Selank
Selank is a short synthetic peptide approved in Russia as a nasal spray for anxiety. It has small published trials behind it, all from Russian groups, and no approval or compounding route in the United States.
- Legal lane: not FDA-approved. Not eligible for US pharmacy compounding.
- Evidence grade: C
- Form: intranasal
- Approved elsewhere: Russia, for generalized anxiety and related conditions
What it is
Selank is a seven-amino-acid analog of tuftsin, a naturally occurring immune peptide, modified so it lasts longer in the body. It is studied as an anxiolytic that does not sedate.
What the evidence shows
- Russian clinical trials, generally with 60 to 80 participants, reported reductions in anxiety scores in patients with generalized anxiety disorder and related diagnoses.
- Those trials compared Selank favorably with low-dose benzodiazepines on anxiety measures, without the sedation and dependence seen with that class.
- No Western randomized controlled trials have been published, and the Russian trials have not been independently replicated.
Treat the Russian approval as real but limited evidence: small studies, one country's regulator, no replication elsewhere.
Legal status
Selank is not FDA-approved. Its compounding nomination was withdrawn, it is not eligible for 503A compounding, and it was not included in the October 2026 policy. The FDA has flagged immunogenicity concerns and insufficient safety information for peptides in this group.
Reported dosing
No US-approved dose exists. The Russian product has its own label, which is not available here.
Figures repeated across catalog sites fall in the range of 250 to 500 micrograms a day intranasally, usually for two to four weeks. Sources that list these describe the underlying evidence as mixed.
Safety
- Trials reported it as well tolerated, with nasal irritation the main complaint.
- No long-term safety data exists outside Russia.
- Anxiety that is persistent or disabling is a reason to see a clinician, not to self-treat with an unapproved peptide.