AOD-9604 and tesamorelin are searched together because both are sold as growth-hormone-axis peptides for fat. They sit at opposite ends of that axis and of the evidence. Tesamorelin is an approved drug that makes the pituitary release growth hormone, with a labelled daily dose and a measured visceral-fat effect in one population. AOD-9604 is a fragment of growth hormone itself, designed to avoid raising IGF-1, with a sponsor's safety record, no approval and no injected human dose. This page sets the two records side by side (read 2026-10-07) and does the syringe arithmetic. It compares; it recommends neither.
The single-compound records are on the AOD-9604 and tesamorelin dosage pages; tesamorelin's other comparisons are tesamorelin vs ipamorelin and tesamorelin vs CJC-1295. AOD-9604's other comparison, with a peptide that has no human dosing record at all, is AOD-9604 vs MOTS-c.
Side by side
| AOD-9604 | Tesamorelin | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Fragment of growth hormone (residues 177–191 plus a tyrosine) | Analogue of growth-hormone-releasing hormone |
| Length / molecular weight | 16 amino acids / 1,815.1 | 44 amino acids / 5,136 |
| Where it acts | Below the pituitary; designed not to raise IGF-1 | Pituitary; raises GH and IGF-1 |
| Label | None anywhere | EGRIFTA WR 1.28 mg daily; EGRIFTA SV 1.4 mg daily |
| Human doses on record | Oral 0.25–54 mg; IV 25–400 mcg/kg | Subcutaneous 1–2 mg daily |
| Subcutaneous human data | None | Every trial |
| Registered trials (2026-10-07) | 0 | 24 (as counted on the tesamorelin page, 2026-09-18) |
| Fat outcome published | Not for the long trials | Visceral fat −15.2% vs +5.0% (26 weeks) |
Two different jobs on one axis
Tesamorelin works upstream. It binds the GHRH receptor in the pituitary, which releases growth hormone in pulses, and the liver answers with IGF-1. The EGRIFTA WR label reports the size of that answer: IGF-1 rose by 107 and 108 ng/mL over 26 weeks in its two trials, against −15 and +3 on placebo, and 47% of treated patients were more than two standard deviations above the mean by week 26. The label asks for IGF-1 to be monitored and lists glucose intolerance as a warning, with 5% of patients reaching an HbA1c of 6.5% or more against 1% on placebo.
AOD-9604 was designed to skip that chain. Metabolic Pharmaceuticals took the end of the growth hormone molecule thought to carry its fat-mobilising action and dropped the rest, and its own summary of six trials reports no change in IGF-1 and no worsening of glucose tolerance at any dose. The same summary does not report the weight results of the two long trials, and the obesity programme was stopped in February 2007 after its confirmatory trial missed its primary endpoint, as set out on the AOD-9604 dosage page.
The fat each record measures
Tesamorelin's measured effect is specific: visceral fat fell 15.2% against a 5.0% rise on placebo at 26 weeks on 2 mg daily in adults with HIV lipodystrophy (Falutz et al., NEJM 2007). The label is explicit that the drug "is not indicated for weight loss management as it has a weight neutral effect"; it moves fat from inside the abdomen, not body weight. AOD-9604 has no published human fat measurement at all. Searches that frame the pair as "which burns more fat" are comparing a measured visceral-fat effect in one population with an unpublished one.
A microgram against a milligram
The commonly quoted figures, 300 mcg of AOD-9604 and 1.28 to 1.4 mg of tesamorelin, differ almost fivefold in mass but much less in molecules, because tesamorelin is nearly three times heavier:
| Amount | Molecular weight | Molecules (µmol) |
|---|---|---|
| AOD-9604 300 mcg | 1,815.1 | ≈0.17 |
| AOD-9604 500 mcg | 1,815.1 | ≈0.28 |
| Tesamorelin 1.28 mg | 5,136 | ≈0.25 |
| Tesamorelin 1.4 mg | 5,136 | ≈0.27 |
| Tesamorelin 2 mg | 5,136 | ≈0.39 |
The match in molecules is a coincidence of the numbers, not an equivalence: the two act on different receptors, and only tesamorelin's dose comes from a trial in people.
Each figure as syringe units
| Amount | 2 mg/mL | 4 mg/mL | 5 mg/mL |
|---|---|---|---|
| AOD-9604 300 mcg | 15 units | 7.5 units | 6 units |
| AOD-9604 500 mcg | 25 units | 12.5 units | 10 units |
| Tesamorelin 1.28 mg | 64 units | 32 units | 25.6 units |
| Tesamorelin 1.4 mg | 70 units | 35 units | 28 units |
| Tesamorelin 2 mg | 100 units | 50 units | 40 units |
2 mg/mL is a 2 mg AOD-9604 vial with 1 mL of water; 4 mg/mL is the EGRIFTA SV preparation (2 mg in 0.5 mL), at which the label's 0.35 mL draw is the 35 units shown; 5 mg/mL is a 5 mg vial of either with 1 mL. EGRIFTA WR is mixed to 8 mg/mL, at which 1.28 mg is 16 units (0.16 mL, as its label states). At 5 mg/mL, 300 mcg of AOD-9604 is a 6-unit draw, small enough that a 2-unit-marked barrel cannot hit it exactly; the barrels are set out on insulin syringe units, and any vial and volume are worked on the AOD-9604 calculator and the tesamorelin calculator.
What is not established
No trial, label or registry record has compared the two or given them together, and AOD-9604 has no human data by the subcutaneous route at all. Tesamorelin's evidence is in one population, adults with HIV and abdominal fat accumulation; no label covers any other use. The compounds are covered in Medibact's AOD-9604 guide and Tesamorelin guide. Nothing on this page is an instruction; product and dose belong with a prescriber.
Sources and dates
Opened 2026-10-07: the EGRIFTA WR label (DailyMed set id 839334d3-8c1d-4c26-9036-2ab524a6ea75, effective 2026-07-29) — sections 1, 2, 5.2, 5.4, 12.2 and 14; DailyMed and ClinicalTrials.gov searches for AOD-9604; PubChem records for both compounds. Carried from this site's pages, each with its read date: the EGRIFTA SV label and the tesamorelin registry count (tesamorelin page, 2026-09-18), the Falutz 2007 trial (PMID 18057338), the AOD-9604 trial record (Stier, Vos and Kenley 2013; AOD-9604 page, 2026-09-18) and vendor dose ranges (2026-09-18). Units and molar arithmetic by this site. Corrections go to the contact page.