The story

Semax came out of Nikolai Myasoedov's group at the Institute of Molecular Genetics in Moscow in the 1980s. The team knew that small pieces of ACTH sharpened attention and learning in animals but faded in minutes. They added Pro-Gly-Pro to the 4 to 7 piece, and the new chain lasted, crossed into the brain and kept its effect for a day. Russia registered it as 0.1% and 1% nasal drops for brain recovery, nerve support and focus under load. Moscow and St Petersburg labs went on to map how it switches on BDNF, NGF and whole sets of repair genes in the brain.