Semax dosing evidence
Semax has published human doses, and they come from somewhere most readers do not expect: Russian hospital trials in stroke and motor neuron disease, not from any study of healthy adults taking it for focus. It is a synthetic heptapeptide, an analogue of the ACTH(4-10) fragment extended at the C-terminus with Pro-Gly-Pro to slow enzymatic degradation, and it is reported to be devoid of the corticotropic hormonal activity of ACTH itself. It is given intranasally. Nothing about the form that has actually been studied is reconstituted, mixed or injected, which is why this page carries no mixing calculator. In Russia it is a registered prescription medicine supplied as a ready-made 0.1% or 1% nasal solution; everywhere else it circulates as a research chemical with no approved dose, purity or potency standard. The published range below is one band, and the distance between it and what Western sellers describe is the first thing to read.
Curated by Dosavy from published literature and regulator labels. Published 11 September 2026, last reviewed 11 September 2026. No clinician reviews this page.
What the evidence says
| Experience | Route | Range | Frequency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intermediate | Intranasal | 6–18 mg[1][2][3][4]This is a single band covering every human dose in the corpus, stratified by disease severity rather than by user experience: there is no published titration schedule for Semax. The individual protocols were: 6000 mcg/day for 10 days, repeated after a 20-day interval, in post-stroke rehabilitation; 12 mg/day for 5 days in hemispheric ischaemic stroke of moderate severity and 18 mg/day for 10 days in severe stroke; and 12 mg/day in two 10-day courses two weeks apart in motor neuron disease. All were supervised hospital protocols using the Russian 1% solution in patients with an acute or subacute neurological diagnosis. Nothing here supports a self-administered daily dose in a healthy adult. | Total daily dose, given intranasally in divided administrations, in courses of 5-10 days |
- IntermediateIntranasal
Total daily dose, given intranasally in divided administrations, in courses of 5-10 days
This is a single band covering every human dose in the corpus, stratified by disease severity rather than by user experience: there is no published titration schedule for Semax. The individual protocols were: 6000 mcg/day for 10 days, repeated after a 20-day interval, in post-stroke rehabilitation; 12 mg/day for 5 days in hemispheric ischaemic stroke of moderate severity and 18 mg/day for 10 days in severe stroke; and 12 mg/day in two 10-day courses two weeks apart in motor neuron disease. All were supervised hospital protocols using the Russian 1% solution in patients with an acute or subacute neurological diagnosis. Nothing here supports a self-administered daily dose in a healthy adult.
Published ranges, reported as the literature states them and numbered to the sources at the foot of this page. Not a recommendation.
Human dosing ranges exist and are cited below, but the evidence is narrow: the trials are Russian, mostly open-label, in acute or subacute neurological disease, and use a 1% intranasal formulation that is not what most Western buyers receive. There is no published dose for the use most people actually have in mind (cognitive enhancement in healthy adults) and no titration schedule anywhere in the literature.
Semax at a glance
- Category
- Sleep / nootropic
- Half-life
- Not established
- Routes
- Intranasal
- Regulatory status
- Not approved
- Also sold as
- Semax, N-acetyl semax, ACTH(4-7)PGP, Met-Glu-His-Phe-Pro-Gly-Pro, MGHPPGP
Mechanism
A synthetic heptapeptide analogue of the ACTH(4-10) fragment, extended at the C-terminus with Pro-Gly-Pro to slow enzymatic degradation. It is reported to be devoid of the corticotropic hormonal activity of ACTH itself. Animal work attributes its nootropic effect to stimulation of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) synthesis and to activation of serotonergic and dopaminergic systems: striatal 5-HIAA rose to 180% of baseline within 1-4 h of Semax 0.15 mg/kg intraperitoneally in rodents, without changing dopamine directly, but strongly potentiating amphetamine-induced dopamine release. Angioprotective, antihypoxic and neurotrophic activity has been described in animals at 100-150 mcg/kg. These mechanistic figures are animal doses and do not license any human dose.
Reconstitution
The Russian pharmaceutical product is a ready-made nasal solution and is not reconstituted. Research-grade lyophilised powder has no validated reconstitution procedure, concentration standard or sterility assurance; a mcg-per-spray figure quoted by a vendor describes that vendor's own preparation only.
Storage
No approved label defines storage outside Russia, where the product is supplied as a ready-made 0.1% or 1% nasal solution. Material sold elsewhere is a lyophilised research powder with no pharmaceutical storage standard attached to it.
Frequency in practice
Intranasal, given as a total daily dose in one or more administrations, in short courses (5-30 days) rather than continuously.
Regulatory
Registered as a prescription medicine in Russia (and some CIS states) for ischaemic stroke, cognitive and optic-nerve indications, where it is sold as 0.1% and 1% nasal drops. Never approved by the FDA or EMA, and not approved anywhere in North America or Western Europe. Outside Russia it circulates as a research chemical or as a compounded clinic preparation with no approved dose, purity or potency standard.
What to know before anything else
Not FDA- or EMA-approved. No approved label outside Russia defines a safe dose, a purity standard, contraindications, or drug interactions for Semax.
The doses used in the published human trials (6-18 mg per day intranasally, using the Russian 1% formulation) are roughly 10-30x higher than the 300-600 mcg per day that Western vendors and clinics sell. These are two different practices under one name; a figure from either context does not transfer to the other, and the trial doses were given to hospitalised stroke and motor-neuron-disease patients under supervision.
Paroxysmal EEG activity was observed in some patients with posthypoxic encephalopathy after Semax administration, and the authors concluded that the first administration should be carried out while monitoring the bioelectric activity of the brain (PMID 10199046).
Essentially the entire human evidence base is Russian-language, single-centre, and either open-label or non-blinded, and has not been independently replicated outside Russia. The two placebo-controlled studies in healthy volunteers measured resting-state fMRI connectivity, not any clinical outcome.
Long-term safety, endocrine effects, and effects in healthy adults taking it for cognition rather than for a diagnosed neurological condition have not been studied at any dose.
Semax questions
Is there an established human dose for Semax?
Yes, but narrower than the word usually implies. Every figure in the published range below is quoted from Russian-language clinical work in acute or subacute neurological disease: a 1997 controlled clinical trial in 110 patients with hemispheric ischaemic stroke, a 2018 clinical trial of the same size in post-stroke rehabilitation, and a 2007 open-label trial in 27 patients with motor neuron disease. All were supervised hospital protocols using the Russian 1% solution. There is no published dose for cognitive enhancement in a healthy adult, and no titration schedule exists anywhere in the literature.
How does Semax work?
The Pro-Gly-Pro tail is the design: it slows enzymatic degradation of an ACTH(4-10) fragment that would otherwise clear quickly, while the corticotropic hormonal activity of ACTH itself is reported to be absent. Animal work attributes the nootropic effect to stimulation of brain-derived neurotrophic factor synthesis and to activation of serotonergic and dopaminergic systems. In rodents, striatal 5-HIAA rose to 180% of baseline within one to four hours, with no direct change in dopamine but strong potentiation of amphetamine-induced dopamine release. Angioprotective, antihypoxic and neurotrophic activity has also been described in animals. Those are per-kilogram rodent doses and they license no human dose.
Why are the doses used in the trials so much higher than what Semax is sold as?
Because they are two different practices sharing one name. The published trial doses are roughly ten to thirty times the daily amount Western vendors and clinics list, and the trial figures were given to hospitalised stroke and motor-neuron-disease patients under supervision, using the Russian 1% formulation rather than the powder or spray sold elsewhere. A figure taken from either context does not transfer to the other. The range below is the trial context only.
Is Semax approved anywhere?
It is registered as a prescription medicine in Russia and some CIS states, for ischaemic stroke and for cognitive and optic-nerve indications, where it is sold as 0.1% and 1% nasal drops. It has never been approved by the FDA or the EMA, and is approved nowhere in North America or Western Europe. Outside Russia it circulates as a research chemical or a compounded clinic preparation, with no approved dose, purity or potency standard.
What are the known safety concerns with Semax?
One is specific and documented: paroxysmal EEG activity was observed in some patients with posthypoxic encephalopathy after Semax administration, and the authors concluded that a first administration should be carried out while the bioelectric activity of the brain is monitored. Beyond that the picture is mostly absence. Long-term safety, endocrine effects, and effects in healthy adults taking it for cognition rather than for a diagnosed neurological condition have not been studied at any dose. No approved label outside Russia defines contraindications or drug interactions for it, and this library holds no reviewed interaction data for Semax with anything.
Does Semax come as a powder that needs mixing?
The Russian pharmaceutical product does not: it is a ready-made nasal solution. Material sold elsewhere is usually a lyophilised research powder, and that has no validated reconstitution procedure, no concentration standard and no sterility assurance, so a micrograms-per-spray figure quoted by a seller describes that seller's own preparation and nothing more. Storage sits in the same position, with no pharmaceutical standard attached to it outside Russia. This record also holds no half-life for Semax, so how long a dose persists is not something this page can state.
How strong is the Semax evidence base overall?
Weak in the ways that matter most. Essentially the entire human evidence base is Russian-language, single-centre, and either open-label or non-blinded, and none of it has been independently replicated outside Russia. The two placebo-controlled studies in healthy volunteers measured resting-state fMRI connectivity rather than any clinical outcome. A 2024 review of the ischaemic-stroke studies is cited below for the route of administration rather than for a dose. The trials also sit in acute and subacute neurological disease, which is not the use most people reading about it have in mind.
Every number above, and where it came from
4 sources, numbered where they are used. Each one links to the paper or the label itself, not to a summary of it.
- [1][Effectiveness of semax in acute period of hemispheric ischemic stroke (a clinical and electrophysiological study)]
Zhurnal nevrologii i psikhiatrii imeni S.S. Korsakova · 1997 · Controlled clinical trial · n=110
- [2][The efficacy of semax in the tretament of patients at different stages of ischemic stroke]
Zhurnal nevrologii i psikhiatrii imeni S.S. Korsakova · 2018 · Clinical trial · n=110
- [3][The study of chronic partial denervation and quality of life in patients with motor neuron disease treated with semax]
Zhurnal nevrologii i psikhiatrii imeni S.S. Korsakova · 2007 · Open-label clinical trial · n=27
- [4][Place of oligopeptide H-Met-Glu-His-Phe-Pro-Gly-Pro-OH in the therapy and rehabilitation of patients with ischemic stroke]
Zhurnal nevrologii i psikhiatrii imeni S.S. Korsakova · 2024 · Review of clinical studies
The rest of the math
- Reconstitution calculatorThe full version of the tool above, with syringe barrel sizes and IU conversion.
- Vial longevityHow many doses a vial holds and the date it runs out.
- Cost per doseVial price against doses drawn, so two vial sizes can be compared honestly.
- Half-life and decayFirst-order clearance, time to steady state, and what remains at a given hour.
Same class as Semax
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A calculator answers once and forgets. Dosavy keeps the concentration you mixed, the doses you actually took, and a reminder for the next one, with the same evidence labels you see on this page.