Selank

Written by The Peptide Record editorialClinical review not yet completedLast reviewed 12 September 2026

A Russian anxiolytic peptide with two real, named comparator trials against benzodiazepines — both small, both published only in a Russian-language journal by the same research group, and neither independently replicated in a Western randomized trial. It remains on FDA's Category 2 restricted-compounding list, unchanged by either the April 2026 removals or the July 2026 advisory committee review that covered several related peptides.

In brief

Should you care? Yes if you've seen it marketed alongside Semax — the two share a marketing pairing but not a mechanism, and Selank's trial base is thinner and less independently confirmed.

The short version

A synthetic tuftsin analog, developed at the same Russian institute behind Semax, but mechanistically distinct.
Two real, named human comparator trials exist — against medazepam and against phenazepam — both from the same research group, published only in Russian.
Remains on FDA's Category 2 list, unaffected by the 2026 Category 1 removals given to other peptides.

What it is

Selank is a synthetic heptapeptide (Thr-Lys-Pro-Arg-Pro-Gly-Pro) developed at Russia's Institute of Molecular Genetics as a structural analog of tuftsin, an endogenous immune-signaling tetrapeptide — a different mechanistic lineage from Semax's ACTH-fragment origin, despite the two being marketed together constantly.

The Russian trial evidence

Zozulya, Neznamov et al. compared Selank (n=30) against medazepam (n=32) in 62 patients with generalized anxiety disorder and neurasthenia, reporting comparable anxiolytic effect on Hamilton, Zung and CGI scales, plus an antiasthenic effect (Zh Nevrol Psikhiatr Im S S Korsakova 2008, PMID 18454096). A second study, Medvedev, Tereshchenko et al., compared Selank against phenazepam in 60 patients with phobic-anxiety and somatoform disorders (same journal, 2014;114(7):17-22, PMID 25176261): selank's anxiolytic effect persisted roughly a week after the last dose and, unlike phenazepam, didn't drop off quickly after stopping. Both are real, controlled human trials — and both are from the same research group, published only in Russian, never independently confirmed by a blinded Western trial.

Regulatory status

Selank is not an approved pharmaceutical product in the US, UK or EU. It remains on FDA's Category 2 restricted-compounding list: it was not among the 12 peptides the FDA removed from Category 2 in April 2026, and it was not among the seven peptides reviewed by the Pharmacy Compounding Advisory Committee at its July 2026 meeting — see BPC-157's legal status page for how that same review process works for other peptides.

How it compares to Semax

An earlier research pass on this site described Selank's sourcing as thinner than Semax's. This pass found two named, citable trials rather than none — a real improvement in what can be pointed to — but it doesn't close the gap to Semax's decades of accumulated Russian trial and post-marketing use, and neither compound has anything resembling the trial base of an FDA-reviewed drug.

References

Zozulya AA, Neznamov GG 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, PMID 18454096.
Medvedev VE, Tereshchenko ON 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;114(7):17-22, PMID 25176261.
FDA Category 2 bulk drug substances list, 2026 status (peptides removed from Category 2 in April 2026, and the seven peptides reviewed by the Pharmacy Compounding Advisory Committee in July 2026) — Selank not included in either.