An editorial reading of one prescription peptide and its regulatory record.

What this site is

Rx Sermorelin is an independent editorial project that publishes summaries of the peer-reviewed research literature on sermorelin acetate (GHRH(1-29), CAS 86168-78-7). We are not a clinic. We do not employ clinicians and we do not provide medical advice. We do not manufacture, sell, ship, or distribute sermorelin or any compounded product. Our work is editorial commentary on publicly available science.

The 'rx' in the wordmark is editorial framing — an acknowledgement that sermorelin's regulatory record is a prescription record, and that the contemporary access pathway in the United States runs through state-licensed pharmacies compounding under sections 503A and 503B of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. The modifier names the editorial position this publication occupies relative to the literature: a close reading of a prescription pharmacology. It does not describe a service this site provides. We do not prescribe, dispense, refer, or facilitate access to sermorelin in any form.

What sermorelin is

Sermorelin acetate (USAN) is a 29-amino-acid synthetic polypeptide reproducing the amino-terminal fragment of endogenous human GHRH — the shortest fully bioactive segment of the parent 44-residue hypothalamic peptide. Its molecular formula is C149H246N44O42S; its molecular weight is approximately 3358 Da; its CAS registry number is 86168-78-7. It is classified as a growth hormone-releasing hormone analog and a pituitary secretagogue, and its mechanism is GHRH receptor agonism at the anterior pituitary somatotroph.

It received FDA approval in 1997 for pediatric idiopathic GHD treatment (NDA 020443), was voluntarily discontinued by the original manufacturer in 2008 for commercial rather than safety or efficacy reasons (per the FDA's 2013 Federal Register determination), and remains legally compoundable under sections 503A and 503B of the FD&C Act as a component of a previously-approved drug product. The FDA's January 7, 2025 final interim guidance discontinued the forward-looking Category 1/2/3 nomination system for newly nominated bulks but explicitly preserved the previously-approved-active pathway under which sermorelin sits.

Editorial standards

Every quantitative claim on this site is sourced to a primary document — a peer-reviewed trial, a published mechanism review, a regulatory determination, or a pharmacy compounding monograph. The /references page lists every cited source with its DOI or PubMed identifier. Inline [N] markers in body text correspond directly to entries on that page.

The site does not publish opinion writing about whether sermorelin should or should not be used. It describes what has been studied, in what populations, at what doses, with what reported outcomes, by whom, and where the underlying data are published. Where the literature is small, contested, or limited in duration, the text says so.

This is editorial commentary on publicly available science. It is not medical guidance, prescriber education, marketing copy, or a sales channel. Readers seeking medical advice should consult a licensed clinician; readers seeking sermorelin should consult a licensed compounding pharmacy.