D tier · weak
Andarine completed three phase 1 trials and was then abandoned by its developer specifically because of visual disturbances, with no published efficacy trial ever completed.
andarine
Andarine was the first SARM to enter human clinical trials, completing three phase 1 studies in 86 healthy volunteers before development was discontinued in favour of enobosarm. The stated reason for discontinuation was adverse visual disturbances observed during phase 1 testing, which makes it one of the few compounds here abandoned for a specific documented toxicity rather than lack of interest.
// we supply this one
available as a research reagent
≥ 98% HPLC · research solution · batch certificate published. Grade D above is our own and is not adjusted because we stock it.
the explanation
Andarine was the first compound of its type tested in people, and its developer stopped working on it because volunteers experienced vision problems. It was dropped in favour of a different compound, and no study was ever published showing it works for anything.
regulatory status
Not approved by FDA or any regulator; development abandoned; WADA-prohibited; not a lawful dietary supplement ingredient
Andarine was never approved for any indication and its clinical development was discontinued at phase 1 by GTx, Inc. because of visual adverse effects. FDA classifies SARMs in bodybuilding products as unapproved drugs and has issued public safety notifications naming liver injury and acute liver failure, heart attack and stroke among the risks; andarine is also an illegal dietary supplement ingredient. Andarine is prohibited at all times in sport under WADA class S1.2 and has been detected in doping control samples. The SARMs Control Act (S.2742, 2018; S.2895, 2019) proposed Schedule III placement but was never enacted, with no further action reported as of 2022.
how it works · proposed mechanism
Andarine is a non-steroidal aryl-propionamide that acts as a partial agonist at the androgen receptor.
Partial AR agonism
Andarine binds the androgen receptor and acts as a partial rather than full agonist, producing submaximal transcriptional activation. Partial agonism means it can also antagonise endogenous androgen signalling in tissues where receptor occupancy is high.
Prostate-sparing selectivity
In animal studies andarine selectively reduced prostate weight while preserving muscle tissue, the finding that originally established the tissue-selective SARM concept. This selectivity was demonstrated in rodents and never confirmed against human tissue endpoints.
Retinal effect of unknown mechanism
Phase 1 testing produced visual disturbances sufficient to end the development programme. The mechanism behind these visual effects is not explained in the accessible published record, which itself is a meaningful gap for a compound still widely sold.
what’s reported
evidence shape
7 sourcesThe composition of the cited literature by study type. This describes the shape of the evidence, not its quality — and it does not by itself set the grade.
⚠ the catch
A developer stopping its own lead compound at phase 1 because of a specific organ toxicity is among the strongest negative safety signals a compound can carry, and andarine carries it for vision. It is nonetheless sold widely, with the visual effect commonly reframed in consumer material as a harmless cosmetic quirk rather than the reason the drug does not exist as a medicine.
key published findings
- Human trial (phase 1): andarine was the first SARM to enter human clinical trials, completing three phase 1 studies involving 86 healthy volunteers.
- Human trial (phase 1, safety): development was discontinued because of adverse side effects involving visual disturbances observed during phase 1 testing; GTx redirected development to enobosarm.
- Rodent: in animal models andarine selectively reduced prostate weight while preserving muscle tissue, the tissue-selectivity result that underpinned the original SARM development rationale.
- In vitro/pharmacology: andarine is characterised as an oral non-steroidal partial agonist of the androgen receptor, meaning it produces submaximal receptor activation and can antagonise endogenous androgen signalling.
- Anti-doping: andarine has been detected in doping control samples and in dietary supplement products, confirming continued availability despite discontinued development and its status as an illegal supplement ingredient.
limitations of the evidence
- No published human efficacy trial exists for any indication, so all claims of benefit in humans are extrapolated from rodent data.
- The full phase 1 safety datasets were never published in the peer-reviewed literature, so the incidence, severity, dose-relationship and reversibility of the visual disturbances cannot be characterised from the public record.
- Human pharmacokinetics including half-life are not established in accessible published sources, making exposure duration unpredictable.
documented safety signals
- Visual disturbances in phase 1 human testing were severe enough that the developer terminated the programme; the mechanism, reversibility and long-term retinal consequences are not documented in the accessible published record.
- Drug-induced liver injury: andarine (GTx-007) is specifically named in the NIH LiverTox SARMs chapter, which assigns the class a likelihood score of B — a likely cause of clinically apparent liver injury.
- The class hepatotoxicity phenotype is cholestatic jaundice with bilirubin often peaking above 30 mg/dL against ALT of only 2–5 × ULN and near-normal alkaline phosphatase, with latency typically 2–3 months and occasional reversible renal dysfunction requiring temporary dialysis.
- As an AR agonist, andarine is expected to suppress the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis, a consistent class effect, though compound-specific human endocrine data are not published.
- FDA public safety notification on SARM-containing bodybuilding products names heart attack, stroke, psychosis and hallucinations, sleep disturbance, sexual dysfunction, liver injury and acute liver failure, infertility, miscarriage and testicular shrinkage.
- Andarine has been identified by anti-doping laboratories as an ingredient in dietary supplements where it is not declared on the label, exposing consumers and athletes to an abandoned investigational drug without their knowledge.
- Because the compound was abandoned before efficacy testing, there is no dose-response safety characterisation of any kind at the exposures encountered in non-medical use.
identity
| full name | Andarine (S-4, GTx-007) |
| category | Anabolic & Receptor |
| modality | small molecule |
| formula | C19H18F3N3O6 |
| molar mass | 441.4 g/mol |
| cas | 401900-40-1 |
laboratory handling
| storage | Reference material: store as a solid, desiccated and protected from light, at -20 °C for long-term stability; stock solutions typically stored at -80 °C with freeze-thaw cycles minimised. |
| solubility | Lipophilic small molecule; soluble in DMSO and ethanol, poorly soluble in water. Lot-specific solubility should be taken from the certificate of analysis. |
Handling information describes laboratory practice for a research reagent. It is not a preparation guide for use in humans.
the receipts
5 citedLiverTox: Clinical and Research Information on Drug-Induced Liver Injury, NIDDK/NIH · 2024 · official
Banned Substances Control Group (BSCG) · 2023 · official
U.S. Food and Drug Administration · 2025 · official
United States Anti-Doping Agency · 2022 · official
Wikipedia (secondary compilation of primary development and anti-doping sources) · 2025 · reviews
others in Anabolic & Receptor