Dr. Pep

Peptides · Tuftsin analogue (Thr-Lys-Pro-Arg-Pro-Gly-Pro)

Selank: what the studies show

Every line below comes from a study, label or regulator record, checked by two models, with the source linked. Information, not medical advice. For adults 18+.

What it is

  • Selank is a synthetic seven-amino-acid peptide (Thr-Lys-Pro-Arg-Pro-Gly-Pro, also called TP-7), an analogue of the immune peptide tuftsin, developed in Russia as an anxiolytic.[1][2]
  • In the US it is sold online and through wellness clinics, often in combination with semax. It is not an FDA-approved drug.[3][4]

Bottom line

  • The human evidence is a handful of small Russian studies of anxiety patients, three of them compared with a benzodiazepine-type drug and none placebo-controlled in the abstracts. They are in Russian-language journals and have not been replicated elsewhere. Everything else is rodent work, largely from the same research network. Whether selank works for anxiety in a modern trial is unknown.[5][6][2][7]

What the human studies found

  • Generalised anxiety disorder and neurasthenia (2008): 62 patients, 30 given selank and 32 given medazepam. The authors reported similar anxiolytic effects, plus anti-fatigue and stimulant effects with selank, and a longer leu-enkephalin half-life in blood. There was no placebo arm in the abstract. Dose and route are not given.[5]
  • Anxiety-phobic and somatoform disorders (2015): 40 patients got selank plus phenazepam and 30 got phenazepam alone. Phenazepam's benefit appeared earlier and its side-effects (attention and memory impairment, sedation and others) were lower with selank. The study shows add-on tolerability benefit, not selank's effect on its own.[6]
  • Anxiety disorders (2014): a non-randomised comparison of selank and phenazepam in 60 patients reported an anxiolytic effect that lasted a week after the last dose, with mild nootropic effects. Details of the design are not given in the abstract.[2]
  • Immune effects (2008): in patients with anxiety-asthenic disorders, 14 days of selank changed the balance of Th1 and Th2 cytokines. Patient numbers and controls are not given in the abstract.[7]
  • In 52 healthy volunteers (selank, semax or placebo), resting-state brain scans showed altered connectivity between the right amygdala and temporal cortex after dosing. This is an imaging measure, not a clinical effect.[8]

Known risks and side effects

  • FDA's category 2 page says compounded selank acetate may carry immune-reaction risk from aggregation and impurities, and that FDA lacks important information on safety in humans.[4]
  • The Russian add-on study reported that selank lowered phenazepam's side-effects. None of the abstracts gives a systematic adverse-event report for selank on its own.[6]
  • A 2006 Russian paper compared the anticoagulant effects of regulatory peptides including semax and selank, so an effect on clotting is possible but is not characterised in the records held.[9]

Legal status

  • As of 2026-10-09 selank is not approved in the US. FDA's category 2 page lists selank acetate (TP-7) among nominated-but-withdrawn substances, citing immunogenicity risk.[4]
  • Selank was not among the substances in the July 23-24, 2026 advisory committee briefing documents held here. FDA's presentation notes semax products are sold online alone and combined with selank.[3]
  • A 2020-04-01 FDA warning letter to Tailor Made Compounding LLC listed selank among the bulk substances it compounded that were not eligible for 503A exemptions.[10]

Sources

  1. [1] Tuftsin - Properties and Analogs.
  2. [2] [A comparison of the anxiolytic effect and tolerability of selank and phenazepam in the treatment of anxiety disorders].
  3. [3] July 24, 2026 Meeting of the Pharmacy Compounding Advisory Committee- FDA Presentations
  4. [4] FDA: Certain bulk drug substances for use in compounding that may present significant safety risks (503A/503B category 2)
  5. [5] [Efficacy and possible mechanisms of action of a new peptide anxiolytic selank in the therapy of generalized anxiety disorders and neurasthenia].
  6. [6] [Optimization of the treatment of anxiety disorders with selank].
  7. [7] [Immunomodulatory effects of selank in patients with anxiety-asthenic disorders].
  8. [8] Functional Connectomic Approach to Studying Selank and Semax Effects.
  9. [9] [Comparison of anticoagulant effects of regulatory proline-containing oligopeptides. Specificity of glyprolines, semax, and selank and potential of their practical application].
  10. [10] FDA: Warning Letter, Tailor Made Compounding LLC (2020-04-01), BPC-157, CJC-1295, ipamorelin, GHK-Cu, semax, selank, epitalon, DSIP, LL-37, PT-141, melanotan, MK-677, tesamorelin