Tesamorelin and sermorelin are often shelved together, because both are analogs of the hormone that tells the pituitary to release growth hormone. For a buyer they behave nothing alike. One is a prescription brand with no published cash price; the other is compounded by a crowd of sellers who publish theirs on the sermorelin price board.
| Sermorelin | Tesamorelin | |
|---|---|---|
| Lawful compounded route | Yes, as a component of an approved drug | No, since the 2020 biologics transition |
| Sellers publishing a monthly price | 140 | None, because none may sell it |
| Typical compounded month | $189 | Not applicable |
| Approved product still marketed | No | Yes, as a prescription brand |
| Maker's published cash price | Not applicable | None published |
The line between them was drawn by a definition, not by a price
Federal regulation defines a protein as any alpha amino acid polymer with a specific, defined sequence that is greater than 40 amino acids in size[1]. That sentence decides which agency pathway a peptide travels, and it turned out to decide which one a pharmacy may make.
Tesamorelin is on the far side of it. Its label describes the molecule as the 44-amino-acid sequence of human growth-hormone-releasing factor, with a hexenoyl group attached to the tyrosine at one end[2].
Under the Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act, an approved application for a biological product was deemed on March 23, 2020 to be a license under the Public Health Service Act[3]. FDA’s list of the applications that transitioned records tesamorelin acetate, marketed as Egrifta and Egrifta SV, application 022505, approved in 2010[3].
Sermorelin sits on the other side, through a discontinued injection
Sermorelin is compoundable for a different reason: it was a component of a drug FDA approved. On March 4, 2013 the agency determined that GEREF, sermorelin acetate injection, had not been withdrawn from sale for reasons of safety or effectiveness[6].
The record behind that notice is worth reading before assuming the two peptides are equivalent purchases. GEREF’s vial strengths treated growth hormone deficiency in children with growth failure, and its ampule strength was a diagnostic test of the pituitary’s ability to release growth hormone[6].
No sermorelin product appears in FDA’s list of the applications deemed to be biologics licenses[3]. The full status is in is sermorelin FDA approved, and what a compounded prescription involves is in the compounded peptides guide.
What the approved tesamorelin product is actually for
The current label indicates it for the reduction of excess abdominal fat in HIV-infected adult patients with lipodystrophy[2]. In the same highlights it states that the product is not indicated for weight loss management, because its effect on weight is neutral[2].
The dosing is daily and subcutaneous, at 1.28 mg reconstituted from a vial that supplies seven days[2]. Long-term cardiovascular safety has not been established, and the label asks prescribers to weigh continuing treatment in patients whose visceral fat has not fallen[2].
So what can a buyer actually compare?
Not sticker to sticker. One column of the table above holds a computed market and the other holds a legal status, which is the honest shape of this comparison rather than a limitation of it.
For tesamorelin, the route runs through a prescriber, a specialty pharmacy and whatever the plan pays, and no public figure anchors the conversation. That side is covered in tesamorelin cost and is tesamorelin FDA approved.
For sermorelin, the figure is public and the variation is large, which puts the work on comparing like with like: same strength, same number of weeks, same fees folded in. The sermorelin cost guide sets out the parts of a month, and sermorelin tablets prices the routes against each other.