Thymogen

Glu-Trp, L-glutamyl-L-tryptophan, EW dipeptide, Thymogen sodium, IM862 (US development name), Oglufanide (INN of the same dipeptide)

Immune & bioregulators

Awaiting medical reviewEN ES DE FR PT ZH+ Follow for updates

Note on this profile. Thymogen is an approved prescription immunomodulator in Russia and some neighbouring countries, where it is given by injection or nasal spray. It is not approved anywhere in the EU, UK, US, Australia or South Africa. The same molecule was developed in the United States under the name IM862 for AIDS-related Kaposi sarcoma and failed its Phase 3 trial. This page describes both strands of evidence; use outside the Russian label is unapproved.

Summary

Class: Synthetic dipeptide (2 amino acids): glutamic acid joined to tryptophan through glutamate's α-carboxyl group. (Bestim, a related Russian product, is the γ-glutamyl isomer and a different compound)
Mechanism: Reported to normalise T-cell numbers and function and to inhibit angiogenesis; the molecular target is not established
Routes studied: Intramuscular injection and intranasal (Russian label); intranasal (US IM862 trials); oral (as a component of a Russian combination product)
Dose range reported: Russian label: 100 µg (1 ml of 0.01% solution) intramuscularly once daily for 3–10 days; nasal spray 25 µg per dose, 1–2 doses per nostril daily †. IM862 trials: 5 mg intranasally once daily or on alternate days. Community: follows the Russian label or US trial dosing.
Half-life: Not well characterised; a dipeptide is expected to be hydrolysed within minutes
Storage: Ampoules/spray: per label, refrigerate. Lyophilised powder: refrigerate, dry; reconstituted solution refrigerated and used within ~2–4 weeks (community practice)
Regulatory status: Approved medicine in Russia and some CIS states; not approved elsewhere

Doses are as reported in studies or by the community — never recommendations.

1What it is

Thymogen is the simplest member of the Russian thymic peptide family. It was developed in the 1980s by Khavinson, Morozov and Deigin as a two-amino-acid distillate of the calf-thymus extract Thymalin, and was registered in the USSR and later Russia as an immunomodulator for adults and children. In Russia it is used as an add-on in infections with reduced immunity, after surgery, burns and radiotherapy, and as a component of a combination cold-and-flu product.

Separately, the same dipeptide was licensed by a US company (Cytran) and developed as IM862, an intranasal anti-angiogenic agent. It went through Phase 2 and Phase 3 trials in AIDS-related Kaposi sarcoma and was also tested in ovarian cancer and other tumours in the early 2000s. This gives Thymogen something unusual among Khavinson-family peptides: controlled Western trial data, albeit for a different purpose and with a negative headline result.

Glu-Trp does not occur as a free dipeptide in the body in meaningful amounts; it is a synthetic compound.

2How it's thought to work

Immune modulation (Russian literature). reported to raise low T-lymphocyte counts and CD4/CD8 ratios toward normal, increase neutrophil function and stimulate interleukin production; characterised as a "normaliser" that has little effect when immune parameters are already normal.

Anti-angiogenesis (US literature). IM862 inhibited new vessel formation in chick membrane and rodent models, and lowered VEGF and bFGF in treated patients in early studies; it also raised IL-12, which is anti-angiogenic.

Signalling. the originating group's later modelling proposes DNA-binding and gene-expression changes, as for the rest of the family. No receptor has been identified.

Proposed: a dipeptide derived from thymic extract, reported to influence immune gene expression. Registered in Russia; no evidence accepted elsewhere.Schematic — not to scale

3What the research shows

Graded A (Phase 2 positive, Phase 3 negative)

AIDS-related Kaposi sarcoma

A Phase 2 open-label study of intranasal IM862 (5 mg daily or alternate days) in 44 patients reported partial or complete responses in roughly a third, with minimal toxicity (Tulpule 2000, J Clin Oncol). The subsequent randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase 3 trial found no significant difference in response rate between IM862 and placebo (Noy 2005, Cancer). The negative outweighs the open-label signal. [1][2]

Graded B (negative/inconclusive)

Other cancers

Phase 2 studies in ovarian and colorectal cancer did not show meaningful activity, and development ceased.

Immune recovery in infections, surgery, burns (Russian indications)

Russian clinical reports from the late 1980s onward describe faster normalisation of lymphocyte counts and reduced infectious complications in a range of settings. Most are open-label or compare against historical controls; some small randomised studies exist in Russian-language journals that we have not independently reviewed. Treat the approval as resting on B-grade evidence by this site's standard.

Ageing and carcinogenesis in rodents

Long-term Glu-Trp administration in rats was reported to slow markers of ageing and reduce spontaneous tumours (Anisimov 2000, Biogerontology). Originating group. [3]

Graded C/D

Veterinary and in vitro

Immune-stimulating effects reported in calves and in lymphocyte cultures.

4Reported side effects and interactions

Literature-reported

In the IM862 trials, intranasal dosing at 5 mg was well tolerated; the most common complaints were nasal irritation, headache and mild gastrointestinal upset, with rates similar to placebo in Phase 3. Russian label lists allergic reactions and local irritation as uncommon. No serious safety signal in roughly several hundred Western trial participants.

Community-reported

nasal stinging with spray; occasional headache; most users report no noticeable effect.

Theoretical. immune stimulation carries the standard caution in autoimmune disease; anti-angiogenic action could in principle slow wound healing, though this was not reported.

Interactions. Russian label notes it may be combined with antibiotics and antivirals; no formal interaction studies. The combination product pairs it with bendazole and vitamin C.

Markers researchers commonly monitor

Based on the Russian label's stated purpose and the IM862 trial measures:

Marker	Why it's watched
CBC with differential and, where available, lymphocyte subsets (CD3, CD4, CD8)	the Russian literature's primary efficacy read-out is normalisation of these.
hs-CRP	general inflammation marker in the infection/recovery context.
VEGF (serum)	measured in IM862 studies as a mechanism marker; research interest only.
Infection and symptom log	the practical outcome for an immune claim.
CMP	general baseline.

Free for everyone. Safety information is never behind a paywall.

5Reconstitution and handling

Russian products are ready-to-use ampoules or metered nasal sprays and need no . powder sold as a research chemical: reconstitute with , swirl gently, refrigerate. Note the units: the Russian injectable dose is 100 micrograms, while the US trials used 5 milligrams intranasally — a 50-fold difference that reflects two unrelated development programmes, not a titration.

Open in calculator, pre-loaded →

6Commonly studied alongside

Thymalin (its parent extract), Vilon (profile 74), Epitalon (set 2), thymosin alpha-1 (set 2; the Western thymic peptide it is most often compared with, though the molecules are unrelated).

Informational cross-links. Not stack recommendations.

7Regulatory status by region

Region	Status (checked —)
United States	Not FDA-approved; IM862 development discontinued after Phase 3. Not on the Category 2 compounding list to our knowledge †
European Union	Not authorised
United Kingdom	Not licensed
Australia	Not approved
South Africa	Not registered
Sport	Not named by WADA; non-approved substances fall under S0 †
Russia / CIS	Approved prescription immunomodulator (injection, nasal spray; also in a combination OTC product) †

8Open questions

Why did an open-label Kaposi sarcoma response rate of about a third vanish under placebo control, and does that pattern apply to the Russian immune indications, which lack placebo-controlled data?
Does a dipeptide given by nose or muscle survive long enough to act, and on what receptor?
Whether any Russian randomised trials meet modern reporting standards.

9References

1Tulpule A et al. (2000). Results of a randomized study of IM862 nasal solution in the treatment of AIDS-related Kaposi's sarcoma. J Clin Oncol. PubMed · DOI
2Noy A et al. (2005). A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of IM862 for AIDS-related Kaposi sarcoma. Cancer [verify title]. PubMed
3Anisimov VN, Khavinson VKh, Morozov VG (2000). Immunomodulatory synthetic dipeptide L-Glu-L-Trp slows down aging process and inhibits spontaneous carcinogenesis in rats. Biogerontology. PubMed · DOI
4Morozov VG, Khavinson VKh (1997). Natural and synthetic thymic peptides as therapeutics for immune dysfunction. Int J Immunopharmacol. PubMed · DOI
5Deigin VI et al. (2007). The effects of the EW dipeptide optical and chemical isomers on the CFU-S population in intact and irradiated mice. Int Immunopharmacol. PubMed · DOI
6Thymogen (glutamyl-tryptophan sodium) — Russian State Register of Medicines entry / prescribing information [verify current text]. PubMed

References are being resolved to PubMed/DOI identifiers; links search PubMed for the citation until then.

† Being confirmed by our reviewers against current sources.

10Community

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Self-reported side effects Phase 2

Not enough data yet. 0 of the 50 members needed have logged this compound for 4+ weeks. We don't show anything below 50, so no one can be identified.

11Page history

26 Oct 2026Profile published — awaiting medical review

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