Selank was developed by Russian research teams that included Nikolai Myasoedov and Sergey Seredenin. They started with tuftsin, an immune-system peptide—a short chain of protein building blocks—reported by Victor Najjar and K. Nishioka in 1970.

The people who discovered Selank designed a modified molecule. Tuftsin occurs naturally; Selank extends its four building blocks to seven. Published experiments used that same sequence in 1995, under the code TP-7.

Who discovered Selank, and what came before it?

The starting discovery concerned the immune system. Najjar and Nishioka investigated phagocytosis, the process in which immune cells engulf particles. Their November 14, 1970 Nature paper described tuftsin as a small fragment involved in that activity.

Tuftsin comes from immunoglobulin G, an antibody protein that helps the body recognize foreign material. Its sequence is Thr-Lys-Pro-Arg. Those labels stand for threonine, lysine, proline, and arginine: four amino acids, the building blocks of proteins.

The name honors Tufts University. A 1973 NIH project report describing Najjar's work explicitly says tuftsin was named after the university. That is the naming story of the parent molecule.

The later Russian work asked a different question: how tuftsin and related molecules affected behavior under stress. The American discovery supplied a starting structure for that work.

The Russian teams added three building blocks

The Russian developer's history credits teams led by Myasoedov, Seredenin, and Moscow State University's Igor Ashmarin. The collaboration joined Moscow's Institute of Molecular Genetics, Russian Academy of Sciences, and the Zakusov Research Institute of Pharmacology. A patent published on August 27, 2000 names both institutes and lists Myasoedov, Seredenin, and several other inventors. Selank's development was a team effort.

The chemical change was small. Researchers kept tuftsin's four amino acids and added Pro-Gly-Pro: proline, glycine, and proline. The resulting sequence is Thr-Lys-Pro-Arg-Pro-Gly-Pro.

That makes Selank an analogue, a modified relative, of tuftsin. The added tail was intended to improve stability, meaning resistance to breakdown. Sciensano's published chemical analysis describes that design rationale.

A more stable structure does not establish how long a particular preparation acts in a person. Chemistry explains why researchers could investigate the molecule; human studies answer different questions.

Semax came from a related Russian development program, with a different starting molecule. Its separate origin story explains that branch of the research. The shared background helps explain why the names appear together today.

Selank history: TP-7 in 1995, Selank by 2001

Seredenin and colleagues' 1995 paper studied tuftsin and TP-7 in rats. Researchers examined behavior and serotonin metabolism, the body's handling of a brain-signaling chemical. The English abstract spells out TP-7's seven-part sequence, matching Selank's.

By April 2001, a paper by Zozulya and colleagues used the name Selank and gave that same sequence. The 2001 publication was another stage in an existing program, rather than the beginning of Selank research.

A 2003 study by Kozlovskaya and colleagues compared Selank and other tuftsin-family peptides under stress in rats and mice. These experiments examined animal behavior. They did not establish a treatment result in people.

The trail records several steps: a natural fragment, a longer designed molecule, and experiments asking what that molecule did.

Human observations came before the treatment comparison

The 2001 paper already examined blood from people with anxiety disorders. Researchers also investigated Selank's effects on the breakdown of enkephalins, short chemical messages made by the body. Enzymes, proteins that speed chemical reactions, carry out that breakdown.

Those observations explored a possible explanation for Selank's effects. Blood measurements and laboratory tests are different from showing that a treatment changes someone's symptoms.

A 2008 Russian study compared Selank with medazepam, an anti-anxiety medicine, in 62 people; the guide to Selank's uses follows that human evidence.

The older Selank reports did not test a combined Semax/Selank treatment. Seeing both names on a product card does not make those reports evidence for the pairing.

From Russian registration to online products

Russia registered a Selank nasal-drop product on April 30, 2009. The government certificate reproduced by its Russian manufacturer prints that original registration date, alongside a later certificate amendment.

The product's Russian medical instructions list anxiety and stress-related conditions. They also state that it is dispensed without a prescription in Russia. That is a fact about that Russian product, separate from a U.S. prescribing decision.

Another part of the history appears in Vanhee and colleagues' 2020 paper in Drug Testing and Analysis. Belgian analysts identified Selank and Semax in seized preparations encountered in 2017 and 2018. They also documented online availability.

A registered medicine and an unidentified online preparation can share an ingredient name. The name alone does not establish identical contents, manufacturing, or clinical evidence.

What the July 2026 research adds

As of October 1, 2026, the day this article was written, a paper published July 27 in Molecular Biology has added to the animal record. Filippenkov and colleagues measured gene activity, how actively cells use genetic instructions, after an experimentally induced stroke in rats. Activity differed for 118 genes compared with saline-treated rats, 4.5 hours after the artery blockage began. That early tissue measurement does not establish improved recovery or an anxiety-treatment result in people.

Where Selank stands today

As of October 1, 2026, the day this article was written, FDA's safety-information page, marked “Content current as of: 04/22/2026,” lists selank acetate, also called TP-7, under substances nominated but withdrawn. This concerns an ingredient nomination for certain compounded prescriptions, medicines prepared by a pharmacy for an individual patient. FDA notes missing human safety information and possible immune reactions related to peptide clumping or impurities.

Selank has no FDA-approved U.S. product. The compounded Semax/Selank formulation offered here is different from an FDA-approved product and is not FDA-approved. The Semax / Selank blend is offered through Promise as a compounded injectable vial after a licensed provider reviews your request. FDA explains that compounded drugs do not undergo its review for safety, effectiveness, or quality before marketing. The Selank October update follows the current research and regulatory record.

The prescription route starts with your history

A licensed provider may still prescribe — that decision is between you and your doctor.

The review connects the proposed preparation with the reason for the request, medical history, current medicines, and prior reactions. The separate Selank side-effects guide explains the safety evidence. A familiar history does not supply a personal dose or settle the questions about a different preparation.

At Promise, a licensed provider reviews every request, and not everyone qualifies. If prescribed, the provider sets the dose and follow-up plan, and a licensed U.S. compounding pharmacy prepares the medication.

The discovery gives the conversation its background. The prescribing decision still concerns the person having that conversation.