Epithalon Epitalon · AEDG peptide

What is Epithalon?

Epithalon was created by Vladimir Khavinson’s group at the St Petersburg Institute of Bioregulation and Gerontology. The group had studied epithalamin, a polypeptide extract of bovine pineal gland, and designed a four-residue peptide from that extract’s amino-acid composition. At four residues and 390 g/mol it is among the smallest peptides in research use. Epithalon and Epitalon are two spellings of the same molecule; epithalamin is the original extract, a different substance, and FDA treats the two as distinct.

No receptor has been identified for it. The originating group reports that it binds DNA and histones, and its best-known findings are telomerase expression in cultured human cells and changes in melatonin rhythms in animals. Most of the literature comes from that one group: of 122 PubMed records on epitalon in October 2026, 81 list Khavinson or his long-time collaborator Vladimir Anisimov as an author. FDA makes the same point in its 2026 review.

Epithalon identity

Sources: PubChem, the FDA substance registry (GSRS UNII O65P17785G) and FDA’s July 2026 briefing document on epitalon.

Certificate for the current lot

The current lot’s certificate is a purity and assay report: HPLC purity against a specification of more than 98%, measured content against the 10 mg label, and identity:

Epithalon price

Price per vial and per milligram, read live from the store:

Published research on Epithalon

• Telomerase in human fibroblasts (2003, 2004). In telomerase-negative human fetal fibroblasts, the originating group reported expression of the telomerase catalytic subunit, telomerase activity and telomere elongation, and in serially passaged cells about ten additional divisions. Epithalon peptide induces telomerase activity and telomere elongation in human somatic cells. Khavinson VKh, et al. Bulletin of Experimental Biology and Medicine, 2003; Khavinson VKh, et al., 2004.
• Independent telomere study (2025). A Brunel University London group reported dose-dependent telomere lengthening with raised hTERT and telomerase activity in normal human cells, and lengthening through a different mechanism (ALT) in two breast-cancer cell lines. Epitalon increases telomere length in human cell lines through telomerase upregulation or ALT activity. Al-Dulaimi S, et al. Biogerontology, 2025.
• Lifespan studies in mice and flies (2000–2003). The group measured survival and spontaneous tumour incidence in two mouse strains and lifespan in fruit flies; the results differed by strain, with maximum but not mean lifespan changing in one of the mouse strains. Anisimov VN, et al., 2001; Anisimov VN, et al., 2003; Khavinson VK, et al., 2000.
• Melatonin: mixed results (2001, 2003). In old rhesus monkeys the peptide raised evening melatonin, while perifused pineal glands from young and old rats showed no melatonin response at the concentrations tested, in a study the originating group co-authored. Goncharova ND, et al., 2001; Effect of a synthetic pineal tetrapeptide (Ala-Glu-Asp-GLy) on melatonin secretion by the pineal gland of young and old rats. Djeridane Y, et al. Journal of Endocrinological Investigation, 2003.
• Mouse oocytes in culture (2022). An independent group studied reactive oxygen species, spindle defects and apoptosis in post-ovulatory mouse oocytes cultured with the peptide. Yue X, et al. Aging, 2022.
• Review (2026). A narrative review from US academic authors that keeps epitalon and epithalamin evidence separate. Epitalon and Epithalamin: A Narrative Review of Mechanistic, Preclinical, and Clinical Evidence. Jain A, et al. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 2026.

FDA’s 2026 review found no pharmacokinetic studies and no clinical safety studies of epitalon.

Regulatory status

Epithalon is not an approved drug anywhere FDA checked, including the US, the EU and the UK. FDA placed it in its 503A compounding category 2 (substances that may present significant safety risks) on 29 September 2023 and moved it to nominated-but-withdrawn in April 2026; at the July 2026 Pharmacy Compounding Advisory Committee meeting FDA proposed not adding either the free base or the acetate to the compounding bulks list. An FDA orphan designation for retinitis pigmentosa, granted in 2010, was revoked in 2016. FDA compounding safety-risk list; FDA briefing document, July 2026. Clean Peptide’s Epithalon is a laboratory reference material only, not for human or veterinary use.

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