Khavinson Peptides: Full List, Sequences and What Is Proven

Educational only. This page describes published research. It gives no treatment or dosing advice, and no Khavinson peptide is approved by FDA.

Khavinson peptides are ultra-short peptides of two to four amino acids, each tied to one organ, developed by the late Russian gerontologist Vladimir Khavinson and sold as “bioregulators”. There are two families: synthetic cytogens with a defined sequence, such as Epitalon, and cytomaxes, which are organ extracts. The lab data is real. The human data comes almost entirely from Khavinson’s own group, and no independent trial has tested them.

Who

Vladimir Khavinson, Russian gerontologist, 1946 to January 2024 (1)

What

Peptides of 2 to 4 amino acids, each tied to one organ, sold as “bioregulators”

Two families

Cytogens (synthetic, defined sequence) and cytomaxes (organ extracts)

Best human evidence

Studies from Khavinson’s own group, such as a 2003 study of 266 older people (2)

Independent human trials

None found (3)

FDA status

None approved. Epitalon is on FDA’s withdrawn-nomination list and in HHS’s interim 503A policy (4, 5)

WADA 2026

S0 catch-all for unapproved substances (6)

What are Khavinson peptides?

Khavinson peptides, also called peptide bioregulators or Russian bioregulators, are short peptides of usually two to four amino acids. Each is tied to a single organ or tissue. The theory is that every tissue makes tiny regulatory peptides that decline with age, and that replacing them nudges the tissue back toward younger gene expression.

• Cytogens are synthetic peptides with a defined sequence, such as Epitalon (AEDG), Pinealon (EDR) and Vilon (KE).
• Cytomaxes are natural peptide complexes extracted from animal organs, such as Thymalin from thymus and Epithalamin from the pineal gland. Seller lists add capsule brands such as Vladonix for thymus, Ventfort for vessels and Svetinorm for liver.

A cytogen has one sequence you can test for. A cytomax is a mixture, so you take its contents largely on trust. Our bioregulators vs regular peptides and bioregulator capsules guides compare the two.

The Khavinson peptide list: sequences, targets and evidence

These 14 cytogens are the ones with published work. The brand-to-sequence names for Cardiogen, Cartalax and Ovagen appear only in reviews by Khavinson’s own group, and the primary papers give the sequences without those names (7). Seller lists also include Bronchogen, Crystagen and Vesilute, and no indexed study of them turned up.

Who was Vladimir Khavinson?

Vladimir Khavinson was born on 27 November 1946 and died in Saint Petersburg on 6 January 2024, aged 77. He was a colonel of the Soviet and Russian military medical service, director of the Saint Petersburg Institute of Bioregulation and Gerontology, and head of the gerontology chair at North-Western State Medical University (1).

Wikipedia lists six peptide preparations permitted for medical use in Russia and the CIS countries: Thymalin, Epithalamin, Cortexin, Prostatilen, Retinalamin and Thymogen, plus 64 peptide food supplements, 196 patents and 775 publications. The article carries a maintenance tag for promotional content, and its safety claims cite his own book (1). Almost all the evidence below comes from him, his institute and his co-authors.

How are Khavinson peptides said to work?

Most peptides bind a receptor on the outside of a cell. Khavinson’s claim is different: because bioregulators are so small, they are said to enter the cell nucleus, bind DNA in gene promoter regions and the histones around it, and switch tissue-specific genes back on. His group’s 2021 review makes that case (7).

A 2019 computational study supports part of it. Of all possible dipeptides, most could not bind double-stranded DNA, and 57 complexes showed selective binding (25). Khavinson co-authored it, and it is a simulation. A peptide that binds DNA in a model still has to survive digestion, reach the nucleus and change aging in a living person.

Do Khavinson peptides work? What the evidence shows

Human studies

PubMed labels several of these studies as randomized controlled trials. All come from Khavinson’s group or its collaborators, and none has been replicated elsewhere.

Animal and cell studies

The famous “four-fold lower mortality” is the 4.1 figure from one subgroup of the 2003 study (2). The mouse result is a maximum-lifespan effect, and the same group’s Vilon work found more mammary cancer (13). ClinicalTrials.gov lists no registered trial of these peptides (3).

Are Khavinson peptides FDA approved or legal?

No Khavinson peptide is FDA approved. Epitalon is on FDA’s list of substances nominated for compounding and then withdrawn from Category 2, and FDA’s advisory committee voted 7 to 4, with one abstention, to recommend it for the 503A bulks list in July 2026 (4, 11).

On 28 October 2026 HHS issued an interim enforcement-discretion policy covering six peptides, including epitalon acetate as a subcutaneous or intramuscular injectable dispensed in intermittent courses. It applies to state-licensed pharmacies and physicians filling individual prescriptions with specified manufacturing and testing standards. It isn’t an approval, and it doesn’t apply to products sold as research chemicals or dietary supplements. Pinealon, Vilon, Thymogen and the other Khavinson peptides aren’t covered (5).

WADA’s 2026 List bans any substance without regulatory approval under S0 (6).

Khavinson peptide dosage and protocols

No established dose exists, because no independent trial has tested these peptides. What the published studies report is course-based use, not daily use. In the 2003 study the preparations were given in the first two to three years of a six-to-eight-year follow-up, and the 4.1-fold subgroup got both yearly for six years (2). The 2011 study used six courses over three years (27). Seller schedules and the popular nightly “stack” don’t come from those trials.

Oral products add a separate question, because a tiny peptide swallowed has to survive stomach acid and enzymes. See our guide on whether short peptides work orally.

Khavinson peptide safety and side effects

No adequate safety trials exist. The signals that have been reported:

• Prooxidant activity and fewer CD34+ cells in the 32-patient Pinealon and Vesugen study, read by the authors as inhibited blood-cell formation (12).
• More mammary cancer with Vilon in HER-2/neu mice (13).
• Telomere extension in cancer cells by Epitalon, through ALT, in cell lines (9).
• Contamination and mislabeling in gray-market vials. See our peptide scams to avoid.

People with a current or past cancer, pregnant or breastfeeding women, and tested athletes should avoid these peptides.

How to check a Khavinson peptide listing

A synthetic cytogen should come with a lot-specific certificate that shows identity by mass spectrometry, the measured content in milligrams and a lot number matching your vial. Cytomax extracts are mixtures, so a certificate can’t confirm a single sequence. Read our guide to verifying a peptide COA, then compare sellers in best peptide vendors.

Khavinson peptides FAQ

Keep researching: the full list of peptides, thymulin (a thymus peptide), where Epitalon is sold and the Peptide Finder.

References