Is Semax approved anywhere?

Yes, in Russia, where it is used clinically and appears on the essential medicines list. It holds no approval in the United States, the EU or the UK.

Why is the research all Russian?

It was developed in Russia in the 1980s and its clinical development happened there. Most of the literature is Russian-language and has never been replicated by an independent group. That is a real limitation, and a different one from having no evidence at all.

No. Semax is used as a nasal solution. It is reconstituted into a dropper or spray rather than drawn into a syringe.

Semax

ACTH (4-10) analogueMet-Glu-His-Phe-Pro-Gly-Pro

Approved for another indication

Evidence

Approved (ex-US)

Half-life

0.5 h

Typical vial

5 mg

Route

Nasal

What it is

A seven-amino-acid peptide developed in Russia and approved there for stroke and cognitive indications. It holds no approval elsewhere and is used nasally rather than injected.

Reviewed 12 Aug 2026

Semax is a synthetic analogue of a fragment of ACTH, developed in Russia in the 1980s. It occupies an unusual regulatory position: it is an approved medicine in Russia, listed on their essential medicines list, and used clinically there for stroke and cognitive indications. It has no approval anywhere else.

That matters for how the evidence reads. A substantial clinical literature exists, and most of it is Russian-language, conducted domestically, and has not been replicated by independent groups elsewhere. That is not a reason to dismiss it, and it is not the same as the multi-centre international evidence behind an FDA-approved drug. Both statements are true and readers usually get only one.

It is also unusual here in route: semax is used as a nasal solution, not injected. Anything on this page about drawing and reconstituting concerns preparing drops, not a syringe.

How it works

Semax has been reported to increase expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor and nerve growth factor in the brain, signalling proteins involved in neuron survival and plasticity. That is the most-cited proposed mechanism for the cognitive claims.

It also appears to influence the melanocortin system, unsurprisingly given it derives from an ACTH fragment, though the fragment was chosen specifically to avoid the parent hormone's effects on cortisol.

Nasal administration is used because it is small enough to reach the brain by that route with less first-pass loss than swallowing it would involve.

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.

Stroke recovery
Published review
Its approved indication in Russia.
EvidenceRussian clinical studies. Not replicated by independent groups outside Russia, and not reviewed by any other regulator.
Cognition and focus
Published review
The reason it is used outside Russia.
EvidenceRussian clinical and preclinical work. No independent controlled trial in healthy adults.

Regulatory status

Last reviewed 12 Aug 2026. Positions in this category change frequently, so we date the line.

United States

Approved and clinically used in Russia, where it appears on the essential medicines list. Not approved in the United States, the EU or the UK, and material sold in those markets is an unapproved substance with no manufacturing standard behind it.

Identity and clearance

What the molecule is, and how long a dose stays measurable.

Published review

Molecule

Class: ACTH (4-10) analogue, heptapeptide
Molecular weight: 813.9 Da
Length: 7 amino acids

Sequence

Met-Glu-His-Phe-Pro-Gly-Pro

The Pro-Gly-Pro tail is a stabilising addition that considerably extends its life compared with the natural fragment.

Pharmacokinetics

Published review

Half-life0.5 h

Substantially cleared4 h

Modelled from the half-life above, assuming first-order elimination. Illustrative rather than measured — it shows the shape of clearance, not a prediction for any individual.

Short-acting. Which is why dosing is described several times a day. Effects on neurotrophic factor expression are reported to outlast the peptide itself.

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.

Mixed sources

A week-by-week progression is also reported for Semax. See it against a 5 mg vial, where the syringe units can be worked out.

Dose protocols reported in sources, with the source of each.
Goal	Dose	Frequency	Route	Units, 5 mg vial	Source	Start this protocol
Commonly described nasal dose	300 mcg – 600 mcg	Once or twice daily, split between nostrils	NasalUsed as drops. Higher ranges are described for the stroke indication in Russian clinical use, under supervision.	12–24 u	Community practice	Start this

The doses above in syringe units, for the vial you have:

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.

CheckRows marked community practice describe what people commonly do, drawn from public discussion. They are not derived from any trial and are not evidence that a dose is safe or effective.

Safety

Reported effects, the situations that need care, and the ones that mean stop.

Read before dosing

Reported effects

Nasal irritation or drynessCommunity practice
Commonly reported
The most frequent complaint, and a direct consequence of the route.
HeadacheCommunity practice
Occasionally reported
Overstimulation, irritability or disturbed sleepCommunity practice
Occasionally reported
More often described with evening dosing or higher amounts.
Long-term effects outside clinical supervisionCommunity practice
Unknown
Its clinical use in Russia is short-course and supervised. Extended self-directed use is not what the evidence covers.

When to stop

Persistent nasal pain, bleeding or crusting.
Any allergic response: rash, facial swelling or difficulty breathing. Seek urgent care.
Marked anxiety, agitation or insomnia that appears after starting.
Any new neurological symptom — headache pattern change, visual disturbance, weakness.

Interactions and situations that need care

Pregnancy and breastfeedingAvoid
No reproductive or developmental safety data outside Russian clinical use.
Anxiety disordersUse caution
Overstimulation and irritability are among the more commonly reported effects, which is a poor fit alongside an anxiety disorder.
Stimulant medicationUse caution
Semax is frequently described as stimulating. Combining it with prescribed stimulants adds an unquantified variable to a medication someone is already titrating.

What to expect

What the sources describe over time, and how confident anyone can be about it.

Human clinical evidence exists, and it is essentially all Russian, domestic, and unreplicated by independent groups elsewhere. Weigh it accordingly rather than dismissing or over-reading it.
Its approved use is a short supervised course, for stroke and specific cognitive indications. Not indefinite self-directed use in healthy adults.
Effects reported by users are typically described as subtle and same-day rather than accumulating.
Nasal irritation is the most consistently reported downside and follows from the route.

Storage and combinations

How to keep it, and what it does and does not go with.

Printable one-pager →

Storage and handling

Freeze-dried powder: Refrigerated at 2–8 °C, protected from light.
After mixing: Refrigerated at 2–8 °C. Nasal solutions are entered repeatedly, so bacteriostatic water rather than sterile water matters here.
Long-term, frozen: Unopened powder is stable at −20 °C or colder.

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

With other peptides

N-Acetyl Semax Amidatecaution
The amidated form is a modified Semax. Running both is taking the same compound twice, once in a form with Russian clinical use behind it and once in a form with none.
Adamaxcaution
Sold as a Semax derivative, so running both risks taking the same thing twice. With no established structure for Adamax, even that cannot be said with confidence.
Selanksynergistic
Commonly used together — Semax described as stimulating, Selank as calming. Both come from the same research programme, and no study has tested the combination.

Check this against a whole stack

Stacks with Semax in them

Documented combinations and plans people have published, with full schedules.

Published by people running it. Their plans, not ours — one person doing something is not evidence that it works.

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.

Quality and COAs →

White cake, clear solution
Standard for a short peptide.
Cloudy solution
Particularly relevant for a nasal preparation entered repeatedly over weeks.

Vocabulary on this page

Sterile technique: The handling that keeps a vial and an injection free of contamination: clean hands, an alcohol-wiped stopper, a fresh needle every time.
Bacteriostatic water: Sterile water containing a small amount of benzyl alcohol, which stops bacteria multiplying and allows a vial to be used more than once.
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.
Stack: Several separate compounds run at the same time, each in its own vial and on its own schedule.
Peptide: A short chain of amino acids: the same building blocks as a protein, in a chain short enough to behave differently.
Protocol: One compound, with a dose, a frequency and a length: the plan, as opposed to what was actually taken.

The whole glossary →

Questions

Reader questions

Is Semax approved anywhere?: Yes, in Russia, where it is used clinically and appears on the essential medicines list. It holds no approval in the United States, the EU or the UK.
Why is the research all Russian?: It was developed in Russia in the 1980s and its clinical development happened there. Most of the literature is Russian-language and has never been replicated by an independent group. That is a real limitation, and a different one from having no evidence at all.
Is it injected?: No. Semax is used as a nasal solution. It is reconstituted into a dropper or spray rather than drawn into a syringe.

References

Everything on this page that came from a source, with the source.

Semax, an analogue of ACTH(4-7): neuroprotective and nootropic activity
Review literature, 2018 · Review
Humans and animal models
Reviews reported increases in BDNF and NGF expression, and summarises Russian clinical use in stroke and cognitive indications.
Commonly reported community protocols
BioAlmanac editorial summary of public community sources, 2026 · Not a study
Summarises nasal dose ranges described in public discussion outside Russia. Carries no evidential weight about safety or effect.
Compiled community protocols
BioAlmanac editorial summary of a public protocol compilation, 2026 · Not a study
Records a week-by-week progression described on a vendor-adjacent protocol site, retrieved August 2026. Only the doses are taken from it. Its own syringe-unit conversions were checked against the vial sizes it states and several understate the volume by half, so nothing computed by that source is reproduced here — the units on this site are worked out from the vial in front of you. Carries no evidential weight about safety or effect.

Quick reference

Commonly described dose: 300 mcg–600 mcg
How often: Once or twice daily, split between nostrils
Route: Nasal
Timing: Commonly described in the morning, on the basis that it is stimulating for some people.
Half-life: About 30 minutes
Storage once mixed: Refrigerated, 30 days

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

Price index

$0.971 – $18.00per mg

Across 47 vendors, normalised per milligram and confirmed by a person. Compared against other injectable vials only — a capsule bottle holds far more milligrams than a vial, so the two are not one market.

SizeIn stock only

Confirmed listings for this compound, cheapest per milligram first.
Vendor	Size
Peptide Pros	30 mg × 100 vial	$2,912.50	$0.971
Nexus Peptides	10 mg × 10 vial	$119.99	$1.20
Liberty Peptides	30 mg	$36.40	$1.21
Elite Edge Biotech	30 mg	$40.00	$1.33
Peptide Pros	30 mg × 50 vial	$2,038.75	$1.36

Show 70 more vendors

The remaining listings, continuing from cheapest.
Nexus Peptides	10 mg × 10 vial	$179.99	$1.80
Liberty Peptides	30 mg	$55.25	$1.84
Peptide Pros	30 mg	$58.25	$1.94
Direct Peptides	30 mg	£60.00	$2.00
BulkGLP	1000 mg	$2,100.00	$2.10
Biotech Peptides	25 mg	$53.00	$2.12
Alpha Peptides	10 mg	$21.88	$2.19
Paramount Peptides	30 mg	$68.00	$2.27
Biotech Peptides	25 mg	$57.00	$2.28
Apex Peptides	30 mg	$70.00	$2.33
Nexus Peptides	5 mg × 10 vial	$119.99	$2.40
Core Peptides	25 mg	$60.00	$2.40
OneDay Compounds	10 mg	$24.49	$2.45
Swiss Chems	30 mg	$73.95	$2.46
IDUN Peptides	10 mg	$24.99	$2.50
Core Peptides	25 mg	$63.00	$2.52
Licensed Peptidesout of stock	50 mg	$129.99	$2.60
Reta One Labs	10 mg	$26.00	$2.60
Glacier Aminos	10 mg	$30.74	$3.07
TCore Biotech	10 mg	$31.49	$3.15
Puratek Peptides	10 mg	$32.95	$3.29
Ion Peptide	30 mg	$99.00	$3.30
NuScience Peptides	10 mg	$34.99	$3.50
Evolve BioPep	10 mg	$35.00	$3.50
Felix Chemical Supply	10 mg	$35.00	$3.50
Direct Peptides	5 mg × 2 vial	£37.78	$3.78
Peptide Giants	10 mg	$38.00	$3.80
PSPeptides	11 mg	$42.99	$3.91
Reserve Research	10 mg	$40.00	$4.00
Happy Peps	10 mg	$40.00	$4.00
PeptidePlugs	10 mg	$40.00	$4.00
Happy Peps	10 mg	$40.00	$4.00
Direct Peptides	5 mg	£20.95	$4.19
Modern Aminos	10 mg	$42.00	$4.20
Prime Peptides	10 mg	$45.00	$4.50
Legendary Peptides	10 mg	$45.00	$4.50
Nura Peptide	10 mg	$45.00	$4.50
Direct Peptides	2 mg	£9.38	$4.69
Prism Aminos	5 mg	$23.50	$4.70
Life Link Research	10 mg	$48.00	$4.80
Sentinel Valorout of stock	10 mg	$48.99	$4.90
Ion Peptide	10 mg	$49.00	$4.90
Rescue Research USA	10 mg	$49.99	$5.00
Longevity Pro Labs	10 mg	$50.00	$5.00
Ascension Peptides	10 mg	$50.00	$5.00
Happy Pepsout of stock	10 mg	$50.00	$5.00
Blank Peptides	10 mg	$50.00	$5.00
Peptide Giants	5 mg	$27.00	$5.40
BulkGLP	10 mg	$55.00	$5.50
BulkGLP	10 mg	$55.00	$5.50
Protide Health	10 mg	$60.00	$6.00
Licensed Peptidesout of stock	30 mg	$191.70	$6.39
Royal Peptides	10 mg	$65.00	$6.50
Direct Peptides	2 mg × 2 vial	£28.78	$7.20
Sentinel Valor	5 mg	$35.99	$7.20
AminoVault	10 mg	$74.00	$7.40
Nationwide Peptides	5 mg	$37.00	$7.40
Protide Health	10 mg	$75.00	$7.50
Nationwide Peptides	10 mg	$77.00	$7.70
Sports Technology Labs	10 mg	$79.99	$8.00
Penguin Peptides	10 mg	$85.00	$8.50
Pure Bio Labs	10 mg	$109.99	$11.00
Penguin Peptides	5 mg	$55.00	$11.00
Pure Bio Labs	5 mg	$69.99	$14.00
Prime Lab Peptides	5 mg	$70.00	$14.00
Prism Aminos	10 mg	$162.00	$16.20
Elite Biogenix	5 mg	$89.99	$18.00
Nexus Peptides	10 mg	$204.99	$20.50
Nexus Peptides	5 mg	$119.99	$24.00
Royal Peptides	10 mg	$350.00	$35.00

Is this price moving? →Every compound we price →

Average per mg

30 daysAll

We started tracking more vendors during this window, so part of this line is who we track rather than what they charge.

Lowest ever: $0.971 31 Aug 2026
Highest ever: $35.00 14 Sept 2026
Change: 23 → 37 vendors 13 Sept to 13 Oct

We started tracking more vendors during this window, so part of this line is who we track rather than what they charge.

Lowest ever: $0.971 31 Aug 2026
Highest ever: $35.00 14 Sept 2026
Change: 5 → 37 vendors 24 Aug to 13 Oct

Mean of each vendor’s cheapest vial listing, US dollars only. Full chart

Email me when Semax gets cheaper

Ranked on price alone. We sell nothing, take no payment for placement, and use no affiliate links — listing a price is not a recommendation to buy. Prices are what the vendor listed when we last looked, not a live quote.

Cold chain

Freeze-dried: Refrigerated at 2–8 °C, protected from light.
After mixing: Refrigerated at 2–8 °C. Nasal solutions are entered repeatedly, so bacteriostatic water rather than sterile water matters here.
Long-term, frozen: Unopened powder is stable at −20 °C or colder.

How to reconstitute a vial

Stop and seek advice

Persistent nasal pain, bleeding or crusting.
Any allergic response: rash, facial swelling or difficulty breathing. Seek urgent care.
Marked anxiety, agitation or insomnia that appears after starting.
Any new neurological symptom — headache pattern change, visual disturbance, weakness.

The full safety section carries the sources for these.

Semax compared with

Semax vs Selank

Two Russian nasal peptides that get discussed as a pair and are reached for at opposite ends of a problem: one for focus, the other for anxiety.

Noopept vs Semax: oral tablet or nasal peptide

Two Russian nootropics reached for by the same people. One is a tablet, the other a nasal spray, and only one of them is a peptide.

Also compared with Cerebrolysin, Dihexa, N-Acetyl Semax Amidate, Adamax, Adalank, Bromantane.

Related compounds

N-Acetyl Semax Amidate

Semax with both ends chemically capped so it lasts longer. More potent per milligram in animal work, and no human trial of the modified version exists.

Adamax

A Semax derivative sold with adamantane-related branding. The least documented compound on this site, and that is saying something.

Selank

A seven-amino-acid peptide developed in Russia and used there for anxiety. Nasal rather than injected, and the sibling compound to Semax.

Cerebrolysin

A pig-brain peptide preparation approved as a medicine in around forty countries. Decades of trials, and systematic reviews that still cannot find a clear benefit.

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 12 Aug 2026