What is the difference between CJC-1295 with and without DAC?

The Drug Affinity Complex binds the peptide to albumin in the blood, extending its half-life from around thirty minutes to roughly a week. The short form produces a GH pulse; the DAC form produces sustained elevation. They are sold under the same name — dosed on scales that differ about tenfold — and are not interchangeable.

Why is CJC-1295 usually discussed alongside ipamorelin?

They act on different receptors that both feed into growth hormone release: GHRH and ghrelin. Amplifying two separate inputs produces a larger pulse than either alone. The mechanistic argument is sound; no trial has tested the combination for any outcome.

Is Modified GRF (1-29) the same thing?

It is the same 29-amino-acid backbone as CJC-1295 without DAC, and the names are used more or less interchangeably by sellers. If a vial does not clearly state whether it contains DAC, you cannot dose it confidently.

Muscle & performanceAnti-aging & longevity

CJC-1295

Modified GRF (1-29) · CJC-1295 no DAC · Sermorelin analogue

Early human trialsProhibited in sportReviewed 12 Aug 2026

CJC-1295 is a modified fragment of growth hormone releasing hormone. Where ipamorelin acts on the ghrelin receptor, this acts on the GHRH receptor, the pituitary's primary release input, so the two are frequently paired.

The naming around it is genuinely confusing and worth getting straight before buying anything. **CJC-1295 with DAC** carries a Drug Affinity Complex that binds it to albumin, extending its half-life to roughly a week and producing a sustained elevation in GH. **CJC-1295 without DAC** — often sold as Modified GRF (1-29) — lasts around thirty minutes and produces a pulse. These are marketed under one name and behave completely differently.

That distinction matters more than most things on this site, because the sustained form abolishes the pulsatile GH pattern that the whole class is otherwise argued to preserve. Someone choosing this compound for its 'natural' release profile and buying the DAC version has bought the opposite of what they wanted.

How it works

GHRH binds its receptor on the pituitary and prompts growth hormone release. CJC-1295 is a modified version of the first 29 amino acids of GHRH, the active portion, with substitutions that resist the enzyme that would normally break it down within minutes.

Because it amplifies an existing signal rather than bypassing it, the pituitary's own regulatory feedback stays partly intact. This is the argument for GHRH analogues over injected growth hormone, and it holds for the short-acting form.

The DAC version changes the picture. A week-long half-life means continuous receptor stimulation rather than pulses, and continuous stimulation of a system built around pulses is a meaningfully different intervention.

Quick reference

Commonly described dose: 100 mcg–300 mcg
How often: One to three times daily
Route: Subcutaneous
Where: Abdomen, Thigh, Upper arm
Timing: The short-acting form is commonly described on an empty stomach, since food blunts the GH response.
Half-life: About 30 minutes without DAC; about 6–8 days with DAC
Storage once mixed: Refrigerated, 30 days
Cycle: 8 to 12 weeks on, 4 weeks off

These describe what sources report, not what you should do. Full detail and provenance in the dosing section below.

Price index

Per-milligram pricing across vendors arrives with the directory. We are recording prices now so the history exists when the page ships.

Vocabulary on this page

GHRH analogue: A synthetic version of the hormone that tells the pituitary to release growth hormone. One of the two receptor routes into a growth hormone pulse.
Duration of action: How long an effect lasts. This is not the same as half-life and often much longer.
Half-life: The time it takes for half of a compound to be cleared from the body.
Vial: The small sealed glass container a peptide is sold in, holding a stated mass of freeze-dried powder under a rubber stopper.
Injection site: Where on the body an injection is given. Rotating between sites is standard practice for anything given repeatedly.
Peptide: A short chain of amino acids: the same building blocks as a protein, in a chain short enough to behave differently.

The whole glossary →

Regulatory status — United States

Not approved for human use in the United States. The FDA has identified CJC-1295 as a substance raising concerns for use in compounded preparations. Sold only as a research chemical.

Last reviewed 12 Aug 2026. Regulatory positions in this category change frequently; we date this line so you can see how current it is.

What 'research chemical' actually means on a peptide vial

What it is studied for

Each entry states the evidence behind it. We do not rank indications by effectiveness — for most compounds here, that would be a claim nobody can support.

Growth hormone release

Published review

Raises GH by amplifying the pituitary's own release signal.

EvidenceEarly human pharmacology demonstrating raised GH and IGF-1. Outcome trials in healthy adults do not exist.

Identity and clearance

Molecule

Class: GHRH analogue
Molecular weight: 3647.2 Da
Length: 29 amino acids

Modified GRF (1-29) is the same 29-amino-acid backbone without the DAC. The two are sold under overlapping names and are not interchangeable.

Pharmacokinetics

Published review

Half-life0.5 h

Substantially cleared3 h

Modelled from the half-life above, assuming first-order elimination. Illustrative rather than measured — it shows the shape of clearance, not a prediction for any individual.

These figures are for the non-DAC form. With DAC the half-life is roughly six to eight days. That is a difference of well over a hundredfold, under the same product name.

Dose protocols reported in sources

Displayed for reference only. Every row says where it came from, and a trial protocol and a community convention are not the same kind of information. None of this is fed into the calculator, and none of it is a recommendation.

Dose protocols reported in sources, with the source of each.
Goal	Dose	Frequency	Route	Units, 2 mg vial	Source	Start this protocol
Non-DAC, commonly described	100 mcg – 300 mcg	One to three times daily	SubcutaneousShort-acting. Frequently paired with a ghrelin receptor agonist in the same injection.	10–30 u	Community practice	Start this
With DAC, commonly described	1 mg – 2 mg	Once or twice weekly	SubcutaneousLong-acting. Doses and frequency are not comparable to the non-DAC form. Confusing the two is a large dosing error in either direction.	from 100 u	Community practice	Start this

Start this copies a row into a protocol of your own, which you can then edit. Where a source gave a dose range or an ambiguous frequency, those fields arrive empty — we will not pick a number on your behalf.

CheckRows marked community practice describe what people commonly do, drawn from public discussion. They are not derived from any trial and are not evidence that a dose is safe or effective.

Cycling

Community practice

8 to 12 weeks on, 4 weeks off.

A community convention rather than a tested schedule.

Calculator

Work out what to draw

Pre-filled with a 5 mg vial as a worked example. These are not recommended values — change them to match the vial in front of you.

Draw to 4 units on a 1 mL U-100 syringe. That is 0.04 mL, containing 100 mcg of CJC-1295.

Concentration2.5mg / mL

Volume drawn0.04mL

Doses per vial50doses

Per unit25mcg / unit

4 units sits exactly on a printed line.

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Bioalmanac performs arithmetic on values you enter. It does not recommend doses, schedules or compounds, and nothing here is medical advice. Confirm every calculation against your vial and syringe before drawing, and speak with a licensed healthcare provider.

Open this calculation in the full calculator

Units, concentration, bacteriostatic water — the glossary defines the vocabulary, and a unit is not a fixed volume.

Safety

Reported effects

Injection site redness or itchingCommunity practice
Commonly reported
Flushing shortly after injectionCommunity practice
Commonly reported
Water retention, tingling or numbness in the handsCommunity practice
Occasionally reported
More frequently described with the DAC form, consistent with sustained rather than pulsed GH elevation.
Headache and fatigueCommunity practice
Occasionally reported
Effects of sustained GH elevationCommunity practice
Unknown
Particularly relevant for the DAC form, which produces continuous rather than pulsatile elevation. Not studied.

When to stop

Persistent numbness, tingling or wrist pain, which can indicate fluid-related nerve compression.
Noticeable swelling of the hands, feet or face.
Unusual thirst, frequent urination or blurred vision, which can indicate raised blood glucose.
Any new lump or growth. Raised IGF-1 promotes cell proliferation, so investigate it instead of watching it.
Any allergic response: rash, hives, facial swelling or difficulty breathing. Seek urgent care.

Interactions and situations that need care

Active or previous cancerAvoid
Raising growth hormone raises IGF-1, which promotes cell growth and survival. This is contraindicated in active malignancy for growth hormone therapy, and the same reasoning applies to anything that raises GH deliberately.
Diabetes or impaired glucose toleranceUse caution
Growth hormone opposes insulin and raises blood glucose, working directly against glycaemic management.
Pregnancy and breastfeedingAvoid
No reproductive or developmental safety data.
Competing in a tested sportAvoid
Prohibited at all times under WADA's S2 category.

SportProhibited by the World Anti-Doping Agency under S2: Peptide Hormones, Growth Factors and Related Substances, at all times.

What to expect

HonestlyThere is no human efficacy data for this compound, so there is no evidence-based timeline to give. Any site publishing a week-by-week schedule of expected effects has invented it.

Raised GH and IGF-1 are measurable. Whether that produces a change you would notice is not established in healthy adults.
The DAC and non-DAC forms behave so differently that expectations formed about one do not transfer to the other.
Any GH-mediated tissue effect operates on a scale of months.
Blood tests for IGF-1 are the only way to know whether anything is actually happening, and they are inexpensive.

Storage and handling

Freeze-dried powder: Refrigerated at 2–8 °C, protected from light.
After mixing: Refrigerated at 2–8 °C. Do not freeze once mixed.
Long-term, frozen: Unopened powder is stable at −20 °C or colder.

Printable one-pager How to reconstitute a vial, step by step

With other peptides

Ipamorelinsynergistic
The most commonly discussed pairing in this category: a GHRH analogue and a ghrelin receptor agonist act on different inputs to the same pituitary output, so the combined pulse is larger than either alone. The mechanism is well described; outcome evidence for the combination is not.
GHRP-2synergistic
The same two-input logic as the ipamorelin pairing. GHRP-2 produces a somewhat larger pulse than ipamorelin and raises prolactin and cortisol modestly in exchange.
GHRP-6synergistic
A GHRH analogue alongside a ghrelin receptor agonist, so the pulse is larger than either alone. GHRP-6 brings strong appetite stimulation to the combination.
Hexarelinsynergistic
Different receptors, so the combined pulse is larger. It does not prevent hexarelin's desensitisation, which is a property of the ghrelin receptor rather than of the pairing.
IGF-1 LR3caution
A GHRH analogue raises IGF-1 through the body's own regulated pathway. Adding an unregulated long-acting IGF-1 analogue means that regulation is being bypassed while the pathway is also being driven, and nothing establishes what the combination does.

Check this against a whole stack

In use

Stacks with CJC-1295 in them

Documented combinations, with full schedules.

Checking your vial

Research chemicals carry no manufacturing standard, so what the vial looks like is often the only quality signal available before you use it. More on assessing quality and COAs.

White cake, clear solution
Standard for this class.
Label does not state DAC or non-DAC
These are different compounds with different dose scales sold under one name. A vial that does not say which it is cannot be dosed confidently.
Collapsed cake or cloudy solution
Indicates heat damage or degradation.

Questions

What is the difference between CJC-1295 with and without DAC?: The Drug Affinity Complex binds the peptide to albumin in the blood, extending its half-life from around thirty minutes to roughly a week. The short form produces a GH pulse; the DAC form produces sustained elevation. They are sold under the same name — dosed on scales that differ about tenfold — and are not interchangeable.
Why is CJC-1295 usually discussed alongside ipamorelin?: They act on different receptors that both feed into growth hormone release: GHRH and ghrelin. Amplifying two separate inputs produces a larger pulse than either alone. The mechanistic argument is sound; no trial has tested the combination for any outcome.
Is Modified GRF (1-29) the same thing?: It is the same 29-amino-acid backbone as CJC-1295 without DAC, and the names are used more or less interchangeably by sellers. If a vial does not clearly state whether it contains DAC, you cannot dose it confidently.

References

Growth hormone releasing hormone analogues: pharmacology and clinical development
Review literature, 2018 · Review
Humans
Describes GHRH analogue pharmacology including the albumin-binding modification that produces the extended half-life form, and the resulting shift from pulsatile to sustained GH elevation.
Commonly reported community protocols
Bioalmanac editorial summary of public community sources, 2026 · Not a study
Summarises dose ranges described in public discussion for both the DAC and non-DAC forms. Carries no evidential weight about safety or effect.

CJC-1295 compared with

Sermorelin vs CJC-1295

Two GHRH analogues on the same receptor. How long each survives in the body is the difference, and it changes both the schedule and the shape of what comes out.

CJC-1295 vs ipamorelin

The most compared pair in this category, and the comparison is slightly wrong-headed: they act on different receptors and are usually run together rather than chosen between.

Tesamorelin vs CJC-1295

Two GHRH analogues acting on the same receptor, separated by the largest evidence gap on this site: one completed a phase 3 programme and holds an approval, the other has neither.

Related compounds

Ipamorelin

A selective growth hormone secretagogue that prompts a short pulse of GH release. Widely used, and supported almost entirely by early pharmacology rather than outcome trials.

GHRP-2

A growth hormone releasing peptide approved in Japan as a diagnostic agent. It triggers a pulse of your own growth hormone rather than supplying any.

GHRP-6

The oldest of the growth hormone releasing peptides, and the one with the strongest effect on hunger. That appetite stimulation is the defining fact about it.

Hexarelin

The most potent growth hormone releasing peptide of the three, and the only one that reliably stops working. Its response fades within about two weeks of continuous use.

Keep this page honest

If something here is wrong, out of date, or missing a source, tell us and we will fix it and say that we did.

Suggest a correction

This page is educational. It describes what published research reports, not what you should do. Peptides discussed here are largely not approved for human use, and nothing on Bioalmanac is medical advice. No clinician reviews these pages.

Page last updated 12 Aug 2026