Somapacitan (Sogroya)
A once-weekly growth hormone that rides on albumin.
Checked 2026-10-22 against the US label Researched and written by Kymata Health Editorial Report an error
- Sold as
- Sogroya
- Full name
- somapacitan-beco
- Maker
- Novo Nordisk
- Status
- Prescription only; US label since 2020
- Sport
- WADA S2, prohibited at all times
What is somapacitan?
Short answer
Somapacitan is human growth hormone with one amino-acid change and an attached albumin-binding group. Binding to the blood protein albumin slows its clearance, so one injection a week replaces seven daily somatropin shots. Novo Nordisk sells it as Sogroya.
How it lasts a week
The label describes a growth hormone analog with a single substitution (L101C) carrying an albumin-binding moiety. Reversible binding to albumin delays elimination and prolongs the half-life to about 2 to 3 days in adults with growth hormone deficiency. It acts on the GH receptor itself, like somatropin, so it bypasses the pituitary. (Sogroya label)
Who is Sogroya approved for?
The US label's indications, in its own terms.
US label indications
5- Children aged 2.5 years and older with growth failure from too little GH
- Children born small for gestational age (SGA) with no catch-up growth by age 2
- Children with growth failure from Noonan syndrome
- Children with idiopathic short stature (ISS)
- Adults with growth hormone deficiency (GHD)
What dose does the Sogroya label give?
What the label states, for the patients it covers. Not a dose for anyone reading this: the prescriber sets it.
On the label
| Label wording, summarised | Source |
|---|---|
| Adults: starts at 1.5 mg once weekly (1 mg at 65 and older; 2 mg with oral estrogen), raised every 2 to 4 weeks by 0.5 to 1.5 mg; label maximum 8 mg weekly. | (Sogroya label) |
| Children: 0.16 mg/kg weekly for GH deficiency; 0.24 mg/kg weekly for SGA, Noonan syndrome and ISS. | (Sogroya label) |
How long does somapacitan last, and when is IGF-1 checked?
Pharmacokinetics
| Measure | Label value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Half-life (adults with GHD) | About 2 to 3 days | (Sogroya label) |
| Half-life (children) | About 34 h (GHD); 36 to 37 h (SGA, Noonan, ISS) | (Sogroya label) |
| Time to peak | 4 to 24 h (adults); 8 to 25 h (children with GHD) | (Sogroya label) |
| IGF-1 peak | Within 2 to 4 days after a dose | (Sogroya label) |
IGF-1 timing The label says to draw IGF-1 samples 3 to 4 days after the prior dose when adjusting the adult dose. (Sogroya label)
What are the warnings for Sogroya?
From the current US label. A clinician weighs them for each patient.
Status Prescription only. Sogroya has had a US label since 2020 (Novo Nordisk). WADA prohibits it at all times (S2). (Sogroya label; WADA Prohibited List 2026)
Warnings shared by every growth hormone label
| Topic | What the labels say |
|---|---|
| Acute critical illness | Contraindicated after open-heart or abdominal surgery, multiple trauma or acute respiratory failure; two ICU trials found higher mortality with GH. |
| Active cancer | Contraindicated with active malignancy; a preexisting one must be inactive and treated. Childhood cancer survivors given head radiation had more second tumours, mostly meningiomas. |
| Prader-Willi syndrome | Deaths reported in children with severe obesity, airway obstruction, sleep apnea or respiratory infection. |
| Glucose | Can lower insulin sensitivity and unmask impaired glucose tolerance or diabetes. |
| Intracranial hypertension | Papilledema, headache and visual changes, usually in the first 8 weeks; eye exams before and during treatment. |
| Fluid retention | Edema, joint and muscle pain, carpal tunnel: usually transient and dose dependent. |
| Adrenal and thyroid | May unmask low cortisol (central hypoadrenalism) or central hypothyroidism; thyroid tests during treatment. |
| Children: hips and spine | Slipped capital femoral epiphysis and progression of scoliosis during rapid growth. |
| Other | Pancreatitis (rare), lipoatrophy at a repeated site, contraindicated in active proliferative or severe non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy. |
Frequently asked questions
Questions
- Is Sogroya the same as somatropin?
- No. Somatropin is the exact human GH sequence, injected daily. Somapacitan has one amino-acid change and an albumin-binding group that makes it last about a week. Both act on the same GH receptor.
- Who is Sogroya approved for?
- Adults with growth hormone deficiency, and children 2.5 years and older with GH deficiency, short stature after being born small for gestational age, Noonan syndrome or idiopathic short stature. The US label has no Turner syndrome indication.
- When is IGF-1 checked on Sogroya?
- Because levels rise and fall over the week, the label times blood draws 3 to 4 days after the previous dose.
- Is somapacitan banned in sport?
- Yes. WADA lists somapacitan under S2, prohibited at all times.
The growth hormone family
GH itself, the drugs that make the pituitary release more of it, and IGF-1 downstream. Half-lives are human values.
Three ways to raise GH
| Class | Acts on |
|---|---|
| GHRH analog | GHRH receptor on the pituitary (cAMP) |
| Ghrelin-receptor agonist | Ghrelin receptor (GHS-R1a) in hypothalamus and pituitary |
| Growth hormone (daily) | GH receptor directly; bypasses the pituitary |
| Growth hormone (weekly) (this page) | GH receptor directly, released over a week |
| IGF-1 | IGF-1 receptor, downstream of GH |
Compared
16 agents| Agent | Class | Labelled product | Half-life (human) | Taken |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Somatropin (rhGH) | Growth hormone (daily) | Genotropin, Humatrope, Norditropin, Omnitrope, Zomacton, Serostim | 2 to 3.8 h (SC, across labels) (Humatrope label) | Daily injection (label) |
| Somapacitan | Growth hormone (weekly) | Sogroya | about 2 to 3 days (adults) (Sogroya label) | Weekly injection (label) |
| Somatrogon | Growth hormone (weekly) | Ngenla | 37.7 h (effective, children) (Ngenla label) | Weekly injection (label) |
| Lonapegsomatropin | Growth hormone (weekly) | Skytrofa | about 31 h (prodrug, children) (Skytrofa label) | Weekly injection (label) |
| Tesamorelin | GHRH analog | Egrifta SV, Egrifta WR | 8 to 38 min (by formulation and study) (Egrifta WR label) | Daily injection (label) |
| Sermorelin | GHRH analog | None | 6 to 7 min IV (EU product information) (Geref 50 SPC (HPRA)) | Daily injection in studies |
| CJC-1295 with DAC | GHRH analog | None | 5.8 to 8.1 days (Teichman 2006, JCEM) | Weekly or every other week in studies |
| CJC-1295 without DAC (mod GRF 1-29) | GHRH analog | None | No human value published | No human study published |
| Ipamorelin | Ghrelin-receptor agonist | None | 2 h (IV infusion) (Gobburu 1999, Pharm Res) | Single IV infusions in the human study |
| GHRP-2 | Ghrelin-receptor agonist | None | No human value published | IV test doses in studies |
| GHRP-6 | Ghrelin-receptor agonist | None | 2.5 h (IV) (Cabrales 2013, Eur J Pharm Sci) | IV test doses in studies |
| Hexarelin | Ghrelin-receptor agonist | None | No human value published | IV test doses in studies |
| MK-677 (ibutamoren) | Ghrelin-receptor agonist | None | No human value published | Daily by mouth in studies; GH raised over 24 h |
| Macimorelin | Ghrelin-receptor agonist | Macrilen | 4.1 h (Macrilen label) | One oral dose, as a diagnostic test (label) |
| Mecasermin (rhIGF-1) | IGF-1 | Increlex | 5.8 h (children) (Increlex label) | Twice daily with a meal (label) |
| IGF-1 LR3 | IGF-1 | None | No human value published | No human study published |
GH axis guides6
- Growth hormone: the GH axisHow GH is controlled, every agent compared
- GH pulse simulatorDose times against the natural sleep and exercise GH pulses, modelled from half-lives
- Long-acting growth hormones explainedThree once-weekly products, three different ways of making GH last a week.
- Growth hormone vs GH secretagoguesGiving the hormone itself, or asking the pituitary to make more of its own.
- Somatropin brands comparedOne molecule, several names, and which are still on the US market.
- IGF-1 monitoring on GH-axis treatmentWhy IGF-1 is the test, when to draw it on weekly GH, and what the labels say to do with it.