Sermorelin, glutathione and NAD are about to hit the mainstream. What does the research say about each?

By Peptide Policy Watch staff · Published November 10, 2026 · Updated November 11, 2026 · 8 min read · 21 sources, 20 checked at the source

AI-generated editorial illustration: a couple in workout clothes laugh on a rooftop at golden hour, with a city skyline behind them and small bottles labeled Sermorelin, Glutathione and NAD+ on a table beside a clipboard and two water bottles.

For years these three lived mostly in wellness clinics, IV lounges and gym group chats. Now they're headed for one of the biggest telehealth platforms in the country. On November 9, 2026, Hims & Hers said the first phase of its Peptides+ offering arrives later this month with sermorelin, glutathione and NAD, plus clinician-led plans and regular blood testing. [S] [V] Hims reported nearly 2.8 million subscribers last quarter, so a lot of people who never thought about a growth-hormone signal or an antioxidant drip are about to see these names on their phones. [V] So here's the quick, honest tour: what each one is, what the human research found, and where each sits with FDA.

Facts are as of November 10, 2026. Sources, with retrieval dates, are at the bottom.

Updated November 11, 2026. B12 and L-carnitine, the other two names on Hims's October 29 Peptides+ preview list, are covered in a separate research and status page.

Three names, three different stories

Sermorelin is a lab-made copy of the active part of the hormone that tells your pituitary to release growth hormone. FDA approved it twice, in 1990 and 1997, before the maker stopped selling it. [V]
Glutathione is a three-amino-acid antioxidant your cells make. FDA has approved no glutathione product, and small oral trials disagree on whether pills raise body levels. [V]
NAD isn't a peptide at all. It's a coenzyme. Oral boosters reliably raise blood NAD+ markers, but health-outcome results are mixed. [V]
None of the three is among the six peptides in HHS's October 2026 compounding policy. Each has its own, older spot on FDA's compounding lists. [V]

Side by side

	Sermorelin	Glutathione	NAD
What it is	29-amino-acid GHRH analogue [V]	Tripeptide antioxidant [V]	Coenzyme, not a peptide [V]
Ever FDA-approved?	Yes, as Geref; approvals withdrawn in 2009 after the maker stopped selling it [V]	No [V]	No [V]
FDA compounding lists	503B category 1; not on the 503A category list [V]	503A and 503B category 1 [V]	503A category 1 (NAD and NADH) [V]
Strongest human evidence	Children with growth hormone deficiency, 1990s [V]	Small oral trials, mixed [V]	Randomized trials of oral precursors, mostly lab markers [V]
Recent FDA safety record	94 recall reports since 2012 for compounded products naming it [V]	Class I recalls in 2026 tied to supplement-grade ingredient [V]	17 recall reports for compounded NAD or NADH since 2017 [V]

Sermorelin: the one with an FDA history

Sermorelin has the most interesting backstory of the three. It's a 29-amino-acid peptide that copies the active part of growth hormone-releasing hormone, the brain's own signal to the pituitary. Instead of supplying growth hormone directly, it asks the gland to make more. [V] A 2018 review of this drug family noted that the growth hormone release it triggers comes in natural pulses and stays under the body's feedback control, which is why many people see it as the gentler route. The same review said long-term, rigorous studies are still few. [V]

The best data come from children. A 1999 review in BioDrugs reported that most children with idiopathic growth hormone deficiency treated with sermorelin showed catch-up growth that held through a year, though gains were smaller than with growth hormone itself. It was well tolerated. [V] (Clinical trials in children, summarized in a review.) FDA approved Geref (sermorelin acetate) as a diagnostic test on December 28, 1990, and for treating children on September 26, 1997. The maker stopped selling it in 2008, and in 2013 FDA said that exit wasn't for safety or effectiveness reasons. [V]

For healthy adults, the direct evidence is thin. The closest cousin with modern trials is tesamorelin, another GHRH analogue, which passed phase 3 trials and won FDA approval in 2010 for excess belly fat in people with HIV. [V] Our sermorelin vs growth hormone page has the full research picture, and our Geref history covers the regulatory trail.

Glutathione: the body's own antioxidant

Glutathione is three amino acids, glutamic acid, cysteine and glycine, strung together, and it's the most abundant antioxidant your cells make. [V] The big question is whether taking it adds to what your body already has. Two small trials point in opposite directions. In a six-month Penn State trial of 54 healthy adults, glutathione levels in the blood rose on oral glutathione and fell back after people stopped. [V] In a four-week trial of 40 healthy adults at Bastyr University, oral glutathione didn't change glutathione in red blood cells or markers of oxidative stress. [V] (Small randomized trials.)

FDA's notices about glutathione this year have mostly been about IV products rather than capsules. On August 27, 2026, FDA said at least 30 patients had adverse events after IV glutathione from several compounding pharmacies, traced to one lot of supplement-grade ingredient from a single supplier. [V] Since August, FDA's enforcement data shows recalls of glutathione products from four compounding pharmacies, three of them already Class I, the most serious level. [V] Our glutathione status page and the Greenwich Rx recall explainer have the details.

NAD+ (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide) helps cells turn food into energy and supports enzymes that repair DNA. Its levels fall with age in many tissues, which is why it's become a longevity favorite. [V] The upbeat part of the record is solid: in randomized trials since 2018, oral precursors called NR and NMN raise blood NAD+ markers, and they're generally well tolerated. [V] A 2021 Science trial found that ten weeks of NMN improved muscle insulin sensitivity in women with prediabetes. [V] (Small randomized trial.)

The open question is whether higher NAD+ markers translate into feeling or functioning better. A 2026 systematic review of 33 human studies found those outcome results mixed and often null, and it found no outcome trials of IV NAD+ at all. [V] Our NAD+ status page walks through each study.

1990year FDA first approved sermorelin, as Geref [V]
54adults in the longest oral glutathione trial we found [V]
33human studies in a 2026 review of NAD+ boosters [V]

Why these three, and why not BPC-157 yet

Hims hasn't explained in public why these three come first, so we won't guess at its reasons. [U] What we can show is what the three have in common on paper. None is among the six peptides in HHS's October 2026 enforcement discretion policy: BPC-157, TB-500, epitalon, KPV, MOTS-c and semax. [V] Glutathione and NAD already sit in category 1 of FDA's 503A nominations list, updated May 14, 2026, which means FDA is still evaluating them and doesn't currently intend to act against pharmacies that compound them under its conditions. [V] Sermorelin acetate sits in category 1 of FDA's 503B list for outsourcing facilities, flagged as a component of FDA-approved drugs, and isn't on the 503A category list. [V]

Category 1 isn't an approval. It's FDA saying it hasn't finished its review. [V] Our compounding categories explainer shows what each list means, and our Peptides+ launch article covers what Hims said about BPC-157 and TB-500 coming "when the regulatory environment permits." [S]