ACTH fragment raises a handful of sensible questions. This page answers them in order, starting with the fundamentals and moving to applications.
This page was last updated on 2026-01-09 and is reviewed periodically as new material appears.
Russian regulatory authorities approved the peptide for nasal administration, and it remains listed in the national pharmacopoeia under several trade names. Documented indications include acute ischemic stroke, transient ischemic attacks, traumatic brain injury, and certain ophthalmological and neurological conditions. Physicians also prescribe it for cognitive complaints in older patients, although the evidence base for that use is thinner. Outside Russia and a few neighboring states, the substance is not an approved medicine and is sold instead as a research chemical.
Later generations of the molecule include an N-acetylated form and an amidated form, both marketed online alongside the parent peptide. These variants differ in terminal chemistry and stability, and they are frequently discussed in the same breath even though they have not been compared in controlled trials. Supply outside formal healthcare systems comes largely from laboratories that synthesize peptides to order. Purity and identity of these materials vary widely, and no single body oversees the international trade.
Semax is a synthetic heptapeptide whose sequence is Met-Glu-His-Phe-Pro-Gly-Pro. The first four residues correspond to the ACTH(4-10) fragment, while the terminal Pro-Gly-Pro extension was added to improve metabolic stability. Its molecular formula is C37H51N9O10S and its monoisotopic mass is approximately 813.9 Da. The compound is classified as a peptide research chemical and as a registered pharmaceutical product in Russia, but it does not hold marketing approval in the European Union or the United States. Naming conventions vary across supplier catalogs.
Development of the compound took place in the Soviet Union during the 1980s, largely through peptide research groups affiliated with the Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute and Moscow State University. Investigators screened fragments of adrenocorticotropic hormone for activity on the central nervous system while attempting to separate cognitive effects from hormonal ones. The shortened sequence was selected because it retained behavioral activity in animal models without stimulating corticosteroid release. Early publications described the molecule as an ACTH(4-10) analog.
| Property | Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Molecular class | Synthetic heptapeptide | Analog of an ACTH fragment |
| Amino acid length | Seven residues | Met-Glu-His-Phe-Pro-Gly-Pro |
| Origin | Moscow, 1980s | Institute of Molecular Genetics |
| Approved regions | Russia and some neighboring states | Not cleared in Western markets |
| Common trade names | Multiple national brands | Sold as a nasal formulation |
Semax is a synthetic seven-amino-acid peptide whose sequence extends the ACTH(4-10) fragment with a C-terminal proline-glycine-proline tripeptide. The commonly cited sequence is Met-Glu-His-Phe-Pro-Gly-Pro, giving a molecular formula near C37H51N9O10S and a molecular weight close to 813.9 g/mol. It belongs to the broader class of synthetic ACTH fragments studied for central nervous system effects rather than for adrenal steroid stimulation. In practice the material appears as a lyophilized white powder for laboratory work or as a dilute saline solution in clinical settings.
Development is attributed to researchers at the Institute of Molecular Genetics in Moscow during the early 1980s, building on earlier Soviet work with ACTH fragments. Russian regulatory approval followed for intranasal use, and the compound has remained commercially available there for decades. Most published human data originate from Russian and, later, some Eastern European clinical reports, which are not always accessible in English translation. Outside that region the material is generally handled as a research chemical rather than a licensed medicine.
Regulatory status differs sharply between jurisdictions. In Russia the peptide is registered as a prescription nasal preparation, while agencies such as the United States Food and Drug Administration have not approved it for any indication. Products sold elsewhere are typically labeled for laboratory research only, and such labels shift responsibility for safe handling to the purchaser. Because the same name covers pharmaceutical-grade nasal drops and bulk research powder, identity and purity documentation becomes the main practical concern when comparing sources.
当时的短肽研究普遍关注能否穿越血脑屏障、在低剂量下产生中枢效应，Semax 属于这一路线。鼻内给药是其主要使用方式，俄语文献报道的适应症涵盖缺血性卒中、短暂性脑缺血发作、认知功能减退以及视神经病变。这些研究大多发表在当地期刊上，样本规模与终点设置同西方试验惯例存在差异，国际同行对其临床证据的强度看法不一。
各国监管态度分化明显。俄罗斯按处方药管理，部分东欧国家留有使用记录；欧盟与美国未批准其作为药物上市，市面流通品通常标注为研究用化学品。身份差异意味着标示含量、纯度与无菌性缺少统一核查。体育领域还牵涉反兴奋剂名录，跨境携带则受目的地药品法规约束。
Semax is a synthetic heptapeptide with the sequence Met-Glu-His-Phe-Pro-Gly-Pro. It corresponds to the ACTH(4-7) fragment extended at the C-terminus by a Pro-Gly-Pro tripeptide, an addition intended to slow enzymatic breakdown. The molecular formula is C37H51N9O10S and the molecular mass is approximately 814 daltons. In the literature it is often described as an ACTH(4-10) analog, although that label reflects a naming convention as much as a precise structural relationship. The compound was developed in Russia and remains most closely associated with that research tradition.
Laboratory descriptions of the material are consistent across suppliers. It appears as a white to off-white lyophilized powder that dissolves readily in water and in polar organic solvents such as dimethyl sulfoxide. Aqueous solutions are clear and colorless at low concentrations. Because the peptide contains methionine, oxidation at the sulfur atom is a recognized degradation pathway, and handling notes usually call for protected, desiccated storage. Reported purity for research-grade lots is generally above 95 percent as measured by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography.
The compound is registered in Russia as a pharmaceutical product, most commonly formulated as a nasal solution, and has been used in that setting since the 1990s. Outside that jurisdiction it is generally handled as a research chemical rather than an approved medicine. Regulatory status therefore differs sharply between countries, and material sold internationally may not correspond to the Russian pharmaceutical formulation. Documentation with commercial samples is typically limited to a certificate of analysis covering purity and identity, not clinical status or local legal classification.
He raised approximately $850,000 by February, enough money to fund the somatostatin research projects. By August 1977, the research teams managed to create the first bacterium capable of synthesizing somatostatin. This was the proof of concept that the fledgling company sought. On December 2, 1977, Swanson and the scientists held a press conference announcing their findings. Following their success with the proof of concept, Swanson then directed the scientists to pursue the creation of a bacterium that synthesized human insulin. Two other scientific teams were already attempting to carry out such a project, but Swanson moved quickly to ensure that they synthesized it first. By early 1978, his priorities were to obtain a lab space for the scientists, corporate contracts, and more funding for Genentech. In order to attract the best scientists, Swanson, with the assistance of Boyer, tried to create an attractive environment for academic scientists. It was because of this that scientists at Genentech were allowed to publish their findings in scientific journals. The restriction was that they could publish only after the appropriate patents had already been filed. By February 1978, Swanson leased a 10,000-square-foot section of an airfreight warehouse, which would serve as Genentech's first lab space. Later that year, Swanson also secured a partnership with Eli Lilly; Genentech would receive $50,000 a month to pursue the human insulin project.
Target validation (TV) → Assay development → High-throughput screening (HTS) → Hit to lead (H2L) → Lead optimization (LO) → Preclinical development → Clinical development The hit to lead stage starts with confirmation and evaluation of the initial screening hits and is followed by synthesis of analogs (hit expansion). Typically the initial screening hits display binding affinities for their biological target in the micromolar (10−6 molar concentration) range. Through limited H2L optimization, the affinities of the hits are often improved by several orders of magnitude to the nanomolar (10−9 M) range. The hits also undergo limited optimization to improve metabolic half life so that the compounds can be tested in animal models of disease and also to improve selectivity against other biological targets binding that may result in undesirable side effects. On average, only one in every 5,000 compounds that enters drug discovery to the stage of preclinical development becomes an approved drug.
== History == Gramicidin S was discovered by Russian microbiologist Georgyi Frantsevitch Gause and his wife Maria Brazhnikova in 1942. Within the year Gramicidin S was being used in Soviet military hospitals to treat infection and eventually found usage at the front lines of combat by 1946. Gause was awarded the Stalin Prize for Medicine for his discovery in 1946. In 1944, Gramicidin S was sent by the Ministry of Health of the USSR to Great Britain via the International Red Cross in a collaborative effort to establish the exact structure. English chemist Richard Synge proved that the compound was an original antibiotic and a polypeptide using paper chromatography. He would later go on to receive the Nobel Prize for his work in chromatography. The crystal structure was finally established by Dorothy Hodgkin and Gerhard Schmidt; Margaret Thatcher worked for a term in 1947 with Gerhard Schmidt on the antibiotic Gramicidin S, as an undergraduate research project. The importance of Gramicidin S and antibiotic research in general was so great that Gause was not persecuted during the period of Lysenkoism in the USSR, while many of his colleagues were. Indeed, it was his need for developing new strains to mass-produce antibiotics that allowed politically sanctioned collaborations with geneticists like Joseph Rapoport and Alexander Malinovsky, who would both actively participate in the downfall of Lysenkoism.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
=== Film performances === Culp worked as an actor in many theatrical films, beginning with three in 1963: As naval officer John F. Kennedy's good friend Ensign George Ross in PT 109, as legendary gunslinger Wild Bill Hickok in The Raiders, and as the debonair fiancé of Jane Fonda in Sunday in New York. He starred in Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice in 1969, with Natalie Wood. Another memorable role came as another gunslinger, Thomas Luther Price, in Hannie Caulder (1971) opposite Raquel Welch. A year later, Hickey & Boggs reunited him with Cosby for the first time since I Spy. Culp also directed this feature film, in which Cosby and he portray over-the-hill private eyes. In 1986, he had a primary role as General Woods in the comedy Combat Academy. Culp played the U.S. President in Alan J. Pakula's 1993 murder mystery, The Pelican Brief.
== Clinical trials == Preclinical research showed that it elicits neutralizing antibodies in non-human primates against COVID-19 variants of concern, including the SARS-CoV-2 Alpha variant, Beta variant, Delta variant, and Gamma variant.
The negotiations ended in deadlock, and Leibold suggests that Chiang deliberately sided with Liu over the Tibetans in order to gain his support against Communist forces during the Long March—who had managed to slip through Xikang anyway. Liu's later stance on Tibet was more pragmatic, arguing that development of Xikang was a prerequisite for dealing with Tibet. Here, he attempted to build connections with Tibetan elites through shared Buddhist ties and leverage the tea trade to strengthen economic relations. Every year or so after 1940, Liu would send around 30-40,000 yuan worth of tea to the three great monasteries of Tibet as offerings to the 14th Dalai Lama. Liu maintained a military presence on the border with Tibet, which he would later use to justify his non-participation in the Second Sino-Japanese War. In late 1942, Chiang Kai-shek ordered Liu, as well as Ma Bufang in Qinghai, to deploy more troops on the border for the purposes of launching a military campaign against Tibet, which Liu accepted on the condition that he be granted extra military provisions and to personally take command of any reinforcements the central government would send. Plans for the campaign were eventually abandoned. Much later, it would be revealed through released materials from the Academica Historica that the Tibetan campaign was actually a pretext for the Chongqing government to assert direct control over Xikang.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
It originated at the Institute of Molecular Genetics in Moscow during the 1980s. The work was carried out by a Russian research group that specialized in peptide neuropharmacology.
It is registered as a medicine in Russia and has been used clinically there for decades. No regulatory agency in Western Europe or North America has approved it for any indication.
Semax corresponds to the four-to-ten fragment of adrenocorticotropic hormone. Because it omits the first three residues, it lacks the adrenal-stimulating action of the full hormone.
It is a synthetic peptide of seven amino acids. Its backbone corresponds to a fragment of adrenocorticotropic hormone extended at the carboxyl end. The material is distributed as a lyophilized solid for laboratory use.