CJC-1295 + Ipamorelin (No DAC): structure, nomenclature and handling

The first component belongs to the growth hormone-releasing hormone family. Native GHRH is a 44-residue peptide, and its receptor-engaging activity is carried in the first 29 residues; that N-terminal fragment is catalogued separately as GRF(1-29), also known as sermorelin. The component here is that fragment with four deliberate substitutions: D-alanine at position 2, glutamine at position 8, alanine at position 15 and leucine at position 27.

Each substitution addresses a known liability of the natural sequence. The D-alanine at position 2 obstructs cleavage by dipeptidyl peptidase-4, which attacks the amino terminus. The position-8 change removes an asparagine prone to deamidation, and the remaining two replace residues vulnerable to oxidation or trypsin-like cleavage. The result is a 29-residue chain of roughly 3,370 daltons that is characterized against the GHRH receptor, a class B G-protein-coupled receptor.

The second component, ipamorelin, is unrelated in sequence. It is a synthetic pentapeptide, Aib-His-D-2-Nal-D-Phe-Lys with an amidated carboxyl terminus, weighing approximately 712 daltons. Three of its five positions are non-standard: aminoisobutyric acid is not a proteinogenic amino acid at all, and two residues are present in the D configuration rather than the L form found in natural proteins. It is characterized against the growth hormone secretagogue receptor, GHS-R1a, a different receptor from the one above.

The No DAC designation is the part of the name most often misread. DAC stands for drug affinity complex: a maleimidopropionyl group attached to a lysine side chain, capable of forming a covalent bond with circulating albumin. CJC-1295 with DAC carries that group; CJC-1295 without DAC does not, and is chemically the modified GRF(1-29) sequence described above, near 3,370 daltons rather than the roughly 3,650 of the DAC-bearing form.

The consequence is that the two are different molecules with different masses, and a certificate stating one does not describe the other. Catalogue names for the No DAC form include CJC-1295 no DAC, modified GRF(1-29), mod GRF 1-29 and MGRF.

Ipamorelin is catalogued under its own name and the development code NNC 26-0161. Both components are typically isolated as acetate salts.

A blend has to be characterized component by component, which is where a two-peptide vial differs from the single-compound case. Mass spectrometry should return two intact masses, each matching the theoretical figure for its own molecule. One correct mass on a blend certificate leaves the other component unverified.

High-performance liquid chromatography likewise resolves two main peaks rather than one, so purity is reported as a figure for each component. A single percentage attributed to the vial as a whole is less informative than it appears, because it does not say how the material divides between the two peptides.

The ratio is the third quantity: this product is supplied at 5 mg of each component, and confirming that split is a chromatographic question rather than something a label can establish.

The two molecules also fail in different ways during synthesis. The 29-residue chain is prone to deletion sequences, where a residue failed to couple; the pentapeptide's characteristic issues are the free-acid form, where the C-terminal amide did not form, and diastereomers from racemization at the D-configured positions. Both are chromatographic problems, which is why the trace is worth reading rather than the summary figure.

HEEZ Research supplies this blend in one format: a lyophilized vial containing 5 mg of each component, 10 mg of peptide in total. There is no second configuration in the current catalogue.

The material is supplied as a lyophilized powder. Freeze-drying removes water and leaves both peptides as a solid, markedly more stable than either in solution, and stable enough at ambient temperature to ship without refrigeration in transit.

Because the two components have very different molecular weights — roughly 3,370 against roughly 712 — equal masses do not mean equal molar quantities. Where a protocol is expressed in molar terms, the 5 mg of pentapeptide represents several times the molar amount of the 5 mg of the larger peptide.

Reconstitution converts the dried cake into a working solution, and it is a standard laboratory step rather than a product specification. Which solvent is used, and at what final concentration, is determined by the protocol in force at the receiving facility.

What HEEZ specifies is the contents of the vial: this two-component lyophilized blend at 5 mg plus 5 mg, stated on the label and on the batch certificate of analysis. Where a protocol is expressed in molar rather than mass terms, the additional figures it needs are the two molecular weights, which the certificate records for the batch supplied.

Sealed lyophilized material is ambient-stable for the duration of transit, so no cold chain or insulated packaging is required for shipping. On receipt the vial goes to refrigeration and is kept out of direct light.

Reconstituted material is held refrigerated and used within the window the receiving facility's protocols specify, and repeated freeze-thaw cycling is avoided. Solutions of GHRH-family peptides are generally treated as short-lived relative to the lyophilized form.

The substitutions in the 29-residue component improve resistance to enzymatic cleavage in biological media but confer no advantage against the physical degradation routes that matter in storage — aggregation, oxidation and adsorption to container surfaces. The pentapeptide is comparatively robust by contrast, and in a blend the shorter storage window of the two components governs the vial.

The certificate records what an independent facility measured for one specific batch. Its value lies in being batch-specific, so the first check is that the lot number on the document matches the vial in hand.

For a blend, the second check is that both components appear. The identity section should compare an observed mass against theory for each, and the figure for the larger component should correspond to the No DAC sequence — a mass near 3,650 daltons on a vial labelled No DAC describes different material from the one ordered.

The purity figures are HPLC main-peak areas as percentages of total peak area, with the attached chromatogram showing how they were arrived at. On a blend trace, two well-resolved main peaks are the expected picture.

Peptide content, or net peptide content, is sometimes reported separately. It accounts for counter-ions and residual water, and it is the figure determining how much actual peptide the nominal 5 mg of each component represents.