Design
Healthy adults, eight-hour shifts
Healthy volunteers were tested across a working shift with and without an intranasal dose of Semax (0.25–1 mg), using standard attention and short-term memory tasks, with EEG recorded [1].
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Research
The research behind FOCUS-01
Semax has been studied for thirty years. Here is what the papers measured, what they found, and where the evidence runs out. Every number on this site links back to this page.
The compound
A seven-amino-acid
peptide, one job
Semax (Met-Glu-His-Phe-Pro-Gly-Pro) is a synthetic analogue of a fragment of adrenocorticotropic hormone, developed at the Institute of Molecular Genetics of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The fragment carries the cognitive activity of the parent molecule without its hormonal effects; the Pro-Gly-Pro tail protects it from being broken down too quickly.
It has been registered for clinical use in Russia since 1994 and has been studied continuously since: in healthy human volunteers for attention and memory, and in laboratory models for how it changes the brain’s neurotrophic and monoamine signalling. If you want the short version first, read What is Semax?
- 1980s
ACTH fragments
Researchers establish that short fragments of ACTH influence attention and learning in animals without acting as a hormone.
- 1994
Registration
Semax is registered for clinical use in the Russian Federation.
- 1996
Human attention & memory
Kaplan and colleagues publish the first controlled study in healthy volunteers [1].
- 2001–2007
Neurotrophins
A series of papers shows Semax rapidly raises BDNF and NGF expression in brain cells and living brain tissue [2][3][5][6].
- 2005
Monoamines
Semax shown to activate dopamine and serotonin systems in rodents, a non-stimulant route to drive [4].
- 2010s–
Gene-expression profiling
Transcriptome studies map the anti-inflammatory and neurotrophic gene programmes Semax switches on in the brain.
Human data
What the volunteer
study measured
One paper carries most of the human evidence, so it’s worth being precise about it.
Result
Attention and memory scores rose
Semax improved performance on the attention and short-term memory measures. The effect was largest in subjects who were already fatigued, which is the state most of us are in by mid-afternoon [1].
Duration
Twenty to twenty-four hours
Improved work efficiency persisted for 20–24 hours after a single dose, and EEG changes resembled those seen with established nootropic drugs [1].
Mechanism
How a peptide
changes attention
Human study
Attention that holds
In a controlled study of healthy volunteers working eight-hour shifts, a single intranasal dose of Semax improved attention and short-term memory scores. The largest gains were in the people who were most tired.
Kaplan et al., 1996 [1]
Preclinical
Memory & learning machinery
Semax raises BDNF, the growth factor the brain uses to strengthen connections, and its TrkB receptor in the hippocampus and cortex, the regions that turn experience into memory.
Preclinical
Drive without the crash
Rather than flooding the system with a stimulant, Semax modulates the brain’s own dopamine and serotonin signalling. There is no caffeine in the bottle, so there is no caffeine cliff at 3pm.
Eremin et al., 2005 [4]
BDNF, in numbers
One dose, measured
A single dose of Semax produced a 1.4-fold increase in BDNF protein and a 1.6-fold increase in phosphorylated (activated) TrkB in the rat hippocampus, with BDNF and TrkB mRNA rising 3-fold and 2-fold [3]. In glial cell cultures, BDNF mRNA rose roughly eight-fold and NGF five-fold within hours [2].
BDNF is the growth factor that strengthens synapses during learning. Raising it, and activating its receptor, is the most replicated finding in the Semax literature.
Why nasal
The route is the formulation
Swallow a peptide and it meets stomach acid, digestive enzymes and then the liver before any of it reaches circulation. Most of it never arrives. The nasal cavity is thin-walled and densely vascularised, so a metered spray crosses into the bloodstream directly, which is how every human and animal study above delivered it.
A pump actuator delivers a fixed volume each press. One spray per nostril is one dose, and it’s the same dose on day thirty as on day one.
Honesty
Where the evidence
runs out
Limits
Small, older, mostly Russian
The human study is small and from 1996. The mechanistic work is in rats and cell cultures. Much of the literature was produced outside the UK and EU under different research standards, and there are no large, modern, independent trials in healthy adults. Long-term safety data in healthy people is thin.
That is the honest state of it. We’d rather you knew than found out.
The line we hold
Not a medicine
FOCUS-01 is not a licensed medicine in the UK and is not a treatment for any condition. It is not a substitute for sleep, exercise, eating properly, or professional care. Research on a compound is not a promise about what it will do for you.
If focus, stress or mood are affecting your life, a GP is a better first step than a spray bottle.
Testing
What the certificate
actually says
Every batch ships with an independent assay. Here’s what each test proves, and what it doesn’t.
| Test | What it establishes | What it doesn’t |
|---|---|---|
| HPLC purity | The proportion of the sample that is the stated compound | Whether the compound does anything |
| Mass spectrometry | That the molecule present is the molecule named | How much of it there is |
| Heavy metals | Lead, arsenic, cadmium and mercury below threshold | Organic contaminants |
| Microbial | Total viable count and absence of specified organisms | Sterility over the product’s whole life |
| Fill volume | The bottle contains what the label says | Dose consistency per actuation |
References
The papers
Links go to the publisher or PubMed record. Abstracts are free; some full texts are paywalled.
- Kaplan AY, Kochetova AG, Nezavibathko VN, Rjasina TV, Ashmarin IP. Synthetic ACTH analogue Semax displays nootropic-like activity in humans. Neuroscience Research Communications, 1996; 19(2): 115–123. Source ↗
- Shadrina MI, Dolotov OV, Grivennikov IA, et al. Rapid induction of neurotrophin mRNAs in rat glial cell cultures by Semax, an adrenocorticotropic hormone analog. Neuroscience Letters, 2001; 308(2): 115–118. Source ↗
- Dolotov OV, Karpenko EA, Inozemtseva LS, et al. Semax, an analog of ACTH(4–10) with cognitive effects, regulates BDNF and trkB expression in the rat hippocampus. Brain Research, 2006; 1117(1): 54–60. Source ↗
- Eremin KO, Kudrin VS, Saransaari P, et al. Semax, an ACTH(4–10) analogue with nootropic properties, activates dopaminergic and serotoninergic brain systems in rodents. Neurochemical Research, 2005; 30(12): 1493–1500. Source ↗
- Dolotov OV, Karpenko EA, Seredenina TS, et al. Semax, an analogue of adrenocorticotropin (4–10), binds specifically and increases levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor protein in rat basal forebrain. Journal of Neurochemistry, 2006; 97(s1): 82–86. Source ↗
- Agapova TY, Agniullin YV, Shadrina MI, et al. Neurotrophin gene expression in rat brain under the action of Semax, an analogue of ACTH 4–10. Neuroscience Letters, 2007; 417(2): 201–205. Source ↗
Ready
FOCUS-01, £39
99.9% Semax, around forty metered doses, certificate in the carton.