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Semax

ACTH fragment analogue — not dispensed

Semax is a synthetic ACTH(4–10) analogue, approved in Russia and nowhere else.

Recommended 8–5 for the 503A bulks list in July 2026; HHS has not acted. The human data is in stroke patients, which is not a model for cognition in healthy adults.

Limited human evidence

Human data exists, but it is older, smaller or narrower than the claims commonly made about this compound.

8–5

Advisory committee vote recommending it for the 503A bulks list

PCAC, 23–24 July 2026
RU

The only jurisdiction where it holds a marketing approval

Not FDA-approved
1997

The most-cited human clinical study — in acute ischaemic stroke

See below

What it is

Semax is a synthetic analogue of a fragment of ACTH, developed in Russia and approved there for stroke and cognitive indications. It has no FDA approval and is not on the 503A bulks list. Whealth does not dispense it.

How it works

It is a modified ACTH(4–10) fragment that appears to raise BDNF and act on neurotrophic signalling without the hormonal effects of full ACTH. Of the six peptides on this page it has the most human data — and that data is almost entirely Russian, from the 1990s and 2000s.

What the evidence actually says

  1. 1997

    Stroke study

    A clinical and electrophysiological study in acute hemispheric ischaemic stroke, published in a Russian neurology journal. Real human data, in an acute hospital setting, not in healthy adults seeking focus.

  2. 2021

    Mechanistic work

    Continuing animal work on behavioural and neurochemical effects. The mechanism is still being characterised.

  3. 2026

    PCAC vote

    Recommended 8–5 for the 503A bulks list on 23–24 July. Advisory; HHS has not acted.

What the first months look like

  • TodayNothing from us. Not on the 503A bulks list.
  • If HHS actsIt becomes compoundable. We would want to see the Russian data replicated under a Western regulator before selling it.

Who this is not for

  • Anyone, from us, at present.
  • Anyone treating it as a nootropic. The human evidence is in stroke patients, which is not a model for cognition in healthy adults.
Sources
  1. Gusev EI et al. Effectiveness of semax in acute period of hemispheric ischemic stroke. Zh Nevrol Psikhiatr Im S S Korsakova 1997;97:26–34. PMID 11517472.
  2. Glazova NY et al. Semax, synthetic ACTH(4-10) analogue, attenuates behavioural and neurochemical alterations. Neuropeptides 2021;86:102114. PMID 33418449.

Figures are quoted from the published trials and were last checked in August 2026. We update this page when the evidence changes.