Tesamorelin (compounded) vs Tesamorelin
It is a shot sold by clinics to burn belly fat. It is approved only for people with HIV who have extra belly fat, and for others it rests on one trial of 60 people. It is a shot that cuts belly fat in people with HIV. It cut deep belly fat about 15% in six months, but the fat returned after stopping, and outside HIV there is one trial of 60 people.
Both sit at grade B: some human evidence. Tesamorelin (compounded): Not approved. Tesamorelin: FDA approved.
Evidence
BSome human evidence
BSome human evidence
Human studies cited
Animal or cell studies cited
Why the grade
For the approved HIV indication the evidence would be A: two phase 3 placebo-controlled trials (412 and 404 patients, pooled 806) showed visceral fat fell about 15% over 26 weeks. For the use compounded tesamorelin is actually sold for, belly fat in people without HIV, there is one randomized trial of 60 abdominally obese adults with low GH secretion, and a 61-person trial in HIV-related fatty liver. That is B.
Two phase 3 randomized trials in HIV-associated abdominal fat, pooled at 806 patients, support the approved indication, which would be A for that use. The use tesamorelin is best known for outside clinics, trimming visceral fat in people without HIV, rests on one 60-person randomized trial in obese adults with reduced growth hormone and one 61-person trial in HIV-related fatty liver, so the popular use grades B.
FDA
Not approved
Tesamorelin is FDA-approved as Egrifta (Egrifta SV, and since March 2025 Egrifta WR) only for reducing excess abdominal fat in adults with HIV who have lipodystrophy. Compounded tesamorelin sold for fat loss, muscle or anti-ageing in people without HIV is not an FDA-approved product and that use has no approved indication.
FDA approved
Tesamorelin is approved by the FDA as Egrifta (2010), Egrifta SV, and Egrifta WR (2025) to reduce excess abdominal fat in adults with HIV and lipodystrophy. It is not approved for weight loss, fat loss in people without HIV, or anti-aging.
Sold for
Compounded tesamorelin is sold by longevity and body-composition clinics as the approved, cleaner alternative to CJC-1295 for burning visceral fat and raising growth hormone.
Tesamorelin is marketed by longevity and body-composition clinics as a growth-hormone-releasing injection that melts belly fat without the risks of growth hormone itself.
Studies say
It reliably cuts visceral fat by about 15% in HIV lipodystrophy, one 60-person trial suggests a similar selective effect in obese adults without HIV, and the fat returns within months of stopping, so the off-label use rests on a single small trial.
In people with HIV it reliably cuts visceral fat by about 15 percent over six months, but the fat returns when the drug stops and the evidence in people without HIV is a single small trial, which is the logic of the B grade.
Class
GHRH analog
GHRH analog
Route
Injection
Injection