Selank is Semax's sibling: same laboratory, same stabilising tail, same pattern of small studies in Russian journals, marketed in the West as a calm-without-sedation nootropic. The anxiety studies are real and randomised. What they lack is a placebo, and that turns out to matter a great deal for an anxiolytic.
What it is
Selank is a synthetic heptapeptide built from tuftsin, a natural tetrapeptide fragment of immunoglobulin G with immunomodulatory activity, plus a Pro-Gly-Pro extension for stability. It was developed at the Institute of Molecular Genetics in Moscow and is registered in Russia as a nasal preparation for anxiety. Animal studies attribute its effects to inhibition of enkephalin-degrading enzymes and to GABAergic modulation.
The human evidence
| Year | Design | Result | PubMed |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Randomised comparison, 62 patients with generalised anxiety disorder or neurasthenia: selank (30) vs medazepam (32); Hamilton, Zung and CGI scales; serum enkephalin activity | Anxiolytic effect similar to medazepam; selank additionally described as anti-asthenic. No placebo. | 18454096 |
| 2014 | Comparative study, 60 patients with anxiety-phobic and somatoform disorders: selank vs phenazepam | Pronounced anxiolytic and mild nootropic effects reported; effect described as lasting a week after the last dose. Open design. | 25176261 |
| 2015 | Randomised, 70 patients: phenazepam alone (30) vs phenazepam plus selank (40); HDRS, CGI, Spielberger, UKU side-effect scale | Combination reported to reach effect earlier and to reduce phenazepam side effects (sedation, memory, orthostasis). No placebo. | 26356395 |
Anxiety trials have among the largest placebo responses in medicine. A study that shows a new drug performs about as well as a benzodiazepine, without a placebo arm, has not shown that either drug beat placebo in that sample. An add-on study that reports fewer benzodiazepine side effects in the combination arm is interesting, but its open design cannot exclude reporting bias. These are the limits of the Selank literature, and they are limits of design, not of the authors' honesty.
No trial has been published from any group outside the developer's network, and none for the "focus and calm" use sold to healthy people.
Regulatory status
FDA placed selank acetate (TP-7) in Category 2 on September 29, 2023. The Category 2 page (content current as of April 22, 2026) shows it as nominated but withdrawn and retains the concern: possible immunogenicity from aggregation and peptide-related impurities, and "FDA lacks important information regarding any safety issues raised by selank acetate administered to humans."
Selank appears on the agenda for the second day of the Pharmacy Compounding Advisory Committee meeting, July 24, 2026. It is not on the 503A bulks list, not in Category 1, and not an ingredient of any FDA-approved drug. Our 503A explainer sets out what each of those phrases means in practice.
Safety signals
FDA's concern is the absence of safety information for the routes nominated in the US. The Russian studies report good tolerability in the small numbers treated, by the nasal route. Injectable use, which some sellers describe, has no published human exposure at all.
Grade: C + X
C because randomised controlled comparisons exist, with the placebo caveat above weighing heavily. X for FDA's published safety concern. The methodology page explains why an active-comparator study without placebo sits in C rather than B regardless of how many patients it enrolled.
Questions people ask
Has Selank been shown to reduce anxiety?
In three small Russian studies it performed comparably to a benzodiazepine (medazepam in 2008, PubMed 18454096; phenazepam in 2014, PubMed 25176261) or reduced benzodiazepine side effects when added to phenazepam (2015, PubMed 26356395). None included a placebo arm, so none can separate the drug's effect from expectation and time. No trial has been run outside the group that developed it.
Is Selank approved anywhere?
It is registered in Russia as a nasal anxiolytic. It has no FDA or EMA review and no approved product in the United States or European Union.
What is Selank made from?
It is a synthetic analogue of tuftsin, a natural four-amino-acid fragment of immunoglobulin G, extended with the same Pro-Gly-Pro tail used in Semax to slow breakdown. The proposed anxiolytic mechanism involves enkephalin-degrading enzymes and GABA signalling, shown mainly in animal work.
Sources
- FDA: Certain Bulk Drug Substances for Use in Compounding That May Present Significant Safety Risks (content current as of April 22, 2026) Accessed September 4, 2026.
- FDA: July 23-24, 2026 Meeting of the Pharmacy Compounding Advisory Committee Accessed September 4, 2026.
- Zozulia AA et al. Efficacy and possible mechanisms of action of a new peptide anxiolytic selank in the therapy of generalized anxiety disorders and neurasthenia. Zh Nevrol Psikhiatr Im S S Korsakova 2008. PubMed 18454096 Accessed September 4, 2026.
- Medvedev VE et al. A comparison of the anxiolytic effect and tolerability of selank and phenazepam in the treatment of anxiety disorders. Zh Nevrol Psikhiatr Im S S Korsakova 2014. PubMed 25176261 Accessed September 4, 2026.
- Medvedev VE et al. Optimization of the treatment of anxiety disorders with selank. Zh Nevrol Psikhiatr Im S S Korsakova 2015. PubMed 26356395 Accessed September 4, 2026.
Canonical URL: https://formblendspeptides.com/peptides/selank. Written by the FormBlends editorial team. This page is educational and is not medical advice; see the medical disclaimer.