CJC-1295 (no DAC / Mod GRF 1-29)

CJC-1295 without DAC is a synthetic 29-amino-acid analog of growth-hormone-releasing hormone. It is studied as a tool for driving the body’s own growth-hormone production — rather than supplying growth hormone directly — and its defining feature is a deliberately short duration of action.

What you’re reading about — with DAC vs. without

This is the single most confused point about this compound, so here it is plainly:

• CJC-1295 without DAC — also called Modified GRF (1-29) or Mod GRF 1-29. Short half-life, producing a brief pulse of GH release. This is the compound profiled here.
• CJC-1295 with DAC — carries a Drug Affinity Complex that binds albumin and extends its half-life to days, producing a sustained elevation instead of a pulse. A different research tool with a different profile.

The distinction matters: the two behave differently enough that findings for one should not be assumed to transfer to the other.

Mechanism under investigation

As a GHRH analog, it binds the GHRH receptor on the pituitary and stimulates release of endogenous growth hormone. Because the no-DAC version clears quickly, the resulting release is pulsatile — closer to the body’s natural rhythm, in which GH is secreted in bursts rather than held at a constant level. That physiological patterning is precisely why researchers reach for it.

Research applications

• GHRH-receptor signaling and pituitary function.
• Pulsatile versus sustained GH release — a direct comparison against the DAC variant.
• Combination research alongside GHRP-class peptides such as Ipamorelin, where GHRH and ghrelin-receptor pathways are studied together.
• Downstream IGF-1 and body-composition markers.

Clinical outlook

Human data on this specific compound is thin, and we would rather say so than overstate it. A Phase 2 trial studied CJC-1295 in HIV patients with visceral obesity but was terminated (NCT00267527), so it did not produce the evidence a completed study would have. The broader GHRH-analog approach, however, is well validated — Tesamorelin, another GHRH analog, completed Phase 3 trials and reached FDA approval. That makes the class credible even where this particular molecule remains early, and it is the gap researchers working with Mod GRF 1-29 are positioned to help close.