These two get bought together, from the same suppliers, by people trying to solve opposite problems — one wants sharper focus, the other wants less anxiety. The comparison people search for is which one does what. The more useful comparison is that both share an identical structural flaw in how their evidence maps onto how they are actually used, and neither one's literature is Western.
| Semax | Selank | |
|---|---|---|
| Evidence tier | Early human dataHuman data exists but is small, old, single-group, non-Western, or for a different route than people actually use. | Early human dataHuman data exists but is small, old, single-group, non-Western, or for a different route than people actually use. |
| Regulatory status | Approved abroad, not FDA | Approved abroad, not FDA |
| Researched for | Derived from ACTH; developed in Russia and used there in neurology. Studied for focus, memory and neuroprotection via BDNF. | Based on the immune fragment tuftsin; developed in Russia as an anxiolytic. Researched for calm and stress resilience. |
| What people use it for | Enhanced focus, working memory, verbal fluency and mental clarity; often described as a clean cognitive lift without heavy stimulation. | Reduced baseline anxiety and stress reactivity; a calm but non-sedating state; better performance under pressure. |
| Reported figure | 10 mg vial + 2 mL water = 5,000 mcg/mL 500 mcg → 0.10 mL · 10 unitsOne reported reference at that reconstitution — not a standard. | None given. |
| Route | Injected subcutaneously by convention. The Russian clinical work used an intranasal formulation. | Injected subcutaneously by convention. The registered Russian product is an intranasal spray. |
| Calculator entry | Yes — Semax calculator | Yes — Selank calculator |
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Both are graded early human data and both are approved abroad, not FDA. On the site's two locked axes they are identical, which is unusual and worth sitting with.
Semax is “a registered medicine in Russia, where the clinical work used an INTRANASAL formulation. The injectable figure people use is a community convention, not a trial dose. No FDA or EMA approval.”
Selank is “a registered anxiolytic in Russia, where the approved product is an INTRANASAL spray at doses well above what people inject. No FDA, EMA or MHRA approval, and no Western trials.”
The same sentence, twice, about two different compounds — and it is the whole comparison. Neither one's clinical record describes a subcutaneous injection. Selank's entry adds a wrinkle the Semax entry does not: the registered doses are well above what people inject, so the injected figures are not a scaled-down version of a studied protocol, they are a separate convention.
Neither has been replicated in a Western trials programme, so the usual cross-checks — independent replication, regulatory review by a second agency, published dose-finding — are simply absent for both. Where they genuinely differ is in what they target: an ACTH-derived compound aimed at focus and neuroprotection versus a tuftsin-based one aimed at anxiolysis. That is a difference in intent, not a difference in evidence quality.
They are also routinely stacked, on the theory that focus and calm are complementary. Nothing has tested that pairing.
Education only. This page is educational. Most compounds referenced are not approved for human use, and a "research use only" label carries no legal status of its own.
A comparison, not a recommendation. Nothing on this page ranks one compound above another or suggests running either. Where a figure appears, it is one reported reference at the reconstitution shown — not a standard, not a clinical dose.
Reference ranges. Any amounts mentioned are values commonly reported in published research and community protocols, provided for reference only. Reported does not mean established, safe, or effective.
Not medical advice. Nothing here constitutes medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Several of these are prescription medicines in Canada and the US, and several are approved nowhere at all. Consult a qualified healthcare professional before beginning any protocol.