AOD-9604

Mechanism (as reported)

A review of sports/gray-market peptides describes AOD-9604 as an unapproved anti-obesity “drug 9604,” and a doping/detection-focused source describes AOD9604 as a growth-hormone–derived peptide fragment (177–191 with an added tyrosine) reported to mimic lipolytic properties of growth hormone and to increase adipose tissue breakdown (as stated in the provided abstracts).

Key findings (each cites a source)

• AOD-9604 was described as being developed for potential treatment of obesity, with phase IIa trials underway by February 2002. [PMID 41490200, 15134286]
• A review of obesity drugs in clinical development lists a human growth hormone fragment (AOD-9604) as increasing adipose tissue breakdown and notes the anti-obesity pipeline includes multiple drug classes in clinical development. [PMID 16625817]
• AOD9604 is described as a peptide consisting of the C-terminal fragment of human growth hormone from amino acids 177–191 with an additional tyrosine residue at the N-terminus in a source focused on detection and in vitro metabolism. [PMID 25208511]
• A detection/metabolism source reports AOD9604 is described as mimicking the lipolytic properties of growth hormone and states it was considered a performance-enhancing drug and banned by WADA (as stated in the abstract). [PMID 25208511]
• A doping/metabolism source reports development and validation of a solid-phase extraction method in urine for AOD9604 detection, including a stated limit of detection of 50 pg/mL and performance characteristics (linearity, precision, specificity and recovery) in the abstract. [PMID 25208511]
• The same detection/metabolism source reports identification of six potential metabolites of AOD9604 after incubation in serum and urine, and reports a single metabolite in serum (amino acids CRSVEGSCG) as more stable, suggesting screening for the parent and stable metabolite may allow an increased window of detection. [PMID 25208511]
• A review on therapeutic peptides in orthopaedics describes growth hormone secretagogues and lists AOD-9604 in the context of activating IGF-1 signaling and satellite cell repair (as described in the abstract). [PMID 41490200]
• A review on musculoskeletal injuries and athletic performance peptides includes AOD-9604 among prominent approved and unapproved peptides marketed directly to patients, and notes that rigorous human safety data are scarce for many unapproved peptides. [PMID 41966639]
• An anti-doping analytical review discusses the need to expand analytical approaches to detect emerging therapeutics/non-approved drugs, and includes peptidic substances such as AOD-9604 among examples relevant to detection in blood or urine. [PMID 24906629]
• A mass spectrometry review for human sports drug testing describes mass spectrometry as integral to doping control procedures for analytes including peptidic drugs and approved/non-approved analytes (as described in the abstract). [PMID 26213263]