Ipamorelin Reconstitution Calculator
Ipamorelin is a synthetic pentapeptide (Aib-His-D-2-Nal-D-Phe-Lys-NH2) developed by Novo Nordisk as NNC 26-0161. It agonises the growth hormone secretagogue receptor GHS-R1a (the ghrelin receptor) rather than the GHRH receptor, and it was described as the first selective GH secretagogue because in swine it released growth hormone without raising ACTH or cortisol. It is sold as a lyophilised powder that has to be reconstituted with bacteriostatic water, and the volume of water added is what sets the concentration. This calculator converts a vial size and a mixing volume into mg/ml and syringe units. It does not tell you what to inject.
Curated by Dosavy from published literature and regulator labels. Published 1 September 2026, last reviewed 19 September 2026. No clinician reviews this page.
No established human dose
No human trial has established a dose for Ipamorelin. There is no evidence-based dose to give, and this page does not give one.
The calculator below converts a vial size and a mixing volume into a concentration. That is arithmetic about the vial, not a recommendation about what to inject.
Enter a target dose above to see the draw.
What the evidence says
No human dosing range can honestly be published for ipamorelin, despite human trials existing. There are exactly two human studies in this packet and neither licenses the way ipamorelin is actually used. (1) A phase 1 dose-escalation in 40 healthy men gave five intravenous infusion rates of 4.21, 14.02, 42.13, 84.27 and 140.45 nmol/kg over 15 minutes. That was intravenous, weight-based, in nanomoles, and a single-administration pharmacokinetic study. (2) A phase 2 randomised trial in postoperative ileus gave 0.03 mg/kg intravenously twice daily for up to 7 days. That was intravenous, weight-based, in hospitalised bowel-resection patients, and it did not meet its endpoint. Everything sold and injected in practice is subcutaneous, dosed as a fixed microgram amount, taken by healthy adults for body composition or sleep, and continued for weeks to months. Route, dosing basis, population and duration all differ, and converting a mg/kg figure into a fixed microgram dose would require inventing a body weight. The 200–300 mcg subcutaneous figure recorded under observed market practice is what the market sells; it does not descend from either trial.
Ipamorelin at a glance
- Category
- GH secretagogue
- Half-life
- 2 h
- Routes
- Subcutaneous
- Regulatory status
- Research use only
- Also sold as
- Ipamorelin, ipamorelin, NNC 26-0161
Mechanism
A synthetic pentapeptide (Aib-His-D-2-Nal-D-Phe-Lys-NH2) that acts as an agonist at the growth hormone secretagogue receptor GHS-R1a (the ghrelin receptor) rather than at the GHRH receptor. It releases GH from pituitary cells with potency and efficacy similar to GHRP-6, and pharmacological profiling with GHRP and GHRH antagonists confirms it works through the GHRP-like receptor. Its distinguishing feature, and the reason it was described as the first selective GH secretagogue, is that in swine it did not raise ACTH or cortisol as GHRP-2 and GHRP-6 do, and did not alter FSH, LH, prolactin or TSH. In healthy human volunteers, intravenous infusion produced a single dose-dependent episode of GH release peaking at about 0.67 hours and declining exponentially.
Reconstitution
Sold as a lyophilised powder to be reconstituted with bacteriostatic water. The vial's stated peptide mass is the vendor's claim and is not independently verified, so the resulting concentration, and any dose calculated from it, inherits that uncertainty.
Storage
No approved product and therefore no authoritative storage instruction. Research-chemical ipamorelin is supplied as a lyophilised powder with vendor-assigned handling directions that carry no regulatory weight and are not verified by anyone.
Frequency in practice
Vendors and clinics list once or twice daily subcutaneously, commonly before bed on an empty stomach. No human trial has ever tested a subcutaneous regimen. The human studies infused it intravenously.
Regulatory
Ipamorelin has no approved human indication in any jurisdiction. It was developed by Novo Nordisk as NNC 26-0161 and later taken into two completed phase 2 intravenous trials for postoperative ileus (NCT00672074, NCT01280344); the published proof-of-concept study did not meet its efficacy endpoint and development did not continue. It is sold as a research chemical, and the FDA moved it off the 503A/503B compounding bulk-substance lists in 2023. Growth hormone secretagogues are prohibited at all times in sport.
What to know before anything else
Not approved for human use anywhere. Every subcutaneous dose in circulation is extrapolated from vendor listings, not from a trial. No human study has tested ipamorelin by the subcutaneous route at all.
The only controlled human efficacy trial (phase 2, intravenous, 114 postoperative bowel-resection patients) missed its primary endpoint: median time to first tolerated meal 25.3 hours versus 32.6 hours on placebo, p=0.15. The drug was well tolerated over 7 days at 0.03 mg/kg twice daily intravenously, but 'well tolerated' in a 7-day inpatient study says nothing about months of self-administration.
Raises GH and therefore IGF-1. The consequences of chronic IGF-1 elevation from an unapproved secretagogue have never been studied, and the one approved GHRH-axis analogue (tesamorelin) is contraindicated in active malignancy for exactly this reason.
Ghrelin-receptor agonism is not confined to GH release: this receptor class also drives appetite and gastric motility, and glucose homeostasis effects have been shown in rodent pancreas.
Grey-market supply is unverified in identity and purity: this compound's own literature includes analyses of seized doping material and black-market growth-promoting products in which the labelled peptide was not what the vial contained.
Prohibited at all times in sport; detectable in urine by established doping-control methods.
Reviewed interactions
These are the pairs Dosavy holds reviewed, cited data on. A combination that is not listed here has not been assessed, which is not the same as being safe.
- Cautionwith MK-677 (Ibutamoren)
Both target GHS-R1a, so this is one receptor hit twice rather than two mechanisms combined. MK-677's daily oral dosing already produces near-continuous occupancy; the additional consideration is MK-677's documented impairment of glucose tolerance, which ipamorelin does nothing to offset.[1]
Ipamorelin and MK-677 are both ghrelin-receptor agonists acting on the same pituitary pathway.
- Cautionwith Sermorelin
A selective GHRP plus a GHRH analogue (the same synergy that drives the CJC-1295/ipamorelin pairing), with a shorter-acting GHRH component. The published literature covers each agent alone under controlled dosing, not combined protocols, so the combined growth hormone exposure is not characterised.[1]
Ipamorelin acts at GHS-R1a and sermorelin at the GHRH receptor; concurrent stimulation of the two pathways produces a supra-additive growth hormone response.
- Cautionwith Tesamorelin
GHRH analogue plus GHRP again, but tesamorelin is a prescription drug with an approved dose established as monotherapy. Adding a research-grade secretagogue produces a combined stimulus the label does not describe, and tesamorelin's own monitoring expectations (IGF-1, glucose) were set for the drug used alone.
Tesamorelin agonises the GHRH receptor; ipamorelin agonises GHS-R1a. Their pathways converge synergistically on the somatotroph.
Ipamorelin questions
Is there an established human dose for ipamorelin?
No, and the reason is unusual: human trials of ipamorelin exist, but every one of them is intravenous and dosed per kilogram, so none can back a fixed subcutaneous dose. A phase 1 study in 40 healthy men gave five intravenous infusion rates of 4.21, 14.02, 42.13, 84.27 and 140.45 nmol/kg over 15 minutes. A phase 2 trial in postoperative ileus gave 0.03 mg/kg intravenously twice daily for up to 7 days. Everything sold and injected in practice is subcutaneous, fixed in micrograms, and continued for weeks to months. Route, dosing basis, population and duration all differ.
What did the phase 2 ipamorelin trial actually find?
The only controlled human efficacy trial of ipamorelin, a phase 2 study in 114 postoperative bowel-resection patients given 0.03 mg/kg intravenously twice daily for up to seven days, missed its primary endpoint: median time to a first tolerated meal was 25.3 hours versus 32.6 hours on placebo, p=0.15. It was well tolerated over those seven inpatient days, which says nothing about months of self-administration.
Why don't the microgram figures circulating online come from a trial?
The fixed subcutaneous microgram amount that circulates is what peptide vendors, catalogues and rejuvenation clinics list per injection, not what anyone has measured in a trial, and this page does not reprint it. It is not a recommended dose and must not be presented as one. It does not descend from either human study: converting a mg/kg intravenous figure into a fixed microgram subcutaneous amount would require inventing a body weight, and no human study has tested ipamorelin subcutaneously at all.
How does ipamorelin differ from GHRP-2 and GHRP-6, and how long does it last?
All three act at GHS-R1a, and ipamorelin's GH-releasing potency and efficacy are similar to GHRP-6. The basis for calling it selective is that in swine it did not raise ACTH or cortisol as GHRP-2 and GHRP-6 do, and did not alter FSH, LH, prolactin or TSH. Its half-life is about 2 hours; intravenous infusion in healthy volunteers produced one dose-dependent GH pulse peaking near 0.67 hours, then an exponential decline.
How is ipamorelin regulated?
Ipamorelin has no approved human indication in any jurisdiction. Novo Nordisk developed it as NNC 26-0161 and took it into two completed phase 2 intravenous trials for postoperative ileus (NCT00672074 and NCT01280344); the published proof-of-concept study did not meet its efficacy endpoint and development did not continue. It is sold as a research chemical, and the FDA moved it off the 503A and 503B compounding bulk-substance lists in 2023. Growth hormone secretagogues are prohibited at all times in sport and are detectable in urine by established doping-control methods.
How should an ipamorelin vial be stored and mixed?
There is no approved product and therefore no authoritative storage instruction. Research-chemical ipamorelin ships as a lyophilised powder with vendor-assigned handling directions that carry no regulatory weight and are verified by nobody. The same applies to the mass printed on the vial: the stated peptide content is the vendor's claim and is not independently verified, so the concentration you calculate, and any number derived from it, inherits that uncertainty. The compound's own literature includes analyses of seized doping material and black-market growth-promoting products in which the labelled peptide was not what the vial contained.
What safety questions about ipamorelin are open?
Ipamorelin raises GH and therefore IGF-1, and the consequences of chronic IGF-1 elevation from an unapproved secretagogue have never been studied; the one approved GHRH-axis analogue, tesamorelin, is contraindicated in active malignancy for that reason. Ghrelin-receptor agonism is also not confined to GH release: the receptor class drives appetite and gastric motility, and effects on glucose homeostasis have been shown in rodent pancreas. None of this has been followed long-term in people using it subcutaneously, because no such study exists.
Every number above, and where it came from
One source, numbered where it is used. Each one links to the paper or the label itself, not to a summary of it.
- [1]A new era of doping? Use of peptide and peptide-analog drugs in recreational and professional sport and bodybuilding: a critical review
The Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness · 2026 · Critical review
The rest of the math
- Reconstitution calculatorVial size and diluent to mg/mL and syringe units, with barrel sizes and IU conversion.
- Vial longevityHow many doses a vial holds and the date it runs out.
- Cost per doseVial price against doses drawn, so two vial sizes can be compared honestly.
- Half-life and decayFirst-order clearance, time to steady state, and what remains at a given hour.
You worked out the draw. Now log this dose.
A calculator answers once and forgets. Dosavy keeps the schedule you set, the doses you actually took, and the reminder for the next one, with the same evidence labels you see on this page.