DSIP versus semax: two research peptides, one meeting, opposite endings

Every row cites its source. Where a cell reflects our own reading of the evidence rather than an external source, the row says so.

Compounded, not FDA-approved

DSIP (emideltide) is not FDA approved and no human efficacy has been established. In July 2026 FDA proposed not to allow it for pharmacy compounding.

RESEARCH-ONLY in the United States. No FDA-approved product contains emideltide; Drugs@FDA queries for emideltide and for delta sleep-inducing peptide return no matches. FDA lists Emideltide (DSIP) on its page of bulk drug substances that may present significant safety risks in compounding, and at the July 23 to 24, 2026 Pharmacy Compounding Advisory Committee meeting FDA proposed that emideltide (free base) and emideltide acetate NOT be included on the 503A Bulks List. Trade press reported the committee also voted against it, the only one of the seven peptides reviewed to be rejected; that vote is press-reported, non-binding, and the rulemaking is pending.

DSIP versus semax: two research peptides, one meeting, opposite endings
Aspect	DSIP (emideltide)	Semax	Source
What it is	Nonapeptide isolated from rabbit blood in Basel, 1977; named for a rabbit EEG effect; gene, precursor and receptor never found	Synthetic ACTH(4-7) fragment plus Pro-Gly-Pro, designed in the Soviet Union and Russia as a nootropic and neuroprotective drug	source
The claim its market runs on	Deep delta sleep, carried entirely by the name	Cognition and stroke recovery, carried by a mostly Russian-language clinical tradition	source
Indexed literature (same-day, same-method census)	419 records; median year 1992; 7 since 2016	206 records; about 40 percent Russian-language	source
Randomized-controlled-trial tags	5 records, together enrolling 72 people; the only parallel-group insomnia trial was negative	1 record, a 27-patient motor neuron disease study	source
Best human evidence for the marketed claim	Negative: the 1992 parallel-group trial found no major benefit and the 2009 study found delta rhythm reduced	Unreadable: Russian observational stroke reports never replicated in a Western trial	source
US regulatory status	Not approved; on FDA's compounding safety-risks list	Not approved; on FDA's compounding safety-risks list	source
FDA position at the July 2026 PCAC	Proposed NOT to be included on the 503A Bulks List (points 9 and 10)	Proposed NOT to be included on the 503A Bulks List (points 13 and 14)	source
Committee vote (press-reported, Regulatory Focus)	Rejected, 6-7 with one abstention; the only one of seven peptides voted down	Backed, 8-5, for cerebral ischemia, migraine and trigeminal neuralgia	source
What that difference means	Nothing yet, legally: the vote is advisory, FDA's proposal stands, and rulemaking is pending for both compounds	The same: a favorable vote does not approve anything, and FDA's exclusion proposal is unchanged	source
Route as sold versus route studied	Sold subcutaneous/intranasal; studied intravenous only; zero data for the sold routes	Sold and studied intranasal, one of the few consistencies in either file	source

Both compounds went before the same FDA advisory committee on July 24, 2026, with FDA proposing exclusion for both. Press reports the committee backed semax and rejected DSIP, the only rejection of the meeting. This table is the class comparison, with our selank sister covered in the notes.

Census rows were produced by running the same Europe PMC query form (TITLE_ABS phrase search) for both compounds on the same day, 2026-08-14, because a comparison built from two different methods is not a comparison. The third sibling in this fleet's Russian-lineage class, selank (68 indexed records, 2 RCT-tagged, same-day method), has its own site at selankco.com; it was not part of the July 2026 PCAC meeting, its earlier nomination having been withdrawn. Sister sites: semaxlabs.com and selankco.com.