peptide

Selank

A lab-made peptide based on a natural immune peptide, registered in Russia as anxiety nose drops; not FDA approved.

A synthetic seven-amino-acid analogue of the immune peptide tuftsin, registered in Russia in 2009 as anxiolytic nasal drops; not FDA approved, and removed from the FDA's 503A Category 2 in 2024 after its nominator said it had meant to nominate a different substance.

Data refreshed 2026-11-01 · Based on 8 published references

At a glance

FDA approved

No.

Potential results

Less anxiety reported (small Russian studies, no placebo)
About as good as the anxiety drug medazepam (small study, no placebo)
No study in people has compared it with placebo
Less anxiety during alcohol withdrawal in rats (animal study only)

Unverified, online reports only: anxiety.

Dose

Study doses: see the Scientific view
Converter: mg, mL and syringe units

Storage

Powder: fridge (2–8 °C) for the short term, freezer (−20 °C) for the long term; after mixing, fridge for up to 28 days (general guidance, not tested for this compound).

A summary of the sources on this page, not medical advice.

What else trials studied for sleep, anxiety and focus: see the research quiz.

Names

Also called: TP-7, Selank acetate, Selanc

Regulatory (US)

FDA approval: none

503A compounding: unknown
Not on any FDA compounding list; see Regulatory picture.

Molecule

Formula: C33H57N11O9

MW: 751.9 g/mol

CAS: 129954-34-3

PubChem entry

Sequence: Thr-Lys-Pro-Arg-Pro-Gly-Pro

Origin

Discovered by: Institute of Molecular Genetics, Russian Academy of Sciences (N.F. Myasoedov's group), with the V.V. Zakusov Research Institute of Pharmacology, Moscow

Developer: Institute of Molecular Genetics, Russian Academy of Sciences

What it is

Selank is a short chain of amino acids (a peptide) made in a lab. It has seven amino acids. The first four copy tuftsin. Tuftsin is a tiny natural peptide cut from antibodies. It sends signals to immune cells. Three more amino acids (proline, glycine, proline) were added to the end. This was done so the chain would not break down as fast. The makers studied it for anxiety, not for the immune system.

In Russia it is registered as a medicine. It comes as nose drops for anxiety. It is not approved in the United States. Almost all the research comes from the Russian institute that made it and its partners. Most human studies are published in Russian.

Selank is H-Thr-Lys-Pro-Arg-Pro-Gly-Pro-OH (C33H57N11O9, 751.9 g/mol, CAS 129954-34-3). Residues 1–4 are tuftsin, the Thr-Lys-Pro-Arg fragment of the IgG heavy-chain Fc region; the C-terminal Pro-Gly-Pro glyproline was added to increase resistance to peptidases.

No single receptor has been identified. Mechanisms proposed by the developing group include inhibition of enkephalin-degrading enzymes in human serum, which would lengthen the half-life of endogenous enkephalins (Zozulya et al. 2001); concentration-dependent positive allosteric modulation of GABA binding in brain-membrane preparations (Vyunova et al. 2018); changes in expression of GABAergic-pathway genes in rat frontal cortex (Volkova et al. 2016); and changes in IL-6 and other inflammation-related transcripts.

Pharmacokinetic data come from the developer in rats. Tritium-labelled Selank appeared in blood within a minute of intranasal or intraperitoneal dosing; by 7 minutes blood levels had fallen by more than a third after intraperitoneal dosing and by half after intranasal dosing; brain levels after intranasal dosing tracked blood levels and declined more slowly. The in-vitro half-life is reported as about 2 minutes. No independent human pharmacokinetic study was found.

Who made it and when

Selank was designed in Moscow at the Institute of Molecular Genetics of the Russian Academy of Sciences. This is the same institute that made Semax. The institute worked with the Zakusov Research Institute of Pharmacology. The idea goes back to Russian work in the early 1980s. That work suggested tuftsin, an immune signal, might also act on the brain. The makers built a longer, more stable version. They tested it in Russian clinical trials. In 2009 Russia’s Ministry of Health registered “Selank 0.15%” nose drops as a medicine. It has never been approved in the United States.

Volkova et al. (2016) and Kolomin et al. (2013), both from the Institute of Molecular Genetics, describe Selank as designed and produced at that institute in cooperation with the V.V. Zakusov Research Institute of Pharmacology. Kolomin et al. trace the rationale to Valdman and Ashmarin’s early-1980s hypothesis that tuftsin, structurally similar to some neuropeptides, has central nervous system activity. The heptapeptide was selected from a series of C-terminally extended tuftsin analogues for anxiolytic activity in rodents.

According to the same developer review, “Selank 0.15%” nasal drops completed Russian preclinical and clinical testing and were registered and approved for medical use by the Russian Ministry of Health in 2009; the same review describes their use in generalised anxiety disorder and neurasthenia. FDA’s records use the name “selank acetate (TP-7)”. No US patent held by a pharmaceutical developer was verified for this article, so none is listed.

What the data say

Selank has been tested in rats and mice. Tests looked at stress, anxiety, depression-like behaviour, learning and morphine withdrawal. The reports describe calming effects. They say it did not cause the sleepiness common with benzodiazepine drugs (a group of calming medicines). Almost all of this work is from the maker and its partners.

In people, there is very little evidence. Two Russian studies compared Selank with benzodiazepine drugs. Each had about 60 patients. The patients had anxiety disorders or neurasthenia (long-lasting tiredness and weakness). Both studies said anxiety went down with Selank. One said it worked about as well as the other drug. Neither study used a dummy treatment (placebo). The English summaries do not say if patients or doctors knew who got which drug. No Selank trial is listed on ClinicalTrials.gov. No independent group outside Russia has published a controlled study in people.

Animal data: rodent studies from the developer network report anxiolytic-like effects in mouse stress models and a rat chronic mild stress model, improved conditioned-avoidance learning, potentiation of diazepam’s anxiolytic effect in rats (Kasian et al. 2017), antidepressant-like effects in WAG/Rij rats, and attenuation of aversive signs of morphine withdrawal. Rat doses cited in the developer’s 2013 review include 200 µg/kg intranasally and 1,000–2,000 µg/kg.

Human data: Zozulia et al. (2008, in Russian) compared Selank (n=30) with medazepam in 62 patients with generalised anxiety disorder or neurasthenia and reported similar anxiolytic effects, with additional “antiasthenic and psychostimulant” effects attributed to Selank, together with changes in the serum half-life of leu-enkephalin. Medvedev et al. (2014, in Russian) compared Selank with phenazepam in 60 patients with phobic-anxiety and somatoform disorders and reported a pronounced anxiolytic effect lasting about a week after the last dose. The English abstracts give no placebo arm, randomisation details or blinding, and doses are not stated in them. No registered trials, no pharmacokinetic study in humans and no systematic safety data in English were found. The evidence base is small, largely unblinded and almost entirely from the originating institutions.

Regulatory picture

Approval: the FDA has not approved any medicine with Selank. Its Russian registration does not count in the United States.

Compounding (when pharmacies mix their own drugs): in September 2023 the FDA put selank acetate in “Category 2”. This is the group of substances pharmacies should not compound from. The FDA named possible immune reactions and impurities. It also said there was not enough safety information in people. In September 2024 the FDA took it out of Category 2. The reason: the person who put it forward had meant to name a different substance. Taking it out does not mean it is allowed. Selank is not on the list of substances pharmacies may compound from. It was also not on the FDA advisory committee’s July 2026 agenda, and it was not among the six peptides in the US health department’s October 2026 draft policy easing enforcement.

Enforcement: the FDA sent warning letters to two compounding businesses, in 2020 and 2021. The letters named Selank among ingredients they should not have compounded.

Approval: none. No US IND-stage programme could be verified.

Compounding: “Selank acetate (TP-7)” was listed in 503A Category 2 in FDA’s update of 2023-09-29. FDA’s 503A nominations list updated 2024-09-27 states that it “has been removed from Category 2 because FDA received additional information from the nominator indicating that they intended to nominate a different bulk drug substance.” FDA’s safety-risk page (current version dated 2026-04-22) keeps selank acetate in its table of withdrawn substances with the stated concern of immunogenicity from aggregation and peptide-related impurities. Selank does not appear in any category of the nominations list updated 2026-05-14, was not among the substances reviewed by the Pharmacy Compounding Advisory Committee in December 2024 or July 2026, and is not on the 503A bulks list (21 CFR 216.23). It is also not among the six peptides covered by the HHS draft enforcement-discretion policy of 2026-10-30. This article therefore records compounding status as unknown.

Russia: registered in 2009 as “Selank 0.15%” nasal drops, according to the developing institute. Registration by a national regulator outside the US is not FDA approval.

Dose

Doses reported in trials and studies

How dosing worked in the studies

Four small Russian studies used 2.7 mg a day (2700 µg/day). Where the way of giving it was stated, it went in through the nose. In one study, Zozulia and colleagues had 62 adults with generalized anxiety disorder or neurasthenia (long-lasting tiredness and weakness). 42 got 0.15% nose drops, split into three doses a day. 20 got the drug medazepam 30 mg/day. In another, Medvedev and colleagues assigned 60 adults with anxiety-related disorders by chance. They got Selank for 14 days or the drug phenazepam 2 mg/day. This study did not say how Selank was given. Two studies had no comparison group. Teleshova and colleagues gave three doses a day for 14 days to 15 patients over 50. These patients had tiredness and weakness linked to blood vessel problems (asthenic disorder of vascular origin). Syunyakov and colleagues gave it to 20 patients with generalized anxiety disorder.

Doses used in the studies are in the Scientific view.

Study doses are not personal dosing instructions. Reading doses safely: how concentration and syringe markings work.

Doses reported in studies, exactly as the cited trial reported them. They are not personal dosing instructions. Population, route and schedule matter more than the number.

No registered clinical trials are catalogued for this compound. The doses below come from other published studies in people.

Doses in other published studies

Published studies not listed in the trials table above: smaller or unregistered human studies first, then animal and cell studies. Doses are shown exactly as each study reported them. Animal studies report weight-based doses, absolute amounts or concentrations; none translates directly to people, and none is converted here.

Subjects	Design	Dose	Finding	Source
Humans: 62 adults aged 18-55 (13 men, 49 women) with generalized anxiety disorder (30) or neurasthenia (32); per the full text, 42 received Selank and 20 received medazepam	Active-controlled comparison with medazepam 30 mg/day; no placebo arm; randomization and blinding not described	"Selank 0.15%" nasal drops, daily dose 2.7 mg (36 drops) divided into three administrations; assessed at days 3, 7 and 14	The anxiolytic effect was reported as similar to medazepam's, with additional antiasthenic and psychostimulant effects for Selank and a rise in serum leu-enkephalin half-life, mainly in the GAD patients.	Zozulia AA et al., Zh Nevrol Psikhiatr Im S S Korsakova, 2008
Humans: 60 adults with phobic-anxiety, hypochondriac and somatoform disorders (ICD-10 F40.2-9, F41.1-9, F45); 30 per group	Open, naturalistic, prospective comparison; patients randomized to Selank or phenazepam 2 mg/day; no placebo	Selank monotherapy 2.7 mg/day for 14 days (route and dosing schedule not stated in the paper); assessed at days 7 and 14 and again 7 days after stopping (day 21)	The authors reported a pronounced anxiolytic and mild nootropic effect of Selank with good tolerability, with the anxiolytic effect lasting at least a week after the last dose.	Medvedev VE et al., Zh Nevrol Psikhiatr Im S S Korsakova, 2014
Humans: 20 patients aged 24-52 with generalized anxiety disorder (DSM-IV)	Uncontrolled clinical observation with pharmaco-EEG (conference abstract); no control group described	2700 µg/day intranasally; EEG reaction assessed after a single 900 µg dose; outcomes reported at day 3 and day 14	40% of patients were rapid responders with symptom reduction in days 1-3 and 60% improved gradually, reaching clinically significant change in Hamilton anxiety score by day 14.	Syunyakov T et al., European Psychiatry, 2012 (vol 27 suppl 1, abstract P-1114)
Humans: 15 patients over 50 with organic asthenic disorder of vascular origin (ICD-10 F06.61) and cognitive complaints, who had not responded to placebo	Open pilot study after a 7-day placebo run-in that excluded placebo responders	0.15% solution for intranasal use, monotherapy, 2700 µg/day divided into 3 administrations, for 14 days	The authors reported less anxiety and fatigability, better attention and short-term memory scores, and good tolerability on the clinical global impression scale.	Teleshova ES et al., Psikhiatriya (Moscow), 2010, no. 4(46)
Rats: outbred alcohol-preferring rats in 48-hour ethanol withdrawal after 24 weeks of drinking 10% ethanol	Animal study	Single intraperitoneal injection of 0.3 mg/kg	Selank eliminated withdrawal-induced anxiety in the elevated plus maze and social interaction tests and prevented mechanical allodynia, without changing ethanol consumption.	Kolik LG et al., Bull Exp Biol Med, 2014
Mice: inbred BALB/c and C57BL/6	Animal study comparing intranasal and intraperitoneal routes	300 µg/kg/day for 5 days, intraperitoneal or intranasal	Anxiolytic and nootropic effects appeared by both routes only in the more anxious BALB/c mice; in BALB/c mice, intraperitoneal dosing raised frontal-cortex GABA-receptor binding by 38% and intranasal dosing raised NMDA-site (MK-801) binding by 23%.	Vasil'eva EV et al., Eksp Klin Farmakol, 2016

Mixing examples reported by protocol websites

Examples for the freeze-dried powder, as reported by protocol websites, not taken from studies. The water amount only sets the concentration (how much is in each mL); it does not change how much of the compound is in the vial. Each concentration assumes the vial really holds its labelled amount and the final liquid volume equals the water added.

Vial	Water added	Concentration
10 mg	2 mL	5,000 mcg/mL
30 mg	3 mL	10,000 mcg/mL
30 mg	10 mL	3,000 mcg/mL

Clean the rubber tops of both vials with an alcohol swab.
Add the water slowly, letting it run down the inside wall of the vial rather than onto the powder.
Swirl or roll gently until the powder dissolves; protocol sites advise against shaking.
The liquid should be clear. If it is cloudy or has specks in it, do not use it. Clear liquid does not show that the product is pure, the right strength or sterile.
Write the date and the concentration on the vial, and keep it in the fridge (2–8 °C). No safe storage time after mixing has been established for these products.

Products sold as "research peptides" have not gone through FDA review for safety, effectiveness or quality. Bacteriostatic water does not sterilize a contaminated powder. It contains benzyl alcohol, and its label says it is not for use in newborns. To work out a volume from your own numbers, use the converter.

Doses described in clinical or compounding practice

From FDA labels and documents, other regulators, published reviews and professional references, as each source states them. Unless a source says otherwise, these describe practice or proposals, not results tested in trials. Reading doses safely: how concentration and syringe markings work.

The Russian instruction for Selank 0.15% nasal drops (1.5 mg Selank per 1 mL, for adults 18 and over), as reproduced by RLS, gives 2 drops in each nostril 3 times a day, intranasally, for a 14-day course that 'if necessary' may be repeated after 1–3 weeks, 'after consulting a doctor'. This is a Russian registration held by the manufacturer Peptogen (listed there as dispensed without prescription), not FDA approval. (Selank 0.15% nasal drops: Russian instruction for medical use (registration LP-№(010951)-(RG-RU), last amended 15.07.2025), as reproduced by the RLS drug reference, Other regulator)
Verbenko and Shakina describe 'standard therapy' with Selank 0.15% given intranasally for 14 days as three drops in each nostril three times a day ('18 drops a day in total'), in 30 patients with adjustment disorder compared with 15 untreated controls and no placebo. The current Russian instruction says 2 drops per nostril, not 3. (Verbenko VA, Shakina TA. Anxiolytic and stress-protective action of Selank in adjustment and post-traumatic stress disorders. Meditsinskiy Alfavit (Medical Alphabet) 2017;3(32):21-26, Peer-reviewed)
In 35 patients adding Selank to escitalopram, compared with 20 on escitalopram alone and no placebo, Verbenko and Shakina used Selank 0.15% at '2 drops in each nostril 6 times a day for 14 days (1.8 mg/day)', 24 drops a day in total, during the first 2 weeks of antidepressant treatment. The Russian instruction says 3 times a day, not 6. (Verbenko V, Shakina T. Potentiation of SSRIs with the regulatory peptide Selank in anxiety-depressive disorders. Vrach 2019;(10):76-81, doi:10.29296/25877305-2019-10-16, Peer-reviewed)
In 64 patients with asthenia after COVID-19 (32 given a neuroprotective combination plus Selank, 32 the combination alone), Pogodina and Nikiforova's abstract reports Selank nasal drops ('1.5 mg') at '2–3 drops 4 times a day for 30 days'. The abstract does not say whether the drops went in each nostril, and the course is longer than the 14 days in the Russian instruction. (Pogodina MG, Nikiforova EYu. Post-COVID syndrome: therapy of asthenic disorders with Selank. Vrach 2024;(5):65-72, doi:10.29296/25877305-2024-05-12, Peer-reviewed)

Doses reported in online communities (untested)

Unverified, and not a recommendation. These are amounts people describe in online forums such as Reddit, collected so researchers can see how practice differs from the evidence. These forum accounts are not clinical evidence, even where they overlap studied doses. Products sold online as "research peptides" are not FDA approved, and their identity, purity and strength are not verified; they can be mislabeled, contaminated or wrongly dosed.

What people report

In the threads reviewed, amounts reported most often are 250 to 500 mcg per dose, once or twice a day, with some reporting lower amounts of 50 to 200 mcg and a minority 1 to 3 mg a day. People use a nasal spray or subcutaneous injection and disagree on which works better. Some reported no noticeable effect; side effects reported include headache, brain fog, lethargy, palpitations and panic.

How this compares with the studies

The four human studies found used 2,700 µg a day, given intranasally where the route is stated. Community daily totals (about 250 to 1,000 mcg, with a minority at 1 to 3 mg) differ, and different routes prevent comparing exposure; no human study of subcutaneous injection was found. Commenters say their numbers come from ChatGPT or unnamed online "protocols"; one poster misread a rat dose as a human dose.

Open questions a study would need to answer

Do the amounts reported online have any effect on anxiety compared with placebo, given that none of the Russian studies had a placebo arm?
What are human blood and brain exposure levels after intranasal versus subcutaneous dosing, given that no human pharmacokinetic study was found?
Is continuous or repeated use for longer than 14 days safe, including headache, tolerance, rebound anxiety and interactions with SSRIs or benzodiazepines?

Threads consulted, checked 2026-09-26: Selank Dosing 21mg? (r/Peptides) · What dose of Semax/Selank works for you? (r/Peptides) · selank for anxiety/panic? (r/Peptides) · Selank. Life changing so far. (r/Nootropics) · Researching Selank (r/Peptides) · Looking for advice for NA Selank nasal dosage. (r/Nootropics)

Enforcement history

2020-04-01 · Warning letter: FDA warning letter to Tailor Made Compounding LLC listed Selank among bulk substances the pharmacy had compounded that were not eligible for the 503A exemptions, stating that Selank had not been nominated for the 503A bulks list. (source)
2021-11-10 · Warning letter: FDA warning letter to Advanced Nutriceuticals LLC (The Guyer Institute of Molecular Medicine) cited compounded products containing Selank, among other substances not nominated for the 503A bulks list. (source)
2023-09-29 · 503A Category 2 placement: FDA listed selank acetate (TP-7) in Category 2 of the interim 503A bulk drug substances policy, citing possible immunogenicity from aggregation and peptide-related impurities and stating that it lacked important information on safety in humans. (source)
2024-09-27 · Removed from Category 2: FDA's 503A nominations list (update of 2024-09-27) states selank acetate was removed from Category 2 because the nominator indicated it intended to nominate a different bulk drug substance. FDA's safety-risk page still lists its potential risks among withdrawn substances. It is not on the 503A bulks list. (source)

Side effects and warnings

Not catalogued yet.

Full lists are in the Scientific view.

Reported side effects

Not catalogued yet.

Interactions

Not catalogued yet.

Contraindications

Not catalogued yet.

Storage

No FDA-approved product exists, so there is no US label storage data. Storage statements from research suppliers are supplier claims, not verified data.

General storage guidance commonly given for freeze-dried research peptides and powders, not stability data for this substance. Storage conditions and usable life depend on the specific product and formulation; follow its documented instructions.

Condition	Temperature
Temporary (transportation), in powdered form	15 °C – 25 °C / 59 °F – 77 °F
Short term (1–3 years)	2 °C – 8 °C / 36 °F – 46 °F
After reconstitution (28 days)	2 °C – 8 °C / 36 °F – 46 °F
Long term (2–5 years)	−20 °C / −4 °F or below

Product characteristics

Form: Synthetic linear heptapeptide, usually as the acetate salt; registered in Russia as 0.15% nasal drops

Stability: In-vitro half-life of about 2 minutes, according to the developing institute; broken down by peptidases in blood

Compound information

Synthetic heptapeptide, free base or acetate salt. No safety data sheet from a regulated drug manufacturer was found.

Molecule, patents, enforcement history, full trial tables and compound details are in the Scientific view.

Common questions

What is Selank?

Is Selank FDA approved?

Not FDA approved for any use.

What have studies found?

Four small Russian studies in people said Selank lowered anxiety. One said it worked about as well as the drug medazepam.
None of these studies compared Selank with a dummy treatment (placebo). Two had no comparison group at all.

How was it dosed in studies?

Is it legal to buy as a "research peptide"?

Products sold as "research use only" or "not for human consumption" are not approved for use in people. That label does not make them legal to sell for human use, and their contents are not checked by any regulator.

References

This page summarises the published sources below. PeptideBasics101 does no original research. Trial doses and results are reported as the cited study or label reported them. Sources can themselves be wrong or superseded; if you find a statement here that does not match its source, please tell us through our corrections process. Sources were last checked on 2026-11-01.

Based on 8 published references

Clinical trial entries in the table above link to their ClinicalTrials.gov registry records. Spotted an error? See corrections.