Ipamorelin is only five amino acids long. Danish chemists picked it in the 1990s because it released growth hormone without the cortisol rise seen with earlier peptides of its kind. It was later tested for gut recovery after surgery. This site sets out what the studies found and what they left open.
Growth hormone release is controlled from two directions. One signal, GHRH, comes from the hypothalamus. A second pathway runs through a receptor on pituitary cells that responds to a family of small synthetic peptides, and later turned out to be the receptor for ghrelin, a stomach hormone discovered in 1999.
The first synthetic peptides aimed at that receptor, such as GHRP-6 and GHRP-2, worked well but also pushed up stress hormones like cortisol. A research team at Novo Nordisk in Måløv, Denmark, screened shorter versions and in 1998 described one that released growth hormone with far less spill-over: ipamorelin.
That selectivity made ipamorelin look like a clean research tool and a possible medicine. In practice it was never approved. The pages below cover the chemistry, the animal and human studies, the gut-surgery trials and the anti-doping picture.
| Class | Growth hormone secretagogue (a ghrelin receptor agonist) |
| Sequence | Aib-His-D-2-Nal-D-Phe-Lys-NH2, five building blocks including two unnatural ones |
| Formula | C38H49N9O5, molar mass about 712 g/mol |
| Code name | NNC 26-0161 during development |
| Half-life in people | About 2 hours after an intravenous infusion (1999 study) |
| Originator | Novo Nordisk, Denmark; later trials sponsored by Helsinn Therapeutics (U.S.) |
| Status | Not approved as a medicine anywhere; on the WADA Prohibited List |
Ipamorelin.info is not a source of medical advice, and research-grade ipamorelin is not produced for people. Anyone with a question about hormones, appetite, recovery or body composition should ask a qualified doctor.
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