Semax vs Glutathione
A nasal spray sold to sharpen memory and protect the brain after stroke. Studies from Russia look promising, but none was a proper blinded trial. It is sold as an antioxidant booster, for skin lightening drips and for detox. One small trial showed slight lightening at two skin sites, and trials for other uses failed.
Both sit at grade B: some human evidence. Neither is FDA approved.
Evidence
BSome human evidence
BSome human evidence
Human studies cited
Animal or cell studies cited
Why the grade
Five Russian clinical studies cover stroke (30 patients versus 80 controls in 1997; 110 patients in 2018), chronic cerebrovascular insufficiency (187 patients), optic nerve disease and a 24-person imaging study in healthy volunteers. Several had control groups but none describes randomization and blinding in the way a modern trial would, and none has been replicated outside Russia. Controlled human studies exist, so B, but at the weak end.
For skin lightening, the use glutathione is most often sold for, there is one randomised placebo-controlled trial of oral glutathione in 60 healthy students that found a small drop in melanin index at two of six skin sites. The larger trials in hand were for other purposes: a 153-patient inhaled trial in cystic fibrosis that missed its primary endpoint, a 54-adult trial showing oral glutathione raises blood levels, and a 21-patient Parkinson's pilot. No trial of intravenous glutathione for skin exists.
FDA
Not approved
Semax is not approved by the FDA for any use and is sold in the United States as a research chemical. It is registered as a prescription drug in Russia. In July 2026 the FDA's Pharmacy Compounding Advisory Committee voted to recommend adding semax to the list of substances pharmacies may compound, against the advice of FDA staff. On 28 October 2026 HHS issued an enforcement discretion policy covering semax as a nasal product only, compounded by licensed pharmacies and physicians for named patients under sourcing, testing, labeling and reporting conditions. That is not an approval.
Not approved
Glutathione is not approved by the FDA as a drug for any indication. Oral glutathione is sold as a dietary supplement, intravenous and inhaled forms are made by compounding pharmacies, and glutathione sits in Category 1 of the FDA's list of nominated compounding substances, meaning it may be compounded while the agency evaluates it. In August 2026 the agency warned compounders not to use supplement grade glutathione in injectables after a cluster of adverse events.
Sold for
Semax is sold as a nasal nootropic that sharpens memory and attention and protects the brain after stroke.
Glutathione is sold as a master antioxidant, for skin whitening by intravenous drip, for detox and for Parkinson's disease.
Studies say
Russian clinical studies report faster recovery after stroke and fewer vascular events in chronic cerebrovascular disease, and a small imaging study shows it changes brain network activity in healthy people, but no blinded placebo-controlled trial has been published, so the cognitive claims are unproven.
Oral glutathione does raise body stores and produced a modest, site-specific lightening in one small trial, while inhaled glutathione failed in cystic fibrosis and intravenous glutathione showed no clear benefit in a Parkinson's pilot, so the grade is B for the skin claim and lower for the others.
Class
Nootropic peptide (ACTH(4-10) analog)
Antioxidant tripeptide
Route
Nasal
Several routes