Is Noopept a peptide?

No. It is built from a dipeptide backbone, which is where the name and the filing come from, but it is a small molecule taken as a tablet. Nothing about it is reconstituted or injected.

Not structurally. It is often described as one because the effects are compared to piracetam, but it is a different kind of molecule, and that matters if you are reasoning about interactions from drug class.

It is a prescription medicine in Russia, unapproved in the US and EU, and controlled in the UK under the Psychoactive Substances Act. Those are three different situations.

Anti-aging & longevity

Noopept

Omberacetam · N-phenylacetyl-L-prolylglycine ethyl ester · GVS-111

Approved for another indicationReviewed 18 Aug 2026

Noopept is a small molecule built from a dipeptide backbone, which is why it is filed with peptides and why that filing is misleading. It is not injected, not reconstituted, and behaves like a conventional oral drug.

It has been a registered prescription medicine in Russia since 1996, prescribed for cognitive impairment after stroke or injury and for age-related decline. That is a genuine regulatory status with a clinical programme behind it. It is also a Russian programme, carrying the reporting and replication limits this site describes for that body of work generally.

Outside Russia it is unapproved and sold as a supplement or research chemical. In the United Kingdom it is a controlled substance under the Psychoactive Substances Act, which is a distinction worth knowing before ordering it.

How it works

Noopept is metabolised to cycloprolylglycine, an endogenous dipeptide, which is thought to be the active form. That relationship to a naturally occurring molecule is the basis of the mechanistic argument for it.

It is described as raising BDNF and nerve growth factor in the hippocampus in animal work, and as modulating glutamate receptor signalling. Both are plausible routes to the cognitive effects claimed, and neither is established in humans outside the Russian programme.

It is often described as a racetam, and structurally it is not one. The resemblance is functional rather than chemical, which matters if you are reasoning about interactions from drug class.

Quick reference

Commonly described dose: 10 mg–30 mg
How often: 10 mg two or three times daily, in courses of 6 to 8 weeks
Route: Oral
Timing: Taken with or after food in the registered protocol; not late in the day, because it can disturb sleep.
Storage once mixed: Not applicable
Cycle: 6 to 8 weeks on, At least a month between courses off

These describe what sources report, not what you should do. Full detail and provenance in the dosing section below.

Price index

Per-milligram pricing across vendors arrives with the directory. We are recording prices now so the history exists when the page ships.

Vocabulary on this page

Research chemical: A legal label, not a quality grade. It describes what a seller is permitted to sell you, and says nothing about what is in the vial.
Evidence level: The category of human evidence behind a compound, from preclinical through to approved. Stated on every profile here as a category, not an adjective.
Peptide: A short chain of amino acids: the same building blocks as a protein, in a chain short enough to behave differently.

The whole glossary →

Regulatory status — Russia and United States

A registered prescription medicine in Russia since 1996 for cognitive impairment following stroke or injury. Not approved in the United States or the European Union, and controlled in the United Kingdom under the Psychoactive Substances Act.

Last reviewed 18 Aug 2026. Regulatory positions in this category change frequently; we date this line so you can see how current it is.

What it is studied for

Each entry states the evidence behind it. We do not rank indications by effectiveness — for most compounds here, that would be a claim nobody can support.

Cognitive impairment after stroke or injury

Published review

The registered Russian indication.

EvidenceRussian clinical work supporting registration since 1996. Not replicated to contemporary standards outside that programme.

Cognitive enhancement in healthy people

Community practice

Why it is bought outside Russia.

EvidenceNo trial has studied it in healthy people for cognitive enhancement. The registered indication involves existing impairment.

Identity and clearance

Molecule

Class: Small molecule derived from a dipeptide, not a peptide drug
Molecular weight: 318.4 Da

Taken orally. Nothing here is reconstituted, and the calculator on this site does not apply.

Dose protocols reported in sources

Displayed for reference only. Every row says where it came from, and a trial protocol and a community convention are not the same kind of information. None of this is fed into the calculator, and none of it is a recommendation.

Dose protocols reported in sources, with the source of each.
Goal	Dose	Frequency	Route	Units, 10 mg vial	Source	Start this protocol
Registered Russian dosing	10 mg – 30 mg	10 mg two or three times daily, in courses of 6 to 8 weeks	OralThe registered protocol is a course rather than continuous use. Note the doses are milligrams, unlike most of what surrounds it on this site. A 10 mg figure here is not comparable to a 10 mg peptide dose.	from 100 u	Published review	Start this

Start this copies a row into a protocol of your own, which you can then edit. Where a source gave a dose range or an ambiguous frequency, those fields arrive empty — we will not pick a number on your behalf.

Cycling

Published review

6 to 8 weeks on, At least a month between courses off.

The course structure comes from the registered Russian protocol rather than from community convention.

Safety

Reported effects

Irritability and disturbed sleepCommunity practice
Commonly reported
The most frequent complaint, and the reason the registered protocol avoids evening doses.
HeadacheCommunity practice
Commonly reported
Raised blood pressurePublished review
Reported in the Russian literature
Noted in the registered product information, particularly in older patients.
Long-term effects outside a course structurePublished review
Unknown
The registered use is a 6 to 8 week course. Continuous use has not been studied.

When to stop

Irritability, agitation or sleep disturbance that does not settle.
Raised blood pressure. Measure it rather than guessing.
Persistent headache.
Any allergic response: rash, hives, facial swelling or difficulty breathing. Seek urgent care.

Interactions and situations that need care

Uncontrolled hypertensionAvoid
Raised blood pressure is noted in the registered product information, particularly in older patients, who are the population most likely to be taking it for its registered indication.
Pregnancy and breastfeedingAvoid
No reproductive or developmental safety data.
Severe kidney or liver impairmentAvoid
Listed as a contraindication in the registered Russian product information.
Ordering it into the United KingdomUse caution
It is controlled there under the Psychoactive Substances Act. That is a legal fact — not a safety one — and it applies regardless of what the compound does.

What to expect

It is a registered prescription medicine in Russia, which is a real status, and one resting on a body of work nobody has replicated to contemporary standards elsewhere.
It is not a peptide. It is a small molecule taken as a tablet, and it appears alongside peptides only because of where it is sold.
The registered indication is cognitive impairment after stroke or injury. Nobody has studied it in healthy people for enhancement.
The registered protocol is a 6 to 8 week course, not continuous use.
It is controlled in the UK.

Storage and handling

Freeze-dried powder: Tablets or powder at room temperature, dry and out of light.
After mixing: Not applicable. This is taken orally.

Printable one-pager How to reconstitute a vial, step by step

Checking your vial

Research chemicals carry no manufacturing standard, so what the vial looks like is often the only quality signal available before you use it. More on assessing quality and COAs.

You cannot assess a powder by looking at it
No visual check distinguishes this from any other white powder, and it is active at milligram doses where a measuring error matters.

Questions

Is Noopept a peptide?: No. It is built from a dipeptide backbone, which is where the name and the filing come from, but it is a small molecule taken as a tablet. Nothing about it is reconstituted or injected.
Is it a racetam?: Not structurally. It is often described as one because the effects are compared to piracetam, but it is a different kind of molecule, and that matters if you are reasoning about interactions from drug class.
Is it legal?: It is a prescription medicine in Russia, unapproved in the US and EU, and controlled in the UK under the Psychoactive Substances Act. Those are three different situations.

References

Russian clinical literature on regulatory peptides and nootropics: scope and limits
Russian pharmacology and psychiatry literature, 2015 · Body of clinical work, largely unregistered and not blinded to contemporary standards
Humans
Reports anxiolytic, nootropic and neuroprotective effects supporting registration of several of these compounds in Russia. Methodology, reporting standards and the absence of independent replication limit how much weight the findings carry elsewhere.
Commonly reported community protocols
Bioalmanac editorial summary of public community sources, 2026 · Not a study
Records dose and route patterns described in public discussion. Carries no evidential weight about safety or effect.

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Keep this page honest

If something here is wrong, out of date, or missing a source, tell us and we will fix it and say that we did.

Suggest a correction

This page is educational. It describes what published research reports, not what you should do. Peptides discussed here are largely not approved for human use, and nothing on Bioalmanac is medical advice. No clinician reviews these pages.

Page last updated 18 Aug 2026