PUBERTY BLOCKER BRAND NAMES
The puberty blockers used in the United States belong to one class of medicine, GnRH agonists, sold under several brand names: Lupron Depot-PED and Fensolvi (both the generic drug leuprolide), Supprelin LA (histrelin), Triptodur (triptorelin), and Synarel (nafarelin). All are FDA-approved to treat unusually early (central precocious) puberty in children, and their use to pause puberty in transgender youth is off-label, which is a common and legal part of medicine. The main differences between the brands are the generic drug inside and how the medicine is given.
This page uses “puberty-pausing medications” for these medicines after the first mention; you may also see them called puberty blockers, GnRH agonists, or GnRH analogues, which describe the same class of treatment.
WHAT ARE THE BRAND NAMES FOR PUBERTY BLOCKERS?
There are five brand names in common use in the US, covering four generic medicines.
Two brands (Lupron Depot-PED and Fensolvi) are different forms of the same drug, leuprolide.
All five are GnRH agonists that pause puberty the same way; they differ mainly in how they are delivered and how often (US FDA review).
BRAND NAMES AT A GLANCE
Sources: FDA-approved formulations for central precocious puberty, US FDA summary review (2020) and US FDA labeling update (2022); forms and dosing intervals, MAGIC Foundation and Frontiers in Pediatrics (2022).
WHAT "OFF-LABEL" MEANS HERE
These medicines are FDA-approved to treat central precocious puberty in children (and some are also approved for conditions in adults). Using them to pause puberty in transgender youth is “off-label,” meaning prescribed for a purpose not listed on the FDA label. Off-label prescribing is common and legal across medicine, and it does not mean a drug is experimental or unapproved; it means the specific use has not gone through the FDA’s formal approval process for that indication. The medicines themselves are the same well-characterized drugs used for early puberty.
SAME MEDICINES, A LONG TRACK RECORD
GnRH agonists have been used since the 1980s, first for prostate cancer and then as the standard treatment for central precocious puberty (Frontiers in Pediatrics, 2022). In adults, the same generic drugs appear under other brand names for other conditions, for example Lupron Depot, Eligard, and Zoladex for prostate cancer, so you may encounter these names in non-pediatric contexts too. How they work and what is monitored is covered on our GnRH agonists page.
CONTENT NOTE
This is information, not medical advice. Whether this medication is appropriate for a particular young person is a decision for that young person, their family, and their qualified healthcare providers, based on individual circumstances.