Biohacking Kompakt

Podcast episode 150 (in German)

Semax – the Russian nasal spray that won a vote in America

November 27, 2026

One spray into the nose, and after a few minutes many feel more awake and clearer. Semax has been a medicine in Russia since 1994, and in July 2026 an advisory panel of the US drug agency voted 8 to 5 in favor, against its own reviewers.

What it is about

Semax is a short piece of the stress hormone ACTH that Moscow researchers, following a 1979 commission from the Soviet Ministry of Defense, made stable with 3 additional building blocks. It is given through the nose and is said to raise the growth factor BDNF in the brain, which has been shown properly several times in animals. Users report remarkably consistently a quick, mild effect within minutes; that is a report, not evidence of efficacy, but one whose time window fits a small placebo study. The stroke studies on which the Russian approval rests have no sham preparation. And what is sold often contains a modified version for which there is no study in humans. At the end there is a question for the shelf: Is the molecule in the bottle the one that was studied?

Key points

  • In rats given labeled Semax, the highest amount in the brain was already present at the first measuring point, after 2 minutes.
  • In a study with 24 healthy volunteers, 14 on Semax and 10 on placebo, part of the default mode network was larger on MRI after 5 and 20 minutes; what was measured was a brain image, not concentration.
  • The user reports consistently describe a mild effect after a few minutes, matching the 2 minutes in rats; one report passed on directly mentions no slump, somewhat more clarity and explicitly nothing more.
  • The stroke studies have no sham preparation: in 1997, 30 people after stroke received Semax in addition to usual treatment and 80 received usual treatment only; in 2018, everyday abilities improved faster in 110 patients.
  • The advisory panel voted 8 to 5 with 1 abstention in favor of allowing pharmacies in the US to compound Semax; that is a recommendation, not an approval.
  • The Russian registration of 1994 applies to Semax; for the modified version NA-Semax amidate there is no study in humans, and in a cell study from Catania only Semax protected nerve cells from copper damage.
  • In the American adverse event reporting database, the agency found exactly 1 report, pain and burning in the eye; side effects were not systematically recorded in the Russian studies either.

Where the data stop

As of September 2026, the US drug agency has not decided on its panel’s recommendation; the vote is not binding. The agency’s own review found articles in Russian on cerebral blood flow and, on migraine, a study with a single dose without a control group, and considered the evidence insufficient. The Russian stroke studies also capture the recovery that, after a stroke, often comes on its own over months; the problem is not the language but the missing placebo.

The user reports lack a placebo spray alongside. They come from a closely networked circle, and with a spray you can feel in your nose, expectation is strong. Which version was sprayed is not clear from the reports. Yet the decisive study would be cheap: 2 bottles and an attention test. With unclear impurities from the gray market, the agency does not rule out an immune reaction. Anyone who has had a stroke or takes medication should discuss something like this with their doctor, not with the shop.

Listen (in German)

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Published on November 27, 2026.

The topic in the database

  • A nootropic peptide developed in Russia that raises BDNF/NGF and is being studied for neuroprotection – used intranasally, but without systematic …Semax

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Information only, not medical advice and not a usage or dosage recommendation. Prescription-only and unapproved substances belong in the hands of a physician. Content as of: 2026-09-25.