Peptides / Immune and antimicrobial

Synthetic analog · 2 amino acids · 333.3 Da

Thymogen (oglufanide)

Approved in RussiaNot banned in sport

Thymogen, also called oglufanide, is a synthetic two-amino-acid peptide (Glu-Trp) approved in Russia in Timogen medicines, different from thymalin. Studies in people tested it on the immune system, and animal studies looked at immunity and tumors. PepBank shows 25 results on Thymogen from 7 studies in people, and 98 from animal and lab studies. The strongest evidence is a randomized trial in people. Data as of 2026-10-30.

Also known as Glu-Trp, Oglufanide, L-alpha-glutamyl-L-tryptophan, Thymogen, Timogen, Тимоген

2 amino acids, from first to lastEW

Evidence level: Mostly animal studies98 of 123 results come from studies in animals and lab cells. 7 studies in people.

Results in people

20% of 123 results

Results in animals

59% of 123 results

Results in lab cells

21% of 123 results

From computer models

0% of 123 results

Overview

Thymogen (oglufanide) at a glance

What it is	Synthetic analog, 2 amino acids
Approval	Approved in Russia only (registered as Timogen / Тимоген)
In sport	Not listed as banned by WADA
Studies	69 studies with results. 40 of them gave Thymogen, with 123 results. 25 in people72 in animals26 in lab cells
Best study in people	Randomized controlled trial (2011)
Clinical trials	3 registered: 0 active or planned, 0 with posted results

The science

What is Thymogen?

A synthetic L-Glu-L-Trp dipeptide used in Russian Timogen products. It is distinct from the thymalin mixture.

Amino acids in one chain

The history of Thymogen

1975
The oldest paper on Thymogen in PepBank is from 1975.
1999February
A registered trial of Thymogen started (NCT00003773).

Thymogen (oglufanide) structure and chemistry

The key facts about the molecule. Long codes are in the closed section below.

Sequence, 2 amino acidsFrom the first amino acid to the last

−E1W

Darker means more water-repelling+ and − show charge in the body

Structure

Thymogen (oglufanide) is a synthetic analog of 2 amino acids, with no ring, no changed amino acids.

Formula

C₁₆H₁₉N₃O₅

Molecular weight

333.3 g/mol

CAS number

38101-59-6

Development

Cytomed (Russian Timogen nasal product). Highest phase: past the trial stage (see status).

Identifiers

PubChem 100094, ChEMBL CHEMBL2111029, UNII 4RHY598T5U, DrugBank DB05779

Full sequence, SMILES and InChIKey

InChIKey
LLEUXCDZPQOJMY-AAEUAGOBSA-N

SMILES
C1=CC=C2C(=C1)C(=CN2)C[C@@H](C(=O)O)NC(=O)[C@H](CCC(=O)O)N

See charge, composition and 3D structure on the Scientific page

The evidence

What Thymogen studies show

Results grouped by what the studies measured. Each card shows where its results come from.

Mostly animal studies98 of 123 results come from studies in animals and lab cells. 7 studies in people.

Immune system and inflammation

56 results · 11 in people · 27 animal · 18 lab

In elderly surgical patients with tumors, Thymogen helped restore cellular immunity parameters compared with placebo. Advances in gerontology = Uspekhi gerontologii, 2011

Top results

In elderly surgical patients with tumors, Thymogen helped restore cellular immunity parameters compared with placebo. (Advances in gerontology = Uspekhi gerontologii, 2011)
In rats with acute abdominal disorders, thymogen reduced leukocytosis compared with untreated animals. (Patologicheskaia fiziologiia i eksperimental'naia terapiia, 1998)
In chronic pyoderma patients, immune reactivity measures normalized after thymogen therapy. (Vestnik dermatologii i venerologii, 1990)

Infections

10 results · 5 in people · 5 animal

In a military training unit, timogen reduced the rate of acute respiratory infections. Voenno-meditsinskii zhurnal, 1993

Top results

In a military training unit, timogen reduced the rate of acute respiratory infections. (Voenno-meditsinskii zhurnal, 1993)
In chronic pyoderma patients, bacterial antibiotic resistance at skin infection sites decreased after thymogen therapy. (Vestnik dermatologii i venerologii, 1990)
In chick embryos, thymogen did not affect type A influenza infection. (Zhurnal mikrobiologii, epidemiologii i immunobiologii, 1993)

Survival and serious illness

13 results · 2 in people · 11 animal

In experimental and clinical studies of complicated gallstone disease, thymogene immune correction reduced deaths, but the abstract did not separate models. Vestnik khirurgii imeni I. I. Grekova, 1994

Top results

In experimental and clinical studies of complicated gallstone disease, thymogene immune correction reduced deaths, but the abstract did not separate models. (Vestnik khirurgii imeni I. I. Grekova, 1994)
In elderly tumor surgery patients, Thymogen shortened the postoperative period compared with placebo. (Advances in gerontology = Uspekhi gerontologii, 2011)
In rats, average life span was similar with L-Glu-L-Trp and saline. (Biogerontology, 2000)

Overall treatment results

2 results · 2 in people

In patients with acute pancreatitis, thymogen added to treatment was linked to improved clinical changes. Voprosy pitaniia, 2000

Top results

In patients with acute pancreatitis, thymogen added to treatment was linked to improved clinical changes. (Voprosy pitaniia, 2000)
In patients with destructive pulmonary tuberculosis, thymogen treatment was linked to disappearance of intoxication syndromes. (Voenno-meditsinskii zhurnal, 1999)

Skin, hair and wounds

6 results · 1 in people · 4 animal · 1 lab

In patients with destructive pulmonary tuberculosis, thymogen treatment was linked to healing of lung cavities. Voenno-meditsinskii zhurnal, 1999

Top results

In patients with destructive pulmonary tuberculosis, thymogen treatment was linked to healing of lung cavities. (Voenno-meditsinskii zhurnal, 1999)
In intact rats, systemic and local thymogene stimulated DNA synthesis in corneal cells, most strongly by the 3d-5th day. (Oftalmologicheskii zhurnal, 1990)
In rabbits, Glu-Trp-ONa shortened wound healing compared with control. (Drug design, development and therapy, 2015)

Cancer

9 results · 9 animal

In rats, total tumor incidence was 1.5 times lower with L-Glu-L-Trp than in controls. Biogerontology, 2000

Top results

In rats, total tumor incidence was 1.5 times lower with L-Glu-L-Trp than in controls. (Biogerontology, 2000)
In female rats, thymogen reduced total tumor occurrence compared with radionuclide exposure alone. (Voprosy onkologii, 1992)
In rats exposed to NSEE, thymogen decreased esophageal and forestomach tumor incidence by 12%. (Eksperimental'naia onkologiia, 1989)

All 69 Thymogen studies by area Open the Scientific page

Key Thymogen studies

Studies in people come first, then studies in animals and in the lab.

People
[Application thymogen for preoperative preparation of elderly patients with tumor processes in abdominal cavity]
Smirnov et al. 2011 · Advances in gerontology = Uspekhi gerontologii · cited by 1
4 results
People
[The immunocorrective therapy of pyoderma caused by staphylococci multiply resistant to antibiotics]
Rodionov et al. 1990 · Vestnik dermatologii i venerologii · 23 people · cited by 0
4 results
People
[Immunomodulating activity of thymogen in acute pancreatitis]
Saĭdakhmedova et al. 2000 · Voprosy pitaniia · cited by 0
2 results
People
[The effect of thymogen on the state of immunity in destructive pulmonary tuberculosis]
Medus et al. 1999 · Voenno-meditsinskii zhurnal · cited by 0
5 results
People
[Thymogen in the treatment of type-1 diabetes mellitus]
Zhuk et al. 1996 · Terapevticheskii arkhiv · cited by 0
4 results

All 69 Thymogen (oglufanide) studies

Thymogen clinical trials

ClinicalTrials.gov lists 3 trials of Thymogen. 0 are active or planned, and 0 have posted results. PepBank does not show trial results.

Solid bars are dates that happened. Hatched bars are planned dates. Data from ClinicalTrials.gov.

Chemotherapy Plus IM-862 in Treating Patients With Metastatic Colorectal Cancer

Phase 2terminated18 planned

Combination Chemotherapy Plus IM-862 in Treating Patients With Resected Stage III Ovarian Cancer or Primary Peritoneal Cancer

Phase 2status unknown

IM-862 in Treating Patients With Recurrent Ovarian Cancer

Phase 1completed43 people

Status and safety

Is Thymogen approved?

FDA

United States

Not approved

No approved medicine contains it.

EMA

European Union

Not approved

No approved medicine contains it.

WADA

Sport

Not banned

Not on the 2026 Prohibited List.

Yes. Approved in Russia only (registered as Timogen / Тимоген). No FDA approval and no central EU authorisation (EMA). Not listed as banned by WADA.

Laws and labels change, so check the regulator for the current status.

Thymogen side effects and safety

PepBank has 4 safety results from studies of Thymogen. 3 of them come from studies in people.

Safety results from studies (4)

In elderly tumor surgery patients, Thymogen reduced the number of postoperative complications compared with placebo. (Advances in gerontology = Uspekhi gerontologii, 2011)
In patients with destructive pulmonary tuberculosis, thymogen increased tolerance of drugs directed at the disease cause. (Voenno-meditsinskii zhurnal, 1999)
In elderly tumor surgery patients, Thymogen reduced the range of postoperative complications compared with placebo. (Advances in gerontology = Uspekhi gerontologii, 2011)
In cells, low thymogene concentrations showed no mutation-causing activity. (TSitologiia i genetika, 1996)

See every safety result on the Scientific page

Doses studied (15 shown)

The doses that these studies used. They are not recommendations.

Dose as reported	Class	Species	Route	Duration	Design	Source
100 mg once a day	Human	human	intranasal instillation	7 days before surgery	Randomized trial in people	Smirnov 2011
0.5-0.8 mg per treatment course	Human	human	Not reported	Not reported	Trial in people without random groups	Saĭdakhmedova 2000
5 micrograms/rat, 5 times per week	Animal	rat	subcutaneous	12 months	Study in live animals · n = 76	Anisimov 2000
5 micrograms/animal for 5 consecutive days per monthly course	Animal	rat	Not reported	12 monthly courses	Study in live animals	Anisimov 1992
10 micrograms per rat daily	Animal	rat	Not reported	32 weeks	Study in live animals	Bespalov 1989
100 μg/kg	Animal	rat	Not reported	Not reported	Study in live animals	Chulanova 2025
10 mg/kg daily	Animal	Wistar rats and noninbred mice	Not reported	3 days	Study in live animals	Zabrodskiĭ 1999
10 micrograms/kg daily	Animal	guinea pig	injection	4 days	Study in live animals	Iushchuk 1995
10 ng/ml	Lab	rat	Not reported	Not reported	Study on tissue taken from a body	Chalisova 1999
0.2, 2 and 20 μg/ml	Lab	human	Not reported	Not reported	Study on cells in a dish	Malinin 2015
10 mM	Lab	Human	Not reported	Not reported	Study on cells in a dish	Dambaeva 2002
1000, 100, and 10 micrograms/ml	Lab	human	Not reported	Not reported	Study on cells in a dish	Rushkovskiĭ 1996
1.0; 0.1; 0.01; and 0.001 microgram/ml	Lab	human	Not reported	Not reported	Study on cells in a dish	Rushkovskiĭ 1996
1.0; 0.1; and 0.001 microgram/ml	Lab	human	Not reported	Not reported	Study on cells in a dish	Rushkovskiĭ 1996
2.5-25.0 microg/ml	Lab	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported	Study on cells in a dish	Babizhayev 2005

From the community

How people use it

What people report online. It comes from forums and guides, not from studies.

Community-reported. Not tested in trials.

The Russian manufacturer label describes nasal Timogen use for prevention and combined treatment of infections. No separate community regimen was verified.

Reported routines and cautions

Reported regimens

Regimens that community sources report for Thymogen (Timogen). Community-reported, not tested in trials.
Context	Route	Amount	How often	How long	Agreement	Sources
Adult label treatment useOfficial label dosing of an approved product	intranasal spray	25 mcg per spray in each nostril	one spray per nostril twice daily	10 days	The official manufacturer label and a non-vendor label reprint agree. These are two copies of the label, not independent clinical evidence. The RLS site carries medicine advertisements.	S3
Adult label prevention useOfficial label dosing of an approved product	intranasal spray	25 mcg per spray in each nostril	one spray per nostril twice daily	3 to 5 days	The official manufacturer label and a non-vendor label reprint agree. These are two copies of the label, not independent clinical evidence. The RLS site carries medicine advertisements.	S3

Community sources

S2Russian national register search for Timogen (opens in a new tab)grls.rosminzdrav.ru
S3Timogen official-instruction reprint, RLS, manufacturer approval 2021rlsnet.rucarries seller links, not linked

plus 1 seller page (not linked)

Gaps

No independently sourced community protocol was found. Only adult official label regimens are included. The national register detail entry remains unconfirmed.

Questions and more

Ask a question about Thymogen

The answer links to every study it uses.

What does the evidence say about Thymogen?Is Thymogen tested in people?Compare with Thymosin alpha-1 Compare with Thymalin

Sources

Database: PepBank data for Thymogen (data version 308560)
Regulator: FDA status record
Regulator: EMA status record
Regulator: WADA status record
Trial registry: ClinicalTrials.gov
Community: community sources (forums and guides), as summarized in the PepBank community file

AI wrote and checked these results. AI can make mistakes, so check important results against the source.

PepBank is a research reference. Talk to a doctor before you use any peptide.

Ask your AI about Thymogen

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Thymogen (oglufanide)

Approved in RussiaNot banned in sport

Also known as Glu-Trp, Oglufanide, L-alpha-glutamyl-L-tryptophan, Thymogen, Timogen, Тимоген

What it is

Synthetic analog, 2 amino acids

Approval

Approved in Russia only (registered as Timogen / Тимоген)

In sport

Not listed as banned by WADA

Studies

69 studies with results. 40 of them gave Thymogen, with 123 results.
25 in people72 in animals26 in lab cells

Best study in people

Randomized controlled trial (2011)

Clinical trials

3 registered: 0 active or planned, 0 with posted results

Dose as reported

Class

Species

Route

Duration

Design

Source

100 mg once a day

Human

human

intranasal instillation

7 days before surgery

Randomized trial in people

Smirnov 2011

0.5-0.8 mg per treatment course

Human

human

Not reported

Trial in people without random groups

Saĭdakhmedova 2000

5 micrograms/rat, 5 times per week

Animal

rat

subcutaneous

12 months

Study in live animals · n = 76

Anisimov 2000

5 micrograms/animal for 5 consecutive days per monthly course

Animal

rat

Not reported

12 monthly courses

Study in live animals

Anisimov 1992

10 micrograms per rat daily

Animal

rat

Not reported

32 weeks

Study in live animals

Bespalov 1989

100 μg/kg

Animal

rat

Not reported

Study in live animals

Chulanova 2025

10 mg/kg daily

Animal

Wistar rats and noninbred mice

Not reported

3 days

Study in live animals

Zabrodskiĭ 1999

10 micrograms/kg daily

Animal

guinea pig

injection

4 days

Study in live animals

Iushchuk 1995

10 ng/ml

Lab

rat

Not reported

Study on tissue taken from a body

Chalisova 1999

0.2, 2 and 20 μg/ml

Lab

human

Not reported

Study on cells in a dish

Malinin 2015

10 mM

Lab

Human

Not reported

Study on cells in a dish

Dambaeva 2002

1000, 100, and 10 micrograms/ml

Lab

human

Not reported

Study on cells in a dish

Rushkovskiĭ 1996

1.0; 0.1; 0.01; and 0.001 microgram/ml

Lab

human

Not reported

Study on cells in a dish

Rushkovskiĭ 1996

1.0; 0.1; and 0.001 microgram/ml

Lab

human

Not reported

Study on cells in a dish

Rushkovskiĭ 1996

2.5-25.0 microg/ml

Lab

Not reported

Study on cells in a dish

Babizhayev 2005

Context

Route

Amount

How often

How long

Agreement

Sources

Adult label treatment useOfficial label dosing of an approved product

intranasal spray

25 mcg per spray in each nostril

one spray per nostril twice daily

10 days

The official manufacturer label and a non-vendor label reprint agree. These are two copies of the label, not independent clinical evidence. The RLS site carries medicine advertisements.

Adult label prevention useOfficial label dosing of an approved product

intranasal spray

25 mcg per spray in each nostril

one spray per nostril twice daily

3 to 5 days

The official manufacturer label and a non-vendor label reprint agree. These are two copies of the label, not independent clinical evidence. The RLS site carries medicine advertisements.

Thymogen (oglufanide)

Thymogen (oglufanide) at a glance

What is Thymogen?

The history of Thymogen

Thymogen (oglufanide) structure and chemistry

What Thymogen studies show

Immune system and inflammation

Infections

Survival and serious illness

Overall treatment results

Skin, hair and wounds

Cancer

Key Thymogen studies

Thymogen clinical trials

Is Thymogen approved?

Thymogen side effects and safety

How people use it

Reported regimens

Community sources

Ask a question about Thymogen

Related peptides

Sources

Thymogen (oglufanide)

Thymogen (oglufanide) at a glance

What is Thymogen?

The history of Thymogen

Thymogen (oglufanide) structure and chemistry

What Thymogen studies show

Immune system and inflammation

Infections

Survival and serious illness

Overall treatment results

Skin, hair and wounds

Cancer

Key Thymogen studies

Thymogen clinical trials

Is Thymogen approved?

Thymogen side effects and safety

How people use it

Reported regimens

Community sources

Ask a question about Thymogen

Related peptides

Sources