Cetrorelix (Cetrotide)_Dosage, benefits & legal status
Also known as Cetrotide
A GnRH antagonist used in IVF to stop an egg being released too early.
Common vial size is what vendors typically sell, not a recommendation. Enter your own vial in the calculator.
What is Cetrorelix (Cetrotide)?
Plain language first. The technical label stays, but it never stands alone.Overview
Used during IVF to stop the body releasing eggs before they can be collected. It blocks the signal instead of exhausting it, so it works immediately and wears off fast.
Cetrorelix acetate, a GnRH receptor antagonist producing immediate gonadotropin suppression without the initial flare characteristic of GnRH agonists. FDA-approved for the prevention of premature LH surges in women undergoing controlled ovarian stimulation.
What it's used for
A prescription drug used during fertility treatment to prevent premature ovulation.
How does Cetrorelix (Cetrotide) work?
What it does in the body, and where.Cetrorelix does the same job as leuprolide by the opposite route, and in fertility that difference is the whole point.
- 01It blocks the receptor rather than exhausting itAs an antagonist it occupies the GnRH receptor without activating it. Suppression is immediate and there is no initial flare.
- 02Timing is everything in IVFDuring ovarian stimulation, a natural LH surge would release the eggs before they can be collected. Blocking that surge keeps the cycle on schedule.
- 03The effect reverses quicklyUnlike the depot agonists, which suppress hormones for months, antagonist suppression lifts soon after stopping. That is what makes it usable inside a treatment cycle.
What else is it used for?
Each use below carries its own evidence level. Approved means regulators have cleared it for that purpose. Investigational means it is in trials. Early research means it is being studied and is not established.
- Preventing a premature LH surge during controlled ovarian stimulationFDA-approved
- Hormone suppression generally, where the agonists are usually chosen insteadClinical use
The published record
Papers and trials about Cetrorelix (Cetrotide)
378 papers tagged human · 241 not reviews or lab · 109 clinical trial publications
140 registered trials · 12 with posted results
Furthest stage reached: Approved in the US
Counted from Europe PMC indexing, not read by a person; a human tag can land on reviews, commentary or lab papers; clinical trial publications is the narrower count. 457 papers and 100 trials indexed in detail.
At a glance
Four things to know about Cetrorelix (Cetrotide)
Evidence
FDA-approved
Category
Sexual and hormonal
Common vial
Varies
Half-life
5 to 63 hours, depending on the dose
How much, and do you cycle it?
The range, and whether you take breaks.Set by the label, daily during an ivf cycle. Set by the prescription FDA label
This is a prescription drug. Duration and schedule are set by the label and the prescriber, not by a cycling convention.
5 to 63 hours, depending on the doseFDA label
Three different figures, all from the same label. A single 0.25 mg dose clears in about 5 hours. Repeated 0.25 mg daily doses give about 20.6 hours. A single 3 mg dose gives about 62.8 hours, which is why that dose holds for four days.
Source: Cetrotide label, pharmacokinetics table
You can compare this against the whole library to see where it sits.
How do I dose and price it?
Enter your vial and your dose. Pick a mix. We show the draw and the cost.The vial holds a fixed amount of drug. Adding more water does not make more drug, it just spreads it thinner, so you draw a bigger number on the syringe for the same dose.
Choose your mix
Measuring the water1 mL = one full 100-unit syringe.
How do you store it?
Before mixing, and after.Dry powder in the freezer or fridge. Once mixed, fridge, and use within about a month.
Unmixed lyophilized Cetrorelix (Cetrotide) keeps for a long time cold. Once you add water the clock starts: most reconstituted vials hold up for roughly 28 to 30 days at fridge temperature. Keep it out of light, and do not freeze it after mixing.
What are the side effects and cautions?
Known cautions and warnings for this compound.Solubility, computed: 40% charged residues, 60% hydrophobic. Water usually sufficient.
A first-pass rule from peptide manufacturers' guidance. It does not account for disulfide bridges, salt form or how the powder was dried, and it predicts what should be easy rather than what will happen in your vial.
Who should avoid it
- Pregnancy or breastfeeding
- Known hypersensitivity to GnRH analogs or to mannitol
- Severe kidney impairment
- Use outside a supervised fertility protocol
Stop and get help
- Severe abdominal pain, bloating or rapid weight gain, which can signal ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome
- Signs of an allergic reaction, including facial or throat swelling or trouble breathing
- Shortness of breath or reduced urine output
Where this page says nothing is established, that means nobody has studied it, not that a compound is safe.
Is Cetrorelix (Cetrotide) approved?
And where the numbers on this page come from.Yes. Cetrorelix (Cetrotide) is FDA approved and available on prescription in the United States.
- Approval statusFDA-approved
- RouteUnder the skin (subcutaneous)
- Checked24 August 2026
- DoseFrom the drug label. The manufacturer tested this range and a regulator reviewed it.
- Vial sizeFrom what vendors typically list; not a recommendation.
- SourcesNone traced yet.
What has happened recently
FDA-approved as Cetrotide for preventing premature LH surges during controlled ovarian stimulation. Prescription only, used within a supervised fertility protocol.
You can compare this against the whole library, or read how to check a seller.
What else is like Cetrorelix (Cetrotide)?
Others in Sexual and hormonal, side by side.If you're weighing Cetrorelix (Cetrotide), it's worth reading Degarelix (Firmagon), Desmopressin (DDAVP), and ENDO-205 in the same class.
A GnRH antagonist used in IVF to stop an egg being released too early.
- Dose
- Set by the label
- How often
- Daily during an IVF cycle
A GnRH antagonist for prostate cancer, and the one with no testosterone flare.
- Dose
- Set by the label
- How often
- Loading dose, then monthly
A vasopressin analog with more FDA approvals than any other peptide, and a real hyponatremia risk.
- Dose
- Set by the label and the formulation
- How often
- Varies by indication
An experimental non-hormonal peptide for endometriosis with an FDA-cleared IND and no human data yet.
- Dose
- No human dose disclosed
- How often
- Not established
Guides for this compound
- How to Reconstitute a Peptide
Mix peptide powder with bacteriostatic water, step by step.
- How to Read an Insulin Syringe
Read the units, convert to millilitres, and draw the exact dose.
- mcg vs mg: The Peptide Dosing Mistake to Avoid
Your vial says mg and your protocol says mcg. Here is the conversion and how to check it.
Sources
No primary source has been traced for this compound yet. Treat everything on this page as unverified until one is. How we grade evidence
Beyond these, 557 records are indexed. Browse the records