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Selank

Also known as TP-7, Selanc

Tuftsin analogue registered in Russia, used for generalised anxiety disorder and neurasthenia.

early-clinical Neuro & cognition approved drug

At a glance

Category
Neuro & cognition
Status
approved drug
Route
intranasal (registered dosage form: nasal drops); intravenous in research
Half-life
Not established in accessible literature; rapid systemic breakdown is expected, with the Pro-Gly-Pro tail extending stability relative to native tuftsin
Onset
changes in brain connectivity have been measured within 5 to 20 minutes; clinical effects are assessed over courses of about 14 days
Molecular weight
751.9 g/mol
Sequence
Thr-Lys-Pro-Arg-Pro-Gly-Pro

Registered in Russia and nowhere else that could be confirmed. The Russian prescribing information lists it as 0.15% nasal drops in a 3 ml bottle, manufactured by AO INPTs Peptogen in Moscow 9. Keep two things apart here: that a Russian regulator registered the product is a documented fact, and it is not a statement about the strength of the evidence, which is four to five small Russian studies without a placebo arm 13. According to reference works it is also available in Ukrainian pharmacies, although an independent Ukrainian marketing authorisation could not be confirmed. Not approved by the EMA or FDA; outside Russia traded as a 'research chemical'.

Doping status: Not listed by name; on the usual reading it falls under the residual category S0

Checked against the WADA 2026 Prohibited List. For a specific product and country, Global DRO is the lookup athletes are expected to use — the List names substances, not brand names.

Mechanism of action

Selank is tuftsin (Thr-Lys-Pro-Arg, a natural immunopeptide from the Fc portion of IgG), extended at the C-terminus with Pro-Gly-Pro to slow breakdown by peptidases. It comes from the same Russian institute as Semax and follows the same design strategy.

The best-documented action is inhibition of the breakdown of enkephalins, which raises endogenous enkephalin levels. For Selank this is more concretely supported than for Semax.

Selank alters the expression of genes involved in GABAergic neurotransmission, demonstrated in animal and cell studies 56. An important detail: no direct binding to the GABA-A receptor has been demonstrated. The action runs via altered gene expression, which may explain the absence of sedation, dependence and withdrawal symptoms of the kind seen with benzodiazepines.

In addition, upregulation of BDNF in the hippocampus (animal studies), immunomodulatory effects consistent with the tuftsin origin (including on IL-6 and the T-helper balance) and serotonergic modulation have been described. The last of these is the least well supported.

What the research shows

Selank is registered in Russia for anxiety disorders 9 on the basis of a handful of small studies with an active comparator, without a placebo arm and without reported blinding 13. The signals are interesting and mechanistically plausible, but the evidence does not meet the standard required for an EU or US registration and has never been independently replicated outside Russia.

Research in humans

There are four to five indexed human studies. A 2008 study (n=62) compared Selank with medazepam in generalised anxiety disorder and neurasthenia 1; a 2014 study (n=60) compared Selank with phenazepam 3; a 2015 study examined phenazepam monotherapy versus the combination with Selank 4. All three are active-comparator studies without a placebo arm; blinding is not described 13. A second 2008 study examined immunomodulatory effects in anxious-asthenic disorders 2. The methodologically strongest study is a randomised, placebo-controlled fMRI study in 52 healthy participants (2020), but that measures brain connectivity and not clinical outcomes 8.

Animal and lab research

Most of the literature is rodent and cell research: anxiety reduction in stress models, potentiation of the effect of diazepam 7, protection against ethanol-induced memory impairment, and easing of morphine withdrawal symptoms in rats. These models are consistent but predict clinical efficacy poorly.

Caveats. The human studies share the same structural weaknesses: samples of about 60 participants, publication in a single Russian-language journal, an active comparator instead of placebo, blinding not reported, and one of the developers of the compound as a recurring co-author. The much-repeated claim that Selank is as effective as a benzodiazepine but without sedation or dependence rests entirely on these unblinded studies with about 60 patients. There are no human pharmacokinetic data and no long-term safety data.

What it is used for

  • Registered in Russia for anxiety states, the label naming unmotivated anxiety, panic attacks, neurasthenia, asthenia, mood instability and sleep disturbance, and the prevention and treatment of stress disorders 9
  • Studied in generalised anxiety disorder and neurasthenia against an active comparator 13
  • Self-administered outside Russia against anxiety and stress and as a nootropic - applications that have not been clinically tested

Dosing

Dose
Registered product: 0.15% nasal drops (1.5 mg/ml), 75 mcg per 0.05 ml drop. The Peptogen leaflet regimen of 2 drops per nostril three times daily is 12 drops, about 900 mcg per day; Russian prescribing summaries give a wider permitted range of 900-2700 mcg per day (12-36 drops), single dose 300-900 mcg. In user protocols 250-750 mcg per day circulates.
Frequency
Per the Peptogen leaflet, 2 drops per nostril three times daily; prescribing summaries allow up to 2-3 drops per nostril, three times daily
Route
intranasal
Duration
Standard course of 14 days per the leaflet (10-14 days in prescribing summaries), repeatable after 1-3 weeks; user protocols use 2-4 weeks with breaks
  • The doses from user protocols sit below the bottom of the registered range - roughly a quarter to four fifths of the 900 mcg per day leaflet regimen of 2 drops per nostril three times daily over a 14-day course 9 - and are not derived from clinical research.
  • All of these figures are intranasal. Selank is also sold as a powder for injection on the grey market, and no published work converts a nasal microgram figure into an injected one.
  • In the published research Selank was deliberately combined with phenazepam 34; that is a clinical choice in a Russian context and not a generally accepted treatment strategy.
  • There is no dose-response research in healthy people.

These figures describe what the literature and published protocols report. They are not advice and not a dosing instruction.

Protocols

Intranasal anxiolytic course (grey market)

user protocol — not validated

Source: user protocols and vendor material

This is not a validated schedule. It is a pattern that circulates among users and sellers, reproduced because it is what people actually follow — not because it has been tested. No trial established these doses, this interval or this duration, and nobody is checking what is in the vial. Treat every number below as an assertion, not a finding.

Daily, 2-4 weeks250-750 mcg per day in total, as nasal drops divided between both nostrils
Thena break before any repeat course

This is a nasal-drop schedule, not an injected one, and nothing published converts between the two. These amounts sit below the registered Russian 0.15% regimen of 2 drops per nostril three times daily, which is 12 drops or about 900 mcg per day over a 14-day course; the permitted range in Russian prescribing summaries runs to 2700 mcg per day. The circulating protocol is therefore not a scaled-down version of a studied one; it is a different exposure that nobody has studied.

Schedules are reproduced as their source states them. Units, IU and milligrams explains why the figures are not interchangeable between products.

Reconstitution

Vial sizes
3 ml vial of 0.15% nasal drops, 1.5 mg/ml, containing 4.5 mg active substance in total (registered product), 5 mg, 10 mg (lyophilised powder, research chemical)
Solvent
bacteriostatic water (0.9% benzyl alcohol); the registered product is a ready-to-use solution
Storage
Registered product: store below 10 °C, do not freeze, protect from light; shelf life 2 years. Lyophilised powder: -20 °C, reconstituted at 2-8 °C and, according to suppliers, stable for about 3-4 weeks - those are not pharmacopoeia data.

Worked example

5 mg vial + 2 ml bacteriostatic water = 2.5 mg/ml. Transferred into a nasal spray, 250 mcg corresponds to 0.1 ml.

Let the water run down the wall of the vial, swirl gently, do not shake. Avoid repeated freezing and thawing and protect from light.

This is administered as nasal drops or spray, not by injection, so there is no syringe volume to work out.

Safety

Side effects

  • The Russian prescribing information lists allergic reactions, including delayed ones, and an unpleasant taste when the drops run from the nose down into the throat; frequency is given as not known 9
  • Irritation of the nasal mucosa is reported with intranasal use generally
  • In the Russian comparative studies no dependence or withdrawal symptoms were reported 13; that rests on small, unblinded studies of about 60 patients and not on systematic safety monitoring

Do not use if

  • The Russian prescribing information contraindicates hypersensitivity to the active substance or excipients, pregnancy, breastfeeding, and age under 18 - the last because no clinical studies were done in children 9
  • No long-term safety data available beyond courses of a few weeks

Interactions

Selank potentiates the anxiolytic effect of diazepam in rats under chronic mild stress 7, and the combination with phenazepam has been deliberately studied in humans 34. An interaction with benzodiazepines is therefore real. The Russian label states that no interaction was established with haloperidol, pentobarbital, hexobarbital, analeptics or ethanol, and advises consulting a doctor before combining with other medicines 9. Beyond that, interactions have not been systematically studied.

Common questions

What is Selank used for?
Selank is a short peptide based on the immune peptide tuftsin, registered in Russia and used mainly for anxiety, alongside nootropic marketing for calm and focus. Elsewhere it is an unapproved research chemical.
What is the difference between Selank and Semax?
Both are Russian-registered peptides, but Semax (from ACTH) leans toward focus and neuroprotection while Selank (from tuftsin) leans toward anxiety. See the nootropic hub.
Is Selank legal?
It is an approved medicine in Russia but an unapproved research chemical in the US, UK and EU. See legal status.

Sources