Compound guide · Tier C
Selank
Russia's registered anxiolytic peptide, sold everywhere else as a research chemical, on a literature nobody outside that network has reproduced.
The short answer
Selank is Semax's counterpart and the same reasoning applies. It holds a genuine Russian registration as an anxiolytic granted in 2009, and its evidence base is a Russian language literature produced largely within the institute that created it, without independent replication elsewhere. The proposition is attractive, an anxiolytic without the sedation, dependence and withdrawal that make benzodiazepines difficult, and that is exactly the kind of claim that needs independent confirmation rather than deserving the benefit of the doubt. Tier C reflects the evidence available to read, not a judgement on the regulator that registered it. The vendor's own product page concedes the point, noting that Selank is primarily studied in Russian literature.
At a glance
| Class | Synthetic heptapeptide analogue of tuftsin |
| Developer | Institute of Molecular Genetics, Russian Academy of Sciences |
| Sold as | Selank (Селанк), registered in Russia |
| Regulatory status | Registered in Russia as an anxiolytic, granted in 2009. It has no FDA, EMA, MHRA or TGA approval and is not available as a licensed medicine in any Western market. |
| Compounding status | No approved Selank product exists outside Russia, so there is nothing for a Western compounder to compound an equivalent of, and no Western regulator has evaluated it. |
| Anti-doping | Not specifically named on the prohibited list. Check the list as published each year if competing in tested sport. |
| Our evidence tier | Tier C. Weak human data |
What it is
Selank is a synthetic heptapeptide derived from tuftsin, an immunomodulatory fragment of immunoglobulin G, with a Pro-Gly-Pro tail added for stability in the same way as Semax. It is reported to act on the expression and metabolism of endogenous enkephalins and to influence GABAergic and serotonergic signalling, which is the basis of the anxiolytic claim.
Who it is for, and who actually takes it
In Russia, the registered indication is anxiety, with clinical use in generalised anxiety and adjustment disorders. Elsewhere there is no approved population.
It is bought by healthy adults for anxiety, stress and sleep, usually intranasally, and frequently stacked with Semax on the theory that one covers focus and the other covers calm. That combination is sold as a blend and has not been tested as a combination in any controlled trial we can read.
What the research shows
The controlled comparisons sit in a literature that has not been independently replicated. Presenting them as a chart beside trials with public protocols would imply an equivalence of evidence that does not exist.
Dosing
We report only what published research used. The Russian clinical work describes intranasal administration in anxiety indications, formulated as a nasal solution rather than reconstituted from powder, and the vendor's own page notes a short plasma half life requiring frequent administration. Those are research parameters from a literature without independent replication, recorded as context rather than as instruction. We publish no schedule and no reconstitution guidance.
What happens when you come off it
The central claim made for Selank is that it lacks the withdrawal and dependence associated with benzodiazepines. That claim originates in the same unreplicated literature as the efficacy claim, and it should carry exactly as much weight.
What it is being studied for
| Area | Stage of evidence |
|---|---|
| Generalised anxiety disorder | Registered indication in Russia, 2009 |
| Adjustment and stress disorders | Studied within the Russian literature |
| Cognition and attention | Reported, largely secondary to the anxiolytic work |
| Anxiety in healthy adults | No independently replicated controlled evidence |
| Combination with Semax | No controlled trial of the combination |
The comparison trials most often cited set Selank against benzodiazepines in Russian clinical practice. An active comparator design is a genuine strength, and it does not substitute for replication by an independent group.
Common myths
Selank is a proven anxiolytic without side effects.
It is a registered anxiolytic in one country on an unreplicated evidence base. No compound acting on GABAergic and enkephalin signalling should be assumed free of effects, and absence of reported harm in a literature you cannot independently audit is not the same as demonstrated safety.
It is safer than benzodiazepines.
That is the central marketing claim and it comes from the same source as everything else known about it. It may well be true. It has not been independently established, and the comparison is being made against a drug class whose risks are documented in enormous detail precisely because it was studied openly for decades.
It is basically a natural immune peptide, so it is gentle.
Tuftsin is endogenous and Selank is a modified synthetic analogue delivered at doses and by routes the body does not use. Endogenous origin has never established the safety of a synthetic derivative.
The Semax and Selank stack is the studied protocol.
There is no controlled trial of the combination that we can read. The stack is community practice and a convenient product for a vendor to sell as a single blend.
Verifying a purchase
Selank is a heptapeptide at 751.9 Da with CAS 129954-34-3, short and cheap and therefore easy to substitute. Confirm the mass by mass spectrometry rather than relying on an HPLC purity number, and make sure the report carries the batch code on your vial rather than a representative lot. The same check applies to the Semax and Selank blend, where two short peptides in one vial make identity confirmation harder rather than easier.
The general method is set out in our guide to reading a certificate of analysis, which covers the eleven checks that apply to any compound. The points above are the ones specific to Selank.
Caveats and safety
There is no Western safety database and no independent pharmacovigilance. A compound that modulates GABAergic signalling deserves particular caution alongside alcohol, benzodiazepines or other sedatives, and nobody has characterised those interactions in a literature available for scrutiny.
Where to get it
Where to get it
CertaPeptides Romania, EU. Volume discounts at 3+, 5+ and 10+ units.
| Vial | Price |
|---|---|
| 5 mg | €29.99 |
| 10 mg | €39.99 |
| 30 mg | €109.99 |
Stated purity. ≥98% stated batch specification. Published lot report #123935 returned 99.79% on a 10 mg vial.
Documentation. Selected lots independently tested by Janoshik Analytical (Czech Republic), HPLC plus mass spectrometry, reports searchable on the Janoshik public portal and at certapeptides.com/verify.
Selank is sold as laboratory research material. The vendor states it is not for human consumption and that it is not approved by the FDA, the EMA or any other regulator for use in humans or animals. Read the evidence tier at the top of this page before the price.
View Selank at CertaPeptidesAffiliate link. We earn a commission if you buy, at no extra cost to you. It does not change a word of the assessment above. Every product we have priced, in one list.
Sources
- Selank literature, PubMed
- Registered selank trials, ClinicalTrials.gov
- European Medicines Agency medicine records, for absence of authorisation
- Drugs@FDA, for absence of approval
Related compounds
Disclosure. PeptoPurity is an affiliate of CertaPeptides and earns a commission on qualifying purchases made through the vendor link on this page, at no additional cost to you. That relationship does not set the evidence tier, alter the verdict, or change a word of the assessment. Our Tier C and Tier D pages carry the same links as our Tier A pages, with the same conclusions we would publish if we earned nothing. Where the registered, prescribed route is the better option, we say so on the page that would otherwise pay us.
Scope. This is an evidence review, not medical advice. Where an approved label schedule is reproduced it is a record of what a regulator has published about a licensed medicine, not a recommendation and not a schedule for anyone to follow unsupervised. For unapproved compounds we report only the doses used in published studies, attributed to those studies, and we publish no protocols and no reconstitution guidance for any compound. Regulatory status differs between countries and changes over time. Material sold for laboratory research is not approved for human use. Decisions about treatment belong with a qualified prescriber.