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CognitiveLimited human evidence

Semax

Heptapeptide analog of ACTH(4-10) studied in Russia for cognitive and neuroprotective effects after stroke.

Educational only — not medical advice. SmartPeptide does not prescribe, diagnose, or treat. Always consult a licensed healthcare provider before using any peptide, supplement, medication, or protocol.

What the research shows

Russian post-stroke and cognitive-performance studies; some BDNF/neurotrophic mechanism work.

What's still experimental

Limited western replication. Cognitive-enhancement claims in healthy adults need larger trials.

Anecdotal / community reports

Focus and clarity reports are common; outcomes depend on dose, formulation, and individual factors.

Anecdotal reports are NOT scientific evidence. They reflect personal experience and may not generalize.

FDA approval status

Source: openFDA + DailyMed (NIH/NLM)
No FDA-approved drug label exists for “Semax”. This peptide is not currently approved by the FDA as a finished pharmaceutical product. Any commercial product claiming FDA approval should be treated with suspicion.

Doses studied in research

Source: Published clinical trial

What published trials tested or FDA-approved labels specify. Reporting research facts — not a SmartPeptide recommendation.

Community-anecdotal range — NOT a SmartPeptide recommendation

The doses below are aggregated from research-peptide community forums (Reddit, biohacker discussions). They are NOT supported by clinical trials, NOT FDA-approved, and NOT a SmartPeptide recommendation. Source purity, dose accuracy, and user-reported outcomes are unverifiable. We display this only because the information is publicly available elsewhere — visitors should absolutely consult a licensed clinician familiar with experimental peptides before any use.

Community-anecdotal — not evidence-basedRussian clinical literature + nootropic forums
Indication studied: Community-discussed for cognitive / stroke recovery (some Russian clinical use)
Typical
300µg
1-3x daily · intranasal

Russian clinical protocols commonly cited

Open calculator
Maximum
600µg
1-3x daily · intranasal

Higher community range

Open calculator

Notes from the source: Approved in Russia for stroke recovery; not approved or studied at scale in Western RCTs.

Important framing: The numbers above are what published trials tested or what FDA-approved labels specify. They are NOT a SmartPeptide recommendation for you. Trial doses come paired with screening, monitoring, and clinician oversight. Always consult a licensed clinician before any peptide use.

How clinicians typically protocol this

Third-party reference · not our recommendation

Dosing phases, cycle lengths, and administration timing as listed in a compounding-pharmacy clinician reference guide. Shown so you can see what a real protocol looks like — and bring informed questions to a licensed clinician.

Third-party protocol referenceCompounding-pharmacy clinician protocol reference (Nov 2025)

Dose numbers, frequencies, and cycle lengths in this panel are extracted from a clinician-facing reference protocol distributed by a US-based compounding pharmacy in November 2025. SmartPeptide has paraphrased all descriptive text and adds no endorsement. Always consult a licensed clinician.

Nootropic

Synthetic ACTH(4-10) analog studied for cognitive, mood, and neuroprotective effects.

Protocol phases

Cognitive enhancement
500 µg – 1 mgdaily, often split
intranasal or subcutaneous
Ischemic stroke research protocol
1 mg4× daily, up to 10 days
intranasal
Administration timing

Intranasal onset within 30–60 min.

Protocol notes: Reference reports common stacking with Selank (calm + focus) or with NAD+/MOTS-c for mitochondrial energy.

Reconstitution calculator Storage & reconstitution guide
Not medical advice. SmartPeptide does not prescribe, diagnose, or treat. The protocol above reproduces dose figures from a third-party clinician reference so you can see what compounding-pharmacy guidance typically looks like — it is not a recommendation for you, and it has not been validated against peer-reviewed dose-ranging trials. Many of these compounds are not FDA-approved for human use. Work with a licensed clinician familiar with peptide therapy before considering anything here.

FDA enforcement & recalls

Live · openFDA Drug Enforcement API
No FDA enforcement actions (recalls, market withdrawals, safety alerts) on record for “Semax”. This is the expected baseline for most peptides — the absence of recalls does NOT imply general safety, only that no formal FDA enforcement has been initiated against approved formulations.

Mechanism & targets

ChEMBL · UniProt · Open Targets
No mechanism data indexed in ChEMBL, UniProt, or Open Targets for “Semax”. This is common for unscheduled research peptides that haven't been studied in structured target-binding assays.

Live research

PubMed · ClinicalTrials.gov · Europe PMC · OpenAlex
PubMed papers
231
total
Human studies
0
MeSH: humans
Clinical trials
0
published
Active trials
0
0 total registered

Europe PMC — 326 additional records

Includes EU/UK studies and PubMed Central full-text articles. Often surfaces research weeks before PubMed indexes it.

Research volume (OpenAlex topic graph)

Total works
1,239
all years
Last 5 years
591
recent activity
Open access
884
freely readable
OA share
71%
of all works

Human clinical evidence

Semantic Scholar · AI TLDRs · influence-ranked
Semantic Scholar API is currently rate-limited.

Human-study summaries for “semax” are available on Semantic Scholar but the shared free-tier API quota is exhausted right now. Try refreshing in a few minutes, or check the PubMed and Europe PMC panels above for the same literature.

Research funding & verification

NIH RePORTER · CrossRef DOI registry

Publication landscape

CrossRef · DOI registry
Indexed works (CrossRef)
212
all DOIs registered
Retracted papers
0
no retractions on record
Top funders of indexed research
  • Russian Foundation for Basic Research5 works
  • Russian Science Foundation4 works
  • Moscow State University of Geodesy and Cartography1 works
  • MIUR FIRB_MERIT1 works
  • MIUR1 works
  • Innovation and Technology Fund1 works

Funder diversity is a credibility signal. Research concentrated in a single drug company's funding warrants more scrutiny than research funded across NIH, charities, and academic grants.

Preprints — cutting edge

bioRxiv · medRxiv · via Europe PMC

Preprints have NOT been peer-reviewed. They are early research shared by authors before formal validation. Treat findings as preliminary.

Showing 3 of 3 preprints indexed by Europe PMC.

Known risks

Mostly Russian-source data; not approved by FDA.

Reported side effects

Limited safety data in Western populations.

FDA adverse event reports (FAERS)

Updated quarterly by FDA
Reports filed
2
FAERS, all years
Serious reports
1
50% of reports
Top reporting countries
  • US1

Most-reported reactions

  • Dyspnoea
    1
  • Electrocardiogram Qt Prolonged
    1
  • Eye Pain
    1
  • Product Advertising Issue
    1
  • Somnolence
    1

Counts from FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS). Voluntary reports — they show what was reported, not whether the drug caused the event. Many reports lack confirmation. FAERS docs

What requires medical supervision

Not FDA-approved. Limited western safety data.

Questions for your clinician

  • Is there independent (non-Russian) replication?
  • What baseline cognitive testing would we do to track effect?

Editorially curated references

Discussions about Semax

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