Somatropin (rhGH) vs Tesamorelin (compounded)
It is lab-made growth hormone, approved for children and adults who lack it. It works for that, but anti-ageing clinics also sell it to healthy adults, and the labels do not back that. 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.
Somatropin (rhGH) has the stronger evidence, grade A (strong human evidence) against grade B for Tesamorelin (compounded). Somatropin (rhGH): FDA approved. Tesamorelin (compounded): Not approved.
Evidence
AStrong human evidence
BSome human evidence
Human studies cited
Animal or cell studies cited
Why the grade
The approved indications rest on four decades of randomized and controlled trials summarized in each product's label, including placebo-controlled trials in adult deficiency and growth velocity trials in children; the Norditropin label alone covers pediatric and adult deficiency, Turner syndrome, Noonan syndrome, Prader-Willi syndrome, small-for-gestational-age short stature and idiopathic short stature. Evidence for the uses it is sold for off-label, anti-aging and body composition in healthy adults, is a separate and much weaker question not covered by these citations.
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.
FDA
FDA approved
Somatropin, recombinant human growth hormone, has been FDA-approved since Humatrope in 1987 and is sold under several brands including Norditropin, Genotropin, Omnitrope and Zomacton, for growth hormone deficiency in children and adults and for a set of specific growth disorders. Two long-standing brands have left the market: Genentech discontinued Nutropin in 2024 and Lilly is ending Humatrope distribution at the end of 2026. Use for anti-aging or athletic performance is not an approved indication.
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.
Sold for
Growth hormone is sold by anti-aging clinics and on the black market as the master hormone for youth, muscle and fat loss, well beyond the deficiency states it is approved to treat.
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.
Studies say
Somatropin reliably restores growth in children who lack growth hormone and improves body composition in deficient adults, which is what it is approved for; the labels do not support use in healthy adults, and the market is shifting toward weekly long-acting versions as older daily brands exit.
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.
Class
Growth hormone
GHRH analog
Route
Injection
Injection