr Suppl. PMID 8329830 View source
- [4] Food and Drug Administration (Estados Unidos). GEREF (acetato de sermorelina), expedientes NDA019863 y NDA020443; estado de comercialización: descontinuado. View source
- [5] Dominikowski A. et al. (2026). The emerging landscape of performance-enhancing peptides modulating GH-IGF1 axis. Front Endocrinol. PMID 42395176 View source
This page reports what has been published in the scientific literature about a research molecule. It is not medical information, it does not describe a therapeutic use, and it does not replace any healthcare professional. The product is sold strictly for in vitro research.
