Description
PrymaLab · Research Use Only
Preloaded Autoinjector | Semax | 3ml Pen | 1mg/ml
ACTH(4-7)-PGP analog · heptapeptide · 3ml at 1mg/ml
The Semax autoinjector is a preloaded 3ml research device containing Semax in solution at 1mg/ml, giving 3mg of total peptide. Semax is a seven-residue peptide, CAS 80714-61-0, molecular weight 813.93, comprising the adrenocorticotropic hormone fragment ACTH(4-7) extended by a C-terminal Pro-Gly-Pro tail.
Specification Table
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Device format | Preloaded autoinjector pen, glass cartridge |
| Fill volume | 3 ml |
| Concentration | 1 mg/ml |
| Total compound in device | 3 mg |
| Molar concentration | Approximately 1.23 mM |
| Compound | Semax |
| CAS number | 80714-61-0 |
| Molecular formula | C37H51N9O10S |
| Molecular weight | 813.93 g/mol |
| Amino acid sequence | Met-Glu-His-Phe-Pro-Gly-Pro |
| Single-letter sequence | MEHFPGP |
| Residue count | 7 |
| Structural description | ACTH(4-7) with a C-terminal Pro-Gly-Pro extension |
| Parent fragment | Adrenocorticotropic hormone residues 4 to 7, Met-Glu-His-Phe |
| Stability feature | Pro-Gly-Pro tail conferring resistance to prolyl endopeptidase |
| Melanocortin activity | Negligible. The fragment lacks the residues required for melanocortin receptor engagement |
| Reported research association | Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) expression |
| Oxidation-prone residue | Methionine at position 1 |
| Originating institution | Institute of Molecular Genetics, Russia |
| Reconstitution required | None. Supplied as solution |
| Excipient system | Not published on the product record |
| Storage | 2-8°C, protected from light |
| Purity | Per lot-specific certificate of analysis |
| Regulatory status | Marketed in Russia and neighbouring states. No approved formulation in the United States or European Union |
What Does the Sequence Describe?
Met-Glu-His-Phe-Pro-Gly-Pro divides cleanly into two functional halves, and reading it that way explains the design.
The first four residues, Met-Glu-His-Phe, correspond to residues 4 through 7 of adrenocorticotropic hormone. ACTH is a 39-residue hormone, and this short internal fragment had been investigated for behavioural activity independently of the hormone full endocrine role.
The last three, Pro-Gly-Pro, are not part of ACTH. They were appended deliberately, and the reason is enzymatic. Prolyl endopeptidase cleaves peptide bonds on the carboxyl side of proline residues, and a terminal Pro-Gly-Pro motif occupies that enzyme without being productively cleaved, protecting the sequence upstream.
The design objective is visible in the structure: take a short fragment with reported activity, attach a protective tail, and produce something that survives long enough in a biological environment to be useful.
Worth noting explicitly, since the ACTH parentage invites the assumption: the fragment lacks the residues required for melanocortin receptor engagement and does not carry the corticotropic activity of the full hormone.
What Is the BDNF Association?
Brain-derived neurotrophic factor is the mechanistic thread running through most of the Semax literature, and the association is reported rather than fully established.
BDNF is a neurotrophin supporting neuronal survival, differentiation and synaptic plasticity, acting principally through the TrkB receptor. It is among the most studied molecules in neuroscience, which makes it a natural place for a neuroactive peptide investigation to land.
Published work from the originating Russian group reports that Semax exposure associates with changes in BDNF expression and in the expression of its receptor. That is a transcriptional and protein-level association measured in rodent brain tissue and cell systems.
What is less clear is the intervening mechanism. A seven-residue peptide altering neurotrophin expression requires a route from the peptide to the transcriptional machinery, and that route has not been definitively mapped. No specific receptor for Semax has been identified.
That gap is the honest limit of the mechanistic story. The association is reported across multiple studies. The mechanism connecting them remains open.
Where Does the Evidence Come From?
Predominantly from one research tradition, and that concentration is worth understanding before relying on it.
Semax was developed at the Institute of Molecular Genetics in Russia, and the majority of primary work comes from that group and associated Russian institutions. Much of it is published in Russian-language journals or in translated form in outlets such as Neuroscience and Behavioral Physiology.
The work itself includes detailed pharmacological and molecular characterisation. The limitation is not quality but concentration: independent replication by laboratories outside Russia is sparse, and some primary sources are difficult to access in English.
Clinical use in Russia and neighbouring states is established, and the compound is marketed there. No approved formulation exists in the United States or European Union, and it has not been through the regulatory review those jurisdictions require.
For a researcher the practical guidance is to read primary sources rather than secondary summaries where possible, since the secondary literature on this compound repeats unqualified claims with some regularity.
What Does Solution Supply Mean Here?
For the Semax autoinjector the methionine at position 1 is the principal vulnerability, and its position at the amino terminus makes it more exposed than a buried residue would be.
Methionine oxidises to the sulfoxide under atmospheric oxygen, adding 16 daltons, and the reaction accelerates with trace metal contamination and light exposure. In a lyophilized cake the reaction is slow. In solution it proceeds at a rate depending on dissolved oxygen, pH and what else is present.
The Pro-Gly-Pro tail that protects against enzymatic cleavage offers no protection against chemical oxidation, which is a separate process entirely. Enzymatic resistance and chemical stability are frequently conflated and are not the same property.
At 1 mg/ml the Semax autoinjector is the least concentrated device in the catalogue, approximately 1.23 millimolar, which suits work at lower working concentrations with minimal dilution but means the total quantity in the device is small at 3mg.
Mass spectrometry showing a satellite peak 16 daltons above the parent indicates oxidation has occurred, and the proportion relative to the parent peak indicates how much.
What Is the Relationship to Other ACTH Fragments?
Semax belongs to a small family of short ACTH-derived peptides, and placing it among them clarifies what the design is doing.
Adrenocorticotropic hormone is 39 residues. Its N-terminal region carries the melanocortin receptor pharmacophore, the sequence His-Phe-Arg-Trp around positions 6 to 9, which is shared with the melanocyte-stimulating hormones. Its C-terminal region carries other activity.
ACTH(4-10) was investigated for behavioural activity from the 1970s onward, and shorter fragments including ACTH(4-7) followed. Those studies established that short internal fragments carried activity separable from the hormone endocrine role, which is the premise Semax was built on.
Semax takes ACTH(4-7), Met-Glu-His-Phe, and adds Pro-Gly-Pro. Note what that sequence lacks: the Arg-Trp that completes the melanocortin pharmacophore. Removing those residues is why the fragment does not engage melanocortin receptors meaningfully, and it is a deliberate consequence of where the truncation was made.
Selank, another peptide from the same Russian programme, uses the same design logic on a different parent sequence, attaching a Pro-Gly-Pro tail to a tuftsin fragment. The tail is a platform strategy rather than a one-off.
What Would a Careful Reader Want to Know?
Three things this page has stated and one it has not, gathered here because the compound is easy to over-describe.
No receptor has been identified for Semax. The BDNF association is measured at the level of expression, and the route from a seven-residue peptide to a transcriptional change remains unmapped.
The evidence base is concentrated in one research tradition, with limited independent replication outside it, and several primary sources are difficult to access in English.
No approved formulation exists in the United States or European Union, and clinical use elsewhere does not substitute for the regulatory review those jurisdictions require.
The thing not yet stated: pharmacokinetic data for Semax is thin. Half-life figures circulate without traceable primary sources, and for a seven-residue peptide the Pro-Gly-Pro tail extends enzymatic survival without making it a long-acting compound.
Verifying and Handling the Semax Autoinjector
Inspect for clarity and particulate before each draw, against both light and dark backgrounds. A colourless peptide solution offers no colour cue, so clarity is the only visual signal.
Verify delivered volume gravimetrically at least once. At 1 mg/ml, small volume errors translate to proportionally larger errors in delivered mass than they would at higher concentration, simply because there is less compound per unit volume to begin with.
Let the device reach ambient temperature before actuating, and discard rather than measure the first actuation after any rest period.
Keep the device at 2-8°C away from light, and return it to its packaging whenever it is not in use. Light exclusion matters here for the methionine specifically rather than as a general precaution. Record lot, date of first actuation, storage conditions and volume drawn per session.
A Note on the Low Concentration
At 1 mg/ml the Semax autoinjector is the least concentrated device across all three tranches, and the consequence is worth stating rather than leaving implicit.
Three millilitres at 1 mg/ml is 3mg of total peptide, which is a small quantity for a device intended to serve across multiple sessions. A study consuming more than a few hundred micrograms will exhaust it quickly.
The advantage is that minimal dilution is needed for many applications, which removes serial steps and the error they contribute.
The disadvantage is that volume errors matter proportionally more, because a given volumetric inaccuracy translates into a larger fractional error in delivered mass when there is less compound per millilitre to begin with.
What Does the Semax Literature Report?
Semax has a substantial published record and it comes almost entirely from Russian institutions, which is the frame every claim below sits inside.
The compound was developed at the Institute of Molecular Genetics in Moscow and is registered in Russia, where a Semax nasal spray is the standard formulation.
Registered indications there cover stroke, transient ischaemic attack, cognitive decline and optic nerve disease, which is a wider brief than most Western regulators would grant on the evidence available.
The proposed mechanism runs through BDNF upregulation. Reported increases in brain-derived neurotrophic factor expression in the hippocampus are the most cited finding and the basis of the neuroprotection argument.
Downstream, that account continues into neurogenesis and neuroplasticity, with reported effects on neural connections and on neurotransmitter systems including dopamine and serotonin.
Reported effects on the immune system appear in the same programme’s output, which is unsurprising given the ACTH origin described above.
Cognitive performance and mental performance improvements are reported in small human studies, mostly in attention and short-term memory tasks under load.
Those studies are small, largely untranslated, and rarely replicated outside the tradition that produced them, which is the same limitation Selank carries.
N-Acetyl Semax is a modified version sold alongside it, usually with an amidated variant as well, and marketed on longer duration. Comparative data between the forms is thin.
Nootropic peptide framing, brain health language and ADHD claims come from the market rather than from the registration or the trials. Cognitive enhancement in the sense that market means it, and mental clarity as an outcome, appear nowhere as endpoints.
As a neuropeptide it does have a coherent story. A neuropeptide derived from ACTH with a documented BDNF effect is a reasonable object of study, and peptide therapy clinics selling it as a finished product are the ones outrunning the evidence.
What Is the Position Outside Russia?
Registration in one country is not general approval, and the gap is worth stating plainly.
Semax peptide is not FDA-approved, holds no European approval, and no Western regulator has assessed the Russian data.
It is not a treatment for stroke, cognitive decline, ADHD or any neurological condition outside that registration.
Reported side effects are minimal in the Russian record, with nasal irritation from the intranasal formulation the most commonly noted.
Drug interactions have not been characterised, and anyone taking stimulants or other psychiatric medication has reason to raise this with a prescriber rather than to experiment.
Its safety profile, in the sense a regulator would use the phrase, does not exist.
This device is supplied for laboratory research only and is not for administration to humans or animals.
Which Route Does the Evidence Actually Support?
This is the awkward question for a device page and the honest answer is worth giving directly.
Intranasal is the registered route and where essentially all human data sits. A Semax nasal spray therefore has more precedent behind it than an injection does.
The mechanistic argument for that route is nose-to-brain transport along the olfactory nerve, partly bypassing the blood-brain barrier, which is the same argument made for intranasal insulin and oxytocin.
Bioavailability of this peptide by subcutaneous injection has not been published, so a subcutaneous injection is the less characterised route rather than the more direct one.
Where a systemic question is being asked, an injected route is defensible on general grounds. Where the question is about the brain, the intranasal literature is what exists.
Semax dosage figures circulating for research use come from the Russian package insert or from forums. A Semax dosage protocol assembled from those is not a published protocol, and peptide therapy clinics quoting one are quoting the same sources.
That is true of most short neuropeptide products rather than of this one specifically, and it is why a stated Semax dosage is worth tracing to its source before it is repeated.
Those figures describe a Semax nasal spray at a registered strength. Converting them to an injection site volume is arithmetic performed on a number that never applied to injection in the first place.
Cycle length recommendations follow the same pattern, and the concept is borrowed from compounds where tolerance has been measured rather than derived for this one.
Cerebrolysin, epitalon, sermorelin and even metabolic drugs such as semaglutide and tirzepatide turn up in the same stack guides, and none shares a mechanism with this peptide.
Alpha-MSH is the more relevant relative, since both derive from the same precursor protein, and that relationship is covered in the ACTH fragment section above.
Does the Device Change Handling?
It changes the first step and leaves the rest.
Lyophilized powder in a vial is the usual presentation, reconstituted with bacteriostatic water into a concentration the buyer records.
A pre-filled device removes that step and the arithmetic error it invites, at the cost of putting the peptide into solution before anyone uses it.
Refrigerated storage applies either way, and for this compound the low fill concentration described above makes adsorption a larger proportional concern than usual.
Record the lot, the fill date, the storage condition and the delivered volume. Those fields carry for a solution product what a weighing carries for a powder.
Published Literature
Verified against publisher records or primary indexes. Read the list with the caveat above regarding concentration of primary work in one research tradition.
- Ashmarin IP, Nezavibatko VN, Levitskaya NG, Koshelev VB, Kamensky AA. Neuroscience and Behavioral Physiology. 1997;27(1):40-45.
- Dolotov OV, Karpenko EA, Inozemtseva LS, et al. Journal of Histochemistry and Cytochemistry. 2006;54(11):1231-1239.
- Shadrina MI, Dolotov OV, Grivennikov IA, et al. Neuroscience Letters. 2001;308(2):115-118.
- Gusev EI, Skvortsova VI, Miasoedov NF, Nezavibatko VN, Zhuravleva EIu, Vanichkin AV. Zhurnal Nevrologii i Psikhiatrii. 1997;97(6):26-34.
- Bar-Shai A, Maayan C, Vromen A, et al. Peptides. 2004;25(9):1567-1573.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Semax autoinjector?
A preloaded 3ml research device holding Semax in solution at 1mg/ml, giving 3mg total and roughly 1.23 millimolar. Semax is a seven-residue peptide, CAS 80714-61-0, molecular weight 813.93. Laboratory research use only.
What does the sequence MEHFPGP describe?
Two functional halves. Met-Glu-His-Phe matches residues 4 through 7 of adrenocorticotropic hormone. Pro-Gly-Pro is not part of ACTH at all and was appended deliberately, because prolyl endopeptidase occupies that motif without productively cleaving it.
Does Semax have ACTH activity?
No. The fragment lacks the residues required for melanocortin receptor engagement and does not carry the corticotropic activity of the full 39-residue hormone. The ACTH parentage describes where the sequence came from, not what it does.
What is the BDNF association?
Published work from the originating group reports that Semax exposure associates with changes in brain-derived neurotrophic factor expression and in expression of its TrkB receptor, measured in rodent brain tissue and cell systems. It runs through most of the literature.
Is the BDNF mechanism established?
Not fully. A seven-residue peptide altering neurotrophin expression requires a route from peptide to transcriptional machinery, and that route has not been definitively mapped. No specific receptor for Semax has been identified, which is the honest limit of the mechanistic story.
Where does the research come from?
Predominantly the Institute of Molecular Genetics in Russia and associated institutions, published in Russian-language journals or in translation. The work is detailed, but independent replication outside Russia is sparse and some primary sources are hard to access in English.
What is the regulatory status?
Marketed in Russia and neighbouring states, where clinical use is established. No approved formulation exists in the United States or European Union, and the compound has not been through the regulatory review those jurisdictions require. This device is research material.
What is the main stability concern in solution?
The methionine at position 1, which oxidises to the sulfoxide under atmospheric oxygen, adding sixteen daltons. Sitting at the amino terminus leaves it more exposed than a buried residue would be, and trace metals and light both accelerate it.
Does the Pro-Gly-Pro tail protect against that?
No, and the two are frequently conflated. The tail confers resistance to prolyl endopeptidase, which is enzymatic cleavage. Chemical oxidation of methionine is an entirely separate process, and enzymatic resistance offers no protection against it.
Why does volume accuracy matter more at 1 mg/ml?
Because there is less compound per unit volume, so a given volume error translates to a proportionally larger error in delivered mass than the same error would at 5 or 10 mg/ml. This is the least concentrated device in the catalogue.
How does Semax relate to other ACTH fragments?
It belongs to a small family of short ACTH-derived peptides. ACTH(4-10) was investigated for behavioural activity from the 1970s, and shorter fragments including ACTH(4-7) followed, establishing that short internal fragments carried activity separable from the hormone endocrine role.
Why does Semax lack melanocortin activity?
Because the truncation removes the Arg-Trp that completes the melanocortin pharmacophore. ACTH carries His-Phe-Arg-Trp around positions 6 to 9, and Semax stops at position 7, taking Met-Glu-His-Phe only. The omission is a deliberate consequence of where the cut was made.
Is the Pro-Gly-Pro tail unique to Semax?
No, it is a platform strategy. Selank, another peptide from the same Russian programme, applies the same approach to a tuftsin fragment. Attaching a prolyl endopeptidase-occupying tail to a short active sequence is the shared design principle.
What is Semax approved for?
In Russia it is registered for stroke, transient ischaemic attack, cognitive decline and optic nerve disease, dispensed as a nasal spray. It is not FDA-approved, holds no European approval, and no Western regulator has assessed the underlying data.
How does Semax peptide work?
The proposed route is BDNF upregulation in the hippocampus, continuing into neurogenesis and neuroplasticity, with reported effects on neurotransmitter systems including dopamine and serotonin. That neuroprotection account is the most cited part of the record and rests on one research tradition.
Does it work as a nootropic?
Small human studies report cognitive performance gains in attention and short-term memory under load. Those are the strongest data behind the nootropic peptide framing. Claims about mental clarity, brain fog, mood regulation and ADHD come from the market rather than the trials.
What are the side effects?
Minimal in the Russian record, with nasal irritation from the intranasal formulation most noted. That is not a safety profile in the sense a regulator would use. Drug interactions are uncharacterised, so anyone on stimulants or psychiatric medication should raise it with a prescriber.
Nasal spray or injection?
A Semax nasal spray is the registered delivery method and where essentially all human data sits, on a nose-to-brain argument along the olfactory nerve. Bioavailability by subcutaneous injection has not been published, so injection is the less characterised route rather than the more direct one.
Where do Semax dosage figures come from?
The Russian package insert or forums. A peptide protocol assembled from those is not a published protocol, and no dosing protocols exist for a research preparation. Cycle length advice borrows a concept from compounds where tolerance has actually been measured.
What is N-Acetyl Semax?
A modified version sold alongside the parent, usually with an amidated variant too, marketed on longer duration. Comparative data between the forms is thin, so a claim that one outperforms another is not currently supported by published work.
What about injection technique and disposal?
Questions about an insulin syringe, a sharps container, whether to rotate injection sites on the abdomen, proper technique or a dose increase all belong to clinical guidance for approved medicines. None applies here, because this is not for administration to anyone.
How does it relate to other therapeutic peptides?
Cerebrolysin, epitalon and sermorelin appear in the same stack guides and share no mechanism with it. Alpha-MSH is the relevant relative, since both derive from the same precursor. Peptide therapy clinics group them commercially rather than by evidence.
Does it affect the immune system?
Effects on the immune system are reported in the same programme’s output, which is unsurprising given the ACTH origin. Like the central nervous system findings and the cognitive function data, those results sit almost entirely inside one research tradition.
Compliance Statement
The Semax autoinjector is sold exclusively for laboratory research use. It is not a drug, food, or cosmetic product, and it is not a dietary product of any kind. It is not approved by the FDA or any comparable authority for human or veterinary use, and while Semax is marketed in Russia and neighbouring states, no approved formulation exists in the United States or European Union. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. It must not be given to humans or animals. Purchase is restricted to qualified researchers and institutions operating within applicable laws. All handling is the responsibility of the purchasing laboratory.
Other formats of Semax
Semax is also stocked as Semax 5mg, Semax 10mg Nasal Spray and Semax 11mg. Each listing states its own quantity and concentration, and the pen and vial comparison explains what changes between formats.
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