What Semax is
Semax is a Russian-developed heptapeptide derived from a fragment of ACTH with a stabilizing tail, approved in Russia since the 1990s as an intranasal treatment for stroke recovery and cognitive complaints. Outside Russia it has no approvals and circulates as a research nootropic. The Russian clinical literature is substantial but rarely replicated in Western trials, which is the honest caveat on every claim attached to it.
The approved route is intranasal drops, and most community use follows that; injection is a secondary pattern. If you run it intranasally, the intranasal calculator does the sprays-per-bottle and mcg-per-spray math.
Reconstitution math
Concentration is everything: the same 5 mg vial gives a different draw for every amount of bacteriostatic water you add. The table uses the common 2 mL setup for each vial size, which puts every unit on a U-100 insulin syringe at 25 mcg for the default vial. Dashes mark draws too small to measure or larger than the syringe.
| Vial | BAC water | Concentration | 200 mcg | 300 mcg | 600 mcg |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 mg | 2 mL | 2.5 mg/mL | 8 u | 12 u | 24 u |
| 10 mg | 2 mL | 5 mg/mL | 4 u | 6 u | 12 u |
Dosing and protocol
Community protocol: 200 to 600 mcg daily, intranasally or subcutaneously, often split into morning and midday doses.
Community dosing is 200 to 600 mcg daily by either route, often split. On a 5 mg vial with 2 mL of water, 300 mcg is a 12-unit draw. The NA-Semax amidate variant circulating in the community is a distinct molecule with its own (even thinner) evidence base; this page covers standard Semax.
Pharmacokinetics
No curve is shown, on purpose.
Semax has no published human pharmacokinetic profile; peptide fragments of it clear the blood in minutes, and its cognitive claims rest on central nervous system effects that outlast plasma levels. Russian approval documentation reports efficacy endpoints, not PK curves usable here.
Storage and handling
Lyophilized vials keep best cold, dark, and dry; refrigeration is the community default and freezing lyophilized powder is common for long holds. After reconstitution, refrigerate at 2 to 8 C, do not freeze the solution, and date the vial. Bacteriostatic water's preservative keeps multi-dose use practical for about 28 days by USP convention, though our 120-day stability study found the preservative itself outlasts that window.
Got a certificate of analysis with your vial? Run it through our COA Reader: it reads the report in plain English, checks purity and mass against the label claim, and links the testing lab’s own verification page. Our guide to reading a COA explains what the numbers do and do not tell you.
Sources
- Ashmarin et al., Semax, an analogue of ACTH(4-10): neuroprotective effects, Zh Vyssh Nerv Deiat 1997
- Gusev et al., Semax in acute ischemic stroke, Zh Nevrol Psikhiatr 2005