AOD9604 vs Tirzepatide

AOD9604

A short fragment of human growth hormone (residues 177-191) that was sold the lipolytic tail of HGH without the growth signal. The marketing outpaced the trial data by a wide margin.

Best for

Honestly, no winning case in 2026. The Phase 2 obesity trial failed; the modern fat-loss peptides do what AOD was marketed to do, with data.

Tirzepatide

Dual GIP and GLP-1 agonist. Beats Semaglutide head-to-head on weight loss and glycaemic control, and is becoming the default first-line choice when both are available.

Best for

Best almost across the board for fat-loss in this comparison. Approved, well-studied, with measurable Phase 3 efficacy.

AOD9604

Metabolic Pharmaceuticals ran Phase 2a and 2b obesity trials in the early 2000s; the published data showed weight changes that did not separate convincingly from placebo at 12 and 24 weeks. The lipolytic mechanism is real in isolated adipocyte preparations. The translation to clinically meaningful fat loss in vivo is what the human data did not deliver. Anything you read selling AOD9604 as a fat-burner is selling the mechanism, not the trial results.

Tirzepatide

FDA-approved 2022 for type 2 diabetes (Mounjaro) and 2023 for chronic weight management (Zepbound); EMA approval followed. The SURPASS 1–5 diabetes trials and SURMOUNT 1–4 obesity trials constitute the largest randomised dataset of any dual incretin. SURMOUNT-1 vs STEP 1 is the cleanest head-to-head proxy, and SURPASS-2 was a direct comparison: Tirzepatide came out ahead on both weight and HbA1c.