Thymogen is a two-amino-acid drug from Russia. It's the dipeptide glutamyl-tryptophan (Glu-Trp), sold in Russian pharmacies as Timogen injections, nasal spray and cream, and known in Western trials as oglufanide or IM862. Peptide vendors now sell the same molecule as a 20 mg "thymus bioregulator" vial. This guide covers what the Thymogen peptide is, what the human studies found, what the Russian label doses are, and why the one Western placebo-controlled trial changes how you should read the rest.
🔑 Key Takeaways
- Thymogen, Timogen, oglufanide, IM862 and Glu-Trp are five names for one molecule
- It's a licensed medicine in Russia, yet the only Western placebo trial found no benefit
- The label dose is in micrograms, the vendor vial is in milligrams, and that gap matters
- Thymogen came out of Thymalin, but the two aren't interchangeable
- An oral version has placebo-controlled data that most Thymogen guides miss
Label details below come from the current Russian prescribing information, checked November 5, 2026. Every study links to PubMed or ClinicalTrials.gov in the sources at the end.
What Is Thymogen Peptide?
Thymogen is one small, fully synthetic molecule. Its chemical name is L-alpha-glutamyl-L-tryptophan, formula C16H19N3O5, molecular weight 333.34, CAS number 38101-59-6. PubChem lists oglufanide (its international nonproprietary name), Timogen, Glu-Trp, EW dipeptide and IM 862 as synonyms for the same compound (PubChem CID 100094).
It came out of Thymalin, a calf thymus extract. Vladimir Morozov and Vladimir Khavinson of the St Petersburg Institute of Bioregulation and Gerontology described separating Thymalin by high-performance liquid chromatography, finding that the Glu-Trp dipeptide carried immune activity, and building a drug, Thymogen, on the synthesized version (Morozov and Khavinson, 1997).
In Russia it's a registered medicine, not a supplement. The injection's current registration, ЛП-№(001808)-(РГ-RU), dates from February 13, 2023, and the holder is Cytomed of St Petersburg (Vidal Russia). A 2024 review by Russian developers cites an earlier certificate from June 10, 2009 (Deigin et al., 2024). It's sold as:
- Injection: 100 micrograms per 1 mL ampoule, given into the muscle, prescription only.
- Nasal spray: 25 micrograms per 0.1 mL puff, at least 80 doses per 10 mL bottle (RLS label).
- Cream: 0.05%, in a 30 g tube.
So what is the "Thymogen bioregulator" that vendors sell? SwissChems' Thymogen 20mg page lists the same formula, the same CAS number and "Oglufanide, Thymogen" as synonyms. It sits in their Bioregulator category, but the vial isn't a thymus extract. It's the same synthetic Glu-Trp, as a dry powder you mix yourself, at 200 times the amount of one Russian label daily dose.
One name trap: SCV-07, which SciClone tested in hepatitis C and mouth sores, is gamma-D-glutamyl-L-tryptophan. Same two amino acids, joined differently, with a different mirror-image form. It's a separate drug, so its results don't apply to Thymogen.
Thymogen vs Thymalin vs Thymosin Alpha-1
Three thymus drugs, three different kinds of molecule. Thymalin is the parent extract, Thymogen is one dipeptide pulled out of it, and thymosin alpha-1 is an unrelated, larger thymus peptide with a Western regulatory history.
The practical point: a Thymalin study tells you about a mix of calf peptides dosed in milligrams, not about Glu-Trp dosed in micrograms. Results don't carry across. Our Thymalin peptide guide covers the extract itself, including what's actually inside vendor "Thymalin" vials, and Epithalon vs Thymalin covers the longevity pairing people usually ask about next. For where Thymogen fits among all 25 Khavinson compounds, see our bioregulator peptides list.
Thymogen Benefits: What the Human Studies Show
Most of the human evidence is Russian, small and old. The Russian label lists the uses it was approved for: add-on treatment of viral and bacterial infections with weakened immunity (viral hepatitis, chronic bronchitis, pneumonia, boils and other skin infections), severe atopic dermatitis, burns and serious injuries, wound and surgical infections, and immune recovery after radiation, chemotherapy or long antibiotic courses (Vidal Russia).
Being on a Russian label doesn't mean the evidence would pass a Western regulator. Here's what you can actually read:
- Surgery in older adults. A double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study gave nasal Thymogen once a day for 7 days before abdominal tumor surgery and reported better immune markers, fewer postoperative complications and shorter recovery. The English abstract gives no patient numbers, and its stated dose reads "100 mg", which is 1,000 times the nasal label's daily amount and most likely a translation error (Smirnov et al., 2011).
- Type 1 diabetes. An uncontrolled Russian report claimed a clinical effect in 94.4% of patients with signs of immune deficiency. No comparison group, so the number can't be read as a treatment effect (Zhuk and Galenok, 1996).
- Lung tuberculosis. A 1999 military medical journal report described better T-cell markers and cavity healing alongside standard TB drugs, again without a control group (Medus et al., 1999).
- Chemotherapy. The 2024 developers' review says patients with blood cancers given Thymogen recovered white cell counts faster between chemotherapy courses, but it doesn't give patient numbers or trial design (Deigin et al., 2024).
The strongest human data are for an oral form most guides never mention. Regastim Gastro is oral alpha-glutamyl-tryptophan registered in Russia for chronic atrophic gastritis. In a multicenter double-blind placebo-controlled trial, stomach biopsies from 116 people with Helicobacter-linked atrophic gastritis showed 26.1% more gastric glands per square millimeter on the drug, a significant gain over placebo (Baryshnikova et al., 2023). A second analysis of 80 of those patients (43 on the drug, 37 on placebo) found less swelling and inflammation on gastroscopy (Baryshnikova et al., 2023). That's a gut finding, not an immune or longevity one, and both papers come from the same trial.
What about anti-aging? The lifespan and tumor claims you'll see on vendor pages come from 76 female lab animals injected five times a week for a year: the longest-lived 10% lived longer and had fewer tumors (Anisimov et al., 2000). There's no human lifespan or aging data for Thymogen.
The Western Test: Oglufanide (IM862) Trials
This is the part vendor pages leave out. As IM862, or oglufanide disodium, Glu-Trp went through US and UK cancer trials as a nasal drug meant to choke tumor blood supply and stimulate immune cells.
- Phase I/II, Kaposi's sarcoma. 44 people with AIDS-related Kaposi's sarcoma took 5 mg nasal drops on one of two schedules. 36% had a major response, and side effects were mild, short-lived headache, tiredness, tingling and nausea. There was no placebo group (Tulpule et al., 2000).
- Phase III, Kaposi's sarcoma. 202 HIV-positive people were randomized, double-blind, to 5 mg every other day (104) or placebo (98) for 24 weeks. Response was 23% on IM862 vs 21% on placebo, no real difference. Median time until the cancer progressed was shorter on the drug, 16 weeks vs 35 weeks. The authors concluded that HIV drugs, which restore immunity, may have produced much of the earlier 36% (Noy et al., 2005).
- Phase II, kidney cancer. 25 people with metastatic renal cell carcinoma took 20 mg in the nose three times a day. None had an objective response, 17 of 25 progressed, and the Oxford team advised against further single-drug testing at that dose and schedule (Deplanque et al., 2004).
- Ovarian cancer. A phase I dose-escalation study enrolled 43 people with recurrent ovarian cancer (NCT00003773), and a randomized phase II added oglufanide to paclitaxel and carboplatin (NCT00017303). Neither record posts results, and the phase II status is listed as unknown.
If you're reading Russian Thymogen studies, keep this in mind: the same molecule that looked strong without a control group did nothing once one was added. Most of the Russian evidence has no control group.
Thymogen Dosage: The Russian Label vs the Trial Doses
The official doses are tiny and the courses are short. These are the approved Russian label doses and the doses used in the cited Western trials. Neither is a dose for the uses Thymogen is promoted for online, such as general immune support or longevity.
Children get less on the injection label, from 10 micrograms a day under age 1 to 50 micrograms at ages 7 to 14 (injection leaflet). The nasal spray is labeled from age 1.
Notice the gap. Each Kaposi's sarcoma trial dose was 50 times the Russian daily dose, and the kidney cancer trial's daily total was 600 times it. A 20 mg vendor vial holds 200 Russian-label daily doses, or 20 full 10-day courses, but only four Kaposi trial doses. None of these doses was tested for general wellness.
If you're using a nasal spray, our nasal peptide guide covers technique. If you're doing the math on a powder vial, the peptide calculator converts micrograms into syringe units, and the bacteriostatic water guide covers mixing.
Thymogen Side Effects and Safety
The Russian labels list very few side effects. That reflects how little was measured, not proof of safety.
- Injection: allergic and hypersensitivity reactions, frequency unknown. Not for babies under 6 months.
- Nasal spray: allergic rhinitis. Too much causes heavy nasal discharge that stops when you stop. Not for children under 1.
- Oral form: looser stools. Not for under-18s, pregnancy, breastfeeding, cancer or acute stomach inflammation.
- Steroids: the label says high-dose corticosteroids cancel out its immune effect, so they aren't recommended together.
- Pregnancy: injection and spray only if a doctor judges the benefit worth the risk.
In the Western trials, side effects were mild: headache, tiredness, tingling and nausea at 5 mg, and no grade 2 or 3 drug-related effects at 20 mg three times a day. The worrying signal is the phase III result. Cancer progressed sooner on IM862 than on placebo. If you have cancer, that's a reason not to add Thymogen on your own.
Thymogen has never been approved by the FDA, for any use. Vendor vials are sold with a "laboratory use only" label and aren't checked by any drug regulator.
What to ask your doctor: Is my immune problem one that a tested treatment already covers? Could a thymus drug interact with my steroids, chemotherapy or transplant medicines? If I have, or had, cancer, is there any reason to take an unapproved immune stimulant? What blood tests would show whether anything changed?
Thymogen Price and Where to Buy
Outside Russia, Thymogen comes as a vendor powder. The product card on this page is SwissChems' Thymogen, 20mg, listed at $67.95 (marked down from $80.95) when we checked their product page on November 5, 2026. The code jqrlsday takes 10% off, which brings it to about $61.16. PeptideDeck earns a commission if you buy through the SwissChems link on this page.
- Price per mg: about $3.40, or $3.06 with the code.
- Price per Russian-label daily dose (100 mcg): about $0.34, or $0.31 with the code.
- Price per 10-day label course (1 mg): about $3.40, or $3.06 with the code.
On testing, SwissChems' page says "99% Purity Guaranteed", "Independently third-party HPLC-tested; COA available per batch", and lists a 36-month shelf life. It has a "Check Lab Report" button and links to a public test-results library. Check that the certificate you open matches your vial's batch, and that it confirms identity as well as purity. The page doesn't say how long the powder lasts once mixed.
The Russian pharmacy products are a different thing: licensed, dosed in micrograms, and the injection is prescription only in Russia. If you're weighing a thymus peptide with Western approval history instead, see our guide on where to buy thymosin alpha-1.
Frequently Asked Questions
Sources
- PubChem. Thymogen (oglufanide), CID 100094: synonyms, formula, molecular weight. pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Morozov VG, Khavinson VK. Natural and synthetic thymic peptides as therapeutics for immune dysfunction. Int J Immunopharmacol. 1997;19(9-10):501-5. PubMed 9637345
- Deigin V, et al. The first reciprocal activities of chiral peptide pharmaceuticals: Thymogen and Thymodepressin, as examples. Int J Mol Sci. 2024;25(9):5042. PubMed 38732260
- Тимоген (Thymogen) injection 100 mcg/mL: composition, indications, side effects, contraindications, registration ЛП-№(001808)-(РГ-RU). Vidal Russia, checked November 5, 2026. vidal.ru
- Тимоген nasal spray 25 mcg/dose: dosing, side effects, overdose, interactions, manufacturer. RLS, label dated February 1, 2021, checked November 5, 2026. rlsnet.ru
- Тимоген injection patient leaflet: adult and pediatric doses, course length, repeat courses. Gorzdrav pharmacy listing citing the State Register of Medicines, checked November 5, 2026. gorzdrav.org
- Тималин (Thymalin) lyophilizate 10 mg: composition, registration ЛП-№(005867)-(РГ-RU). Vidal Russia. vidal.ru
- Smirnov VS, Petlenko SV, El'tsin SS. Application of Thymogen for preoperative preparation of elderly patients with tumor processes in the abdominal cavity. Adv Gerontol. 2011;24(2):278-84. PubMed 21957588
- Zhuk EA, Galenok VA. Thymogen in the treatment of type 1 diabetes mellitus. Ter Arkh. 1996;68(10):12-4. PubMed 9026934
- Medus AI, et al. The effect of Thymogen on the state of immunity in destructive pulmonary tuberculosis. Voen Med Zh. 1999;320(10):65-7. PubMed 10605346
- Baryshnikova NV, et al. Repair stimulator alpha-glutamyl-tryptophan in the complex therapy of chronic atrophic gastritis: results of histological examination. Arkh Patol. 2023;85(3):54-63. PubMed 37272441
- Baryshnikova NV, et al. Endoscopic and morphometric analysis of the reduction of acute inflammatory process in the gastric mucosa after therapy with Regasthym Gastro. Ter Arkh. 2023;95(4):322-6. PubMed 38158980
- Anisimov VN, Khavinson VK, Morozov VG. Lifespan and tumor study of the dipeptide L-Glu-L-Trp in lab animals. Biogerontology. 2000;1(1):55-9. PubMed 11707921
- Tulpule A, et al. Results of a randomized study of IM862 nasal solution in the treatment of AIDS-related Kaposi's sarcoma. J Clin Oncol. 2000;18(4):716-23. PubMed 10673512
- Noy A, et al. Angiogenesis inhibitor IM862 is ineffective against AIDS-Kaposi's sarcoma in a phase III trial. J Clin Oncol. 2005;23(5):990-8. PubMed 15598977
- Deplanque G, et al. Phase II trial of the antiangiogenic agent IM862 in metastatic renal cell carcinoma. Br J Cancer. 2004;91(9):1645-50. PubMed 15354209
- IM-862 in treating patients with recurrent ovarian cancer (phase I, 43 enrolled). NCT00003773
- Combination chemotherapy plus IM-862 in resected stage III ovarian or primary peritoneal cancer (phase II). NCT00017303
- SCV-07 (gamma-D-glutamyl-L-tryptophan) in chronic hepatitis C, SciClone Pharmaceuticals. NCT00968357
- Goldstein AL, Goldstein AL. From lab to bedside: emerging clinical applications of thymosin alpha 1. Expert Opin Biol Ther. 2009;9(5):593-608. PubMed 19392576
- SwissChems. Thymogen, 20mg product page: price, properties, testing statements. Checked November 5, 2026.
Medical Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Thymogen is a registered medicine in Russia but has never been approved by the FDA, and vendor vials are not regulated drugs. The doses listed are Russian label doses and doses from cited trials, not recommendations. Talk to a doctor before using any immune-modulating product, especially if you have cancer, an autoimmune condition, a transplant, or take corticosteroids.