Prostamax

What it is

In St. Petersburg, Vladimir Khavinson developed peptide preparations from animal organs, including the pineal gland, thymus and prostate. From the amino acid composition of these extracts, his group derived short synthetic peptides, each assigned to one organ. For the prostate this is KEDP, marketed as Prostamax.

The corresponding patent was filed by Khavinson, Malinin and Grigoriev for the St. Petersburg Institute of Bioregulation and Gerontology, with priority in January 2001. It describes the tetrapeptide as an active substance for regulating prostate function. A 2022 review by the group also bases this assignment solely on this patent.

This must be distinguished from the older extract preparations from bovine prostate, above all Prostatilen and Vitaprost. They have been registered as medicines in Russia for decades; according to a 2026 urological paper, Prostatilen has been in use for more than 30 years. Their studies apply to tissue extracts, not to the synthetic tetrapeptide.

How it is supposed to work

The bioregulator theory holds that very short peptides enter the cell nucleus, bind to the DNA there and loosen densely packed, silenced sections of the genome. Genes that have fallen silent with age are thus supposed to be read again. For the prostate, this would mean that glandular cells work as they did in younger years and that inflammation and congestion decrease.

Some links in this chain have been shown in the laboratory. In the test tube, KEDP changes the melting temperature of double-stranded DNA, that is, the stability of the double helix. In lymphocyte cultures from people between 75 and 86 years of age, Prostamax loosened the chromatin: the number of sister chromatid exchanges rose to 12.0 per cell compared with 5.9 without the peptide, and the number of active nucleolus organizer regions to 2.5 compared with 0.95. The authors interpret this as the reopening of silenced genes.

It remains open how the peptide reaches the prostate at all. Computer models by the Khavinson group examined whether short peptides are taken up into cells via transporters such as LAT1. Of all peptides, KEDP showed no high binding tendency, although LAT1 occurs in the prostate.

What the patent says

The most detailed data on Prostamax are not in a journal but in the patent specification. It describes toxicity experiments in 78 mice and 48 rats in which no signs of acute poisoning occurred. In rats with artificially induced bacterial prostatitis, the mean degree of inflammation was 1.81 on a 5-point scale with the tetrapeptide and 2.91 without treatment, with 11 animals each. A favorable course was found in 7 of 11 treated animals. In a further experiment in 18 rats aged 24 months, breakdown products of fat oxidation decreased with the peptide, and the activity of the protective enzymes glutathione peroxidase in the liver and superoxide dismutase in the brain increased. This fits the idea of general protection against aging, but it too is only an animal finding from the patent.

In addition, there are two patient series. 35 men between 23 and 45 years of age with chronic prostatitis who had not responded lastingly to the usual treatment received the peptide; 14 others were treated conventionally. It is reported that 64.0 percent were free of pain afterwards and that the mean urinary flow rate rose from 17.3 to 23.5 milliliters per second. A second series included 19 men between 51 and 67 years of age with benign prostatic enlargement and 17 control patients.

What the studies show

Patent EP1353939 — the patient series

Chronic prostatitis: 35 patients with the peptide, 14 conventionally treated controls, neither randomized nor blinded. Reported are 64.0 percent freedom from pain and an increase in the mean urinary flow rate from 17.3 to 23.5 milliliters per second. For the control group, the text gives no comparison values. In addition, 19 patients with benign prostatic enlargement and 17 controls.

Patent EP1353939 — the rat experiment

Bacterially induced prostatitis, 11 animals per group. Mean degree of inflammation 1.81 with the tetrapeptide, 2.91 without treatment and 2.36 with saline. An animal finding, likewise published only in the patent.

Dzhokhadze et al. 2012 — chromatin in old cells

A paper from Georgia, lymphocyte cultures from people between 75 and 86 years of age. Prostamax increased sister chromatid exchanges from 5.9 to 12.0 per cell and active nucleolus organizer regions from 0.95 to 2.5. A laboratory finding in blood cells, not prostate tissue and not a clinical endpoint.

Where the data stop

The literature on Prostamax comes almost exclusively from Russia and Georgia and mostly from the group around Khavinson and its cooperation partners. That does not speak against the findings, but it means that independent confirmation is missing. The only patient data are in a patent specification that has not gone through peer review. The series were not randomized and not blinded, comparison figures for the control group are missing, and common measures such as PSA level, prostate volume over time or the International Prostate Symptom Score do not appear.

The chromatin findings were measured in blood cells in culture, not in the prostate. And how a tetrapeptide is supposed to reach precisely this organ is unresolved according to the developers’ own model calculations. The studies on Prostatilen and Vitaprost cannot be transferred to the synthetic peptide.

Status, approval and legal

Prostamax is not approved as a medicine in Germany or the EU, and approval as a medicine in any other country is not documented in the literature. It is sold as a research peptide or bioregulator through specialized dealers. In Russia, by contrast, the related prostate extracts Prostatilen and Vitaprost are registered; they are not available in Germany. Prostamax is not listed by name on the WADA Prohibited List. We do not give dosage information for non-approved substances.

Safety

There are no systematic safety data in humans. The animal experiments in the patent found no signs of acute poisoning, but tolerability in humans has not been systematically examined. The greatest risk lies elsewhere: complaints such as frequent urge to urinate, a weak stream or pain can be due to benign enlargement, inflammation or prostate cancer. Anyone who treats them themselves with a peptide without having them checked by a urologist risks recognizing a treatable disease too late. For benign prostatic enlargement and chronic prostatitis there are also approved, well-studied therapies. Data on interactions are missing.

Sources

• Khavinson, Malinin & Grigoriev, Patent EP1353939 – tetrapeptide for regulating prostate function
• Dzhokhadze et al., Georgian Medical News 2012
• Kiladze et al., Georgian Medical News 2009
• Solovyev et al., International Journal of Biological Macromolecules 2015
• Khavinson et al., International Journal of Molecular Sciences 2022
• Khavinson, Neuroendocrinology Letters 2002 – Peptides and Ageing
• Rybalov et al., Georgian Medical News 2022 – Prostatilen
• Borovets et al., Urologiia 2026 – Prostatilen