This is an educational evidence summary, not medical advice and not a protocol. The doses shown are figures reported by studies or drug references, never recommendations. Across the sources here only one human dose is stated, no study is described as randomised or placebo-controlled, and none of the three is an approved drug in the records reviewed.

Pinealon, Vilon, Thymalin

Three peptide bioregulators from the Khavinson programme in St. Petersburg. Thymalin is a first-generation thymus extract; Pinealon (Glu-Asp-Arg) and Vilon (Lys-Glu) are second-generation synthetic short peptides. The human evidence is a handful of small studies, only one of which states a dose, none described as randomised, and no approval on record here.

Last updated: September 2026

What Pinealon, Vilon and Thymalin Are

Pinealon, Vilon and Thymalin come from one Russian research programme, the "peptide bioregulators" developed at the St. Petersburg Institute of Bioregulation and Gerontology, but they are not one kind of thing. They fall into two generations. Thymalin is a first-generation tissue extract, while Pinealon and Vilon are second-generation synthetic short peptides. The originator describes both steps: a technology for "biologically active complex peptide preparations from extracts of different tissues," and, separately, "novel principles of the design of biologically active short peptides" (Khavinson, PMID 12374906). For a related compound from the same programme, see Epitalon and the rest of our peptide library.

Pinealon is a synthetic tripeptide, Glu-Asp-Arg, also written EDR. PubChem resolves both the name pinealon and the sequence Glu-Asp-Arg to the same record, CID 10273502, molecular formula C15H26N6O8, molecular weight 418.40, CAS 175175-23-2 (PubChem). At three amino acids it sits at the very short end of what the word peptide usually means, closer to an amino-acid derivative than to a large peptide hormone.

Vilon is a synthetic dipeptide, Lys-Glu, also written KE. PubChem resolves the name vilon and the sequence Lys-Glu to CID 7010502, molecular formula C11H21N3O5, molecular weight 275.30, CAS 45234-02-4, with an FDA substance identifier, UNII H34V7IM5ML (PubChem). That UNII is a substance registration only, not evidence of drug approval. PubMed does not index vilon as its own concept; it maps the word through the chemical name lysylglutamic acid, and the same search even returns an unrelated bioinformatics algorithm also called ViLoN, so the query term is noisy (PMID 36395816).

Thymalin is different again: not a single defined molecule but "a polypeptide complex isolated from the thymus" (PMID 33237528). Because it is a complex it has no single molecular formula, and PubMed assigns the substance name a distinct registry number, CAS 79621-14-0. Watch a common mix-up here. Querying PubChem for the name thymalin returns a different substance, the defined nonapeptide nonathymulin, also called thymulin, which merely carries Thymalin as one synonym. The formula, weight and sequence on that record belong to nonathymulin, not to the Russian thymus-extract drug, so this page does not publish a structure for Thymalin.

Two things to hold in mind while reading on. First, provenance: most of the human and mechanistic work here traces to the same St. Petersburg institute, with V. Khavinson named on seven of the on-topic records, and the independent records are a minority. Second, status: nothing in the studies reviewed reports an approval or marketing authorisation in any country, and an independent 2026 review of therapeutic peptides puts it plainly, "there is a current lack of clinical trials" (PMID 41490200). The figures further down are what studies and references state, not a protocol.

How It Works

Antioxidant, in cells: the synthetic tripeptide Pinealon shows a dose-dependent restriction of reactive oxygen species in cerebellar granule, neutrophil and PC12 cells and reduces necrotic cell death, and the authors argue it also interacts directly with the cell genome (in vitro, PMID 21978084). Note the tension with the human finding below, where the same compound showed prooxidant activity.

DNA binding, in cell-free and cell assays: fluorescently labelled Pinealon and related peptides enter the nucleus and bind preferentially to DNA sequences containing CNG sites, which are targets for cytosine methylation. The authors hedge that in principle they may interact with DNA and RNA, and the labelled peptides are chemically modified versions of the compounds (in vitro, PMID 22117547).

Antihypoxic, in animals: short peptides including Vilon and Pinealon showed antihypoxic effects in a hypobaric-hypoxia model, with Pinealon the most pronounced among them; species, route and dose are not stated in the abstract (animal, PMID 18546825).

Immune modulation, in cells: Thymalin increased functional activity of T lymphocytes and shifted cultured human hematopoietic stem cells toward mature T-cell markers. The authors call it a candidate immunoprotective drug and frame a COVID-19 link as a possibility, not a result (in vitro, human cells, PMID 33237528).

Gene expression, in animals: Vilon changed the expression of 36 of 15,247 cardiac gene clones in mice, about a quarter of one percent, while Epithalon changed more (animal, mice, PMID 12360356).

Overall, the mechanisms are drawn from cell and animal work, and the independent 2026 review notes the field still lacks clinical trials (PMID 41490200).

What the Studies Report

Pinealon: improved parameters of biological age and adaptive reactions in locomotive-brigade workers, the one human study here that states a dose; no numeric result or n is given in the abstract (human, PMID 22708445).
Pinealon with Vesugen: a significant anabolic effect, reported for the two preparations together in a small study of adults aged 41 to 83 with polymorbidity and organic brain syndrome in remission, though the authors say Vesugen, a sister peptide, did more, and there was no control group (human, n = 32, PMID 26390612).
Pinealon: less reactive oxygen species and fewer necrotic neurons in a rat prenatal hyperhomocysteinemia model, with better offspring spatial learning (animal study, rats, route not stated, PMID 22567179).
Pinealon: the short peptides tested, including Pinealon, were reported to raise animal survival after carotid-artery occlusion in old rats, and the same study reported adverse behavioural changes and a rise in an apoptosis marker under Pinealon (animal study, old rats, route not stated, PMID 21809624).
Pinealon and Vilon: antihypoxic effects in a hypobaric-hypoxia model, Pinealon strongest (animal study, species not named, route not stated, PMID 18546825).
Thymalin: over 6 to 8 years in 266 older people, the authors reported a 2.0 to 2.4 fold lower incidence of acute respiratory disease and a 2.0 to 2.1 fold lower mortality among Thymalin-treated patients versus a control group whose size, allocation and blinding are not described, with a 4.1 fold mortality drop in a subgroup given Thymalin together with Epithalamin annually for 6 years; this is the originating St. Petersburg group and the abstract does not describe randomisation (human, PMID 12577695).
Thymalin: increased T-lymphocyte markers and shifted differentiation in cultured human stem cells (in vitro, human cells, PMID 33237528).
Vilon: chromatin reactivation in cultured lymphocytes from donors aged 75 to 88, though unlike two comparators Vilon did not decondense pericentromeric heterochromatin, and the peptide was applied to cells rather than given to people (ex vivo, PMID 16705247).
Vilon: changed a small fraction of cardiac genes in mice, 36 of 15,247 (animal study, mice, route not stated, PMID 12360356).

Dosing Described in Research and Labels

Phase	Dose	Frequency	Duration
Pinealon, human occupational cohort	100 micrograms (mkg) per capsule, oral, twice daily (trial dose, not a recommendation, PMID 22708445)	Oral capsule, twice a day	Two weeks. n and any numeric outcome are not stated in the abstract
Pinealon, human, polymorbidity study	Dose not stated in the abstract (human, PMID 26390612)	Route not stated in the abstract	n = 32 (the abstract breakdown of 18 men and 12 women sums to 30). No control group described
Pinealon, human, method comparison	Dose not stated in the abstract (human, PMID 28539017)	Route not stated in the abstract	n = 110. Compared against massage, carbon dioxide baths and hyperbaric oxygen, not placebo
Thymalin, human, geroprotection	Dose not stated in the abstract (human, PMID 12577695)	Route not stated in the abstract	n = 266 over 6 to 8 years, given in the first 2 to 3 years; a subgroup received Thymalin with Epithalamin annually for 6 years. Control not described
Thymalin, Russian drug reference (not a study)	A 10 mg intramuscular form (drug reference, not a trial dose, not a recommendation) is named by a Russian commercial reference, RLS, in a line stating that form is absent from its database	Intramuscular lyophilizate, per the reference	Commercial drug reference, not the state register. No registration number was obtained
Vilon, human	No human dosing study in the sources reviewed	Not applicable	The only human-tissue result is ex vivo: peptide applied to cultured lymphocytes from donors aged 75 to 88 (PMID 16705247)
Pinealon and Vilon, animal and in vitro	Dose or concentration not stated in the abstracts (animal and in vitro, PMID 18546825, 22567179, 21809624, 21978084, 22117547, 12360356)	Route mostly not stated in the abstracts	Hypoxia, prenatal hyperhomocysteinemia, stroke, ROS, DNA-binding and cardiac gene-expression models. See the sources below

These figures summarise what the cited studies and drug references state, and nothing more. They are educational, not a recommendation or a personal protocol. Most sources here state no dose at all, and any dose, schedule, or decision to use a compound belongs with a licensed prescriber.

Side Effects

Reported in human studies

⚠Prooxidant activity, found by chemiluminescence, which cuts against the antioxidant results seen in animal and cell studies (human, PMID 26390612)
⚠Significant inhibition of blood-cell formation, shown as a drop in CD34+ hematopoietic cells and called significant by the authors (human, PMID 26390612)

Reported in animal studies

•Caspase-3, an apoptosis marker, rose moderately, including in sham-operated animals and not only injured ones (animal, old rats, PMID 21809624)
•More sleep, less motivation and reduced motor performance when given before carotid-artery occlusion (animal, old rats, PMID 21809624)

Safety Data: What Is and Is Not Known

✕No source reviewed here lists contraindications, drug interactions, or adverse-event frequencies for any of the three. The signals above are single findings inside study abstracts, not a tolerability profile.
✕Vilon and Thymalin have no side-effect data at all in the sources reviewed. That is absence of data, not evidence of safety.
✕For balance: one comparison called the oligopeptide preparations among the most safe methods it tested, but the comparators were massage, carbon dioxide baths and hyperbaric oxygen, not placebo (human, PMID 28539017); and the polymorbidity study read unchanged chromatin condensation as safe at the nuclear-genetic level while adding it should be studied further (human, PMID 26390612).
✕None of the three is an FDA-approved drug (openFDA returned no match across generic name, brand name and drug label for all three, with an aspirin positive control confirming the search works).
✕A 2024 US FDA warning letter to US Chem Labs named a marketed Thymalin product, alongside semaglutide and tirzepatide, as an unapproved new drug and a misbranded drug.

Evidence at a Glance

In vitro

Pinealon restricts reactive oxygen species and appears to bind DNA at CNG sites in cell and cell-free assays; Thymalin shifts immune-cell markers in cultured human stem cells. No concentration is stated in these abstracts (PMID 21978084, 22117547, 33237528).

Animal

Pinealon and Vilon show antihypoxic effects; Pinealon improves offspring learning in a rat prenatal hyperhomocysteinemia model; in an old-rat carotid-artery occlusion model the short peptides tested raised survival while Pinealon also raised an apoptosis marker; Vilon changes 36 of 15,247 cardiac genes in mice. Routes and doses are mostly not stated (PMID 18546825, 22567179, 21809624, 12360356).

Human

Four small studies, none described as randomised, blinded or placebo-controlled, and only one states a dose. Thymalin has the largest, a 266-person observation over 6 to 8 years that reported lower mortality versus an undescribed control (PMID 22708445, 26390612, 28539017, 12577695).

Records

None is FDA-approved; a US FDA warning letter names a marketed Thymalin product; Thymalin appears in a Russian commercial drug reference as a thymus extract; Vietnamese registration and pricing could not be determined from the sources here.

Notes from Ho Chi Minh City

A practical read on these three, from someone watching the market rather than selling it. In these sources Pinealon (EDR) surfaces only as an overseas research-use vial, and there was no Vietnamese pharmacy listing we could confirm either way, which reflects a blocked search rather than proof of availability or absence. The trouble is that the evidence does not match the marketing. Most of the human and mechanistic work traces to one St. Petersburg group, only a single study in these sources states a dose at all, and none of it is described as randomised or placebo-controlled. Thymalin is the outlier on paper: it is sold as a medicine in Russia on secondary evidence, and it also drew a 2024 US FDA warning letter that called a marketed Thymalin product an unapproved, misbranded drug. The useful questions here are not about dosing, which no source establishes, but about identity and independent testing, and those are decisions for a licensed prescriber rather than a forum thread.

Sourcing in Vietnam

On Vietnam specifically, the sources here could not establish a registration status, a pharmacy listing, or a price for any of the three. The national lookups either sat behind a login or would not return results, and the pharmacy-chain pages render their catalogues in the browser, so a control search for paracetamol came back just as empty; that is a blocked search, not proof these are unavailable. The regulator wording, for anyone who wants to check later, is giấy đăng ký lưu hành (marketing authorisation, GPLH) at the Cục Quản lý Dược, Bộ Y tế. Until a listing is confirmed, treat Vietnamese availability and price as unknown.

FAQ

Q: Are Pinealon, Vilon and Thymalin the same kind of thing?

A: No. They split into two generations of one Russian programme. Thymalin is a first-generation thymus extract with no single molecular formula; Pinealon and Vilon are second-generation synthetic short peptides with defined sequences, Glu-Asp-Arg and Lys-Glu. The neighbour compound Epitalon comes from the same programme.

Q: Is there a proven dose for any of the three?

A: Only one dose appears anywhere in the studies reviewed: Pinealon, 100 micrograms per capsule, taken orally twice a day for two weeks, in a study of locomotive-brigade workers (trial dose, not a recommendation, PMID 22708445). Every other human and animal study here states no dose. There is no established dose, and nothing on this page is a recommendation.

Q: How strong is the human evidence?

A: Thin. There are four small human studies in this review, none described as randomised, blinded or placebo-controlled, and most of the work comes from the same St. Petersburg group that originated the compounds. The largest, a 266-person Thymalin observation over 6 to 8 years, reported lower mortality but against a control group it does not describe (PMID 12577695). An independent 2026 review states the field lacks clinical trials (PMID 41490200).

Q: Are they approved, legal or banned in sport?

A: None is an FDA-approved drug (openFDA returned no match, with a positive control confirming the search). A 2024 US FDA warning letter named a marketed Thymalin product, with semaglutide and tirzepatide, as an unapproved and misbranded drug. Thymalin is sold as a medicine in Russia on secondary evidence. Vietnamese status could not be determined here, and the WADA prohibited-list page could not be read, so anti-doping status is unknown. This page is educational and not legal advice.

Q: Is Thymalin the same as thymulin or nonathymulin?

A: No, and this is a common database mix-up. Searching PubChem for thymalin returns nonathymulin, also called thymulin, a defined nonapeptide that only carries Thymalin as a synonym. The Russian thymus-extract drug has a different registry number and, being a complex, no single formula. A molecular formula or sequence returned for the name Thymalin in PubChem belongs to nonathymulin, not to the Russian thymus-extract drug.

Q: What side effects have been reported?

A: In one human study, Pinealon showed prooxidant activity and a significant drop in CD34+ blood-cell precursors, read by the authors as inhibited blood-cell formation (PMID 26390612). In old rats, Pinealon raised an apoptosis marker, including in uninjured animals, and increased sleep while reducing motivation and motor performance (PMID 21809624). Vilon and Thymalin have no side-effect data in the sources here, which is absence of data, not a clean record.

Before Sourcing: Records and Caution

Sourcing notes, offered as records only and not as an endorsement. The vendors reviewed sell these under caveats, one for research, laboratory or analytical use only and not for human consumption, the other framing sales as personal import of a limited supply, and one lists Pinealon at about US$68 for a 20 mg vial. A vendor that runs a third-party certificate-of-analysis programme did not carry a certificate for Pinealon, Vilon or Thymalin on its own list. The hardest record: a 2024 US FDA warning letter named a marketed Thymalin product an unapproved, misbranded drug. If you evaluate any source, verify identity and independent testing first.

How to read a COA Community supplier list

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Research & Sources

Therapeutic Peptides in Orthopaedics: Applications, Challenges, and Future Directions · Rahman OF, Lee SJ, Seeds WA · J Am Acad Orthop Surg Glob Res Rev (2026) (PMID: 41490200)
Independent narrative review; states a current lack of clinical trials for this class.
Peptides and Ageing · Khavinson VKh · Neuro Endocrinol Lett (2002) (PMID: 12374906)
Programme overview describing both the tissue extracts and the designed short peptides.
Pinealon increases cell viability by suppression of free radical levels and activating proliferative processes · Khavinson V, Ribakova Y, Kulebiakin K, et al. · Rejuvenation Res (2011) (PMID: 21978084)
In vitro; dose-dependent ROS restriction, but no numeric concentration in the abstract.
Penetration of short fluorescence-labeled peptides into the nucleus in HeLa cells and in vitro specific interaction of the peptides with deoxyribooligonucleotides and DNA · Fedoreyeva LI, Kireev II, Khavinson VKh, Vanyushin BF · Biochemistry (Mosc) (2011) (PMID: 22117547)
In vitro; FITC-labelled peptides bind CNG-containing DNA. Authors hedge that in principle they may interact.
Investigation of antihypoxic properties of short peptides · Kozina LS · Adv Gerontol (2008) (PMID: 18546825)
Animal hypobaric-hypoxia model; species, route and dose not stated in the abstract. Pinealon strongest of the peptides tested.
Pinealon protects the rat offspring from prenatal hyperhomocysteinemia · Arutjunyan A, Kozina L, Stvolinskiy S, et al. · Int J Clin Exp Med (2012) (PMID: 22567179)
Rat model; route and dose not stated in the abstract.
Effects of introduction of short peptides before carotid artery occlusion on behaviour and caspase-3 activity in the brain of old rats · Mendzheritskii AM, Karantysh GV, Ivonina KO · Adv Gerontol (2011) (PMID: 21809624)
Old rats; reports higher survival but also adverse behavioural changes and a caspase-3 rise, including in sham-operated animals. Route not stated in the abstract.
Effect of synthetic peptides on aging of patients with chronic polymorbidity and organic brain syndrome of the central nervous system in remission · Meshchaninov VN, Tkachenko EL, Zharkov SV, et al. · Adv Gerontol (2015) (PMID: 26390612)
Human, n = 32 (the breakdown 18 men and 12 women sums to 30), no control group. Reports an anabolic effect and also prooxidant activity and inhibited haematopoiesis. Dose not stated.
Comparative analysis of different methods of geroprotective · Myakotnykh VS, Torgashov MN, Egorin KV, et al. · Adv Gerontol (2016) (PMID: 28539017)
Human, n = 110; compares Vesugen and Pinealon against non-drug methods, not placebo. Vilon is not studied here. Dose not stated.
Geroprotective effect of thymalin and epithalamin · Khavinson VKh, Morozov VG · Adv Gerontol (2002) (PMID: 12577695)
Human, n = 266 over 6 to 8 years; reports lower mortality versus a control group it does not describe. Originating group, not described as randomised. Dose not stated.
Thymalin: Activation of Differentiation of Human Hematopoietic Stem Cells · Khavinson VK, Linkova NS, Kvetnoy IM, et al. · Bull Exp Biol Med (2020) (PMID: 33237528)
In vitro human cells; the COVID-19 framing is explicitly hypothetical. Thymalin defined here as a polypeptide complex from the thymus.
Studies of the effects of Vilon and Epithalon on gene expression in mouse heart using DNA-microarray technology · Anisimov SV, Bokheler KR, Khavinson VKh, Anisimov VN · Bull Exp Biol Med (2002) (PMID: 12360356)
Mice; Vilon changed 36 of 15,247 clones. Route and dose not stated.
Anti-aging peptide bioregulators induce reactivation of chromatin · Lezhava T, Monaselidze J, Kadotani T, Dvalishvili N, Buadze T · Georgian Med News (2006) (PMID: 16705247)
Ex vivo lymphocytes from donors aged 75 to 88; peptides applied to cells, not given to people. Not a clinical trial. Vilon did not decondense pericentromeric heterochromatin.
ViLoN: a multi-layer network approach to data integration demonstrated for patient stratification · Nucleic Acids Res (2023) (PMID: 36395816)
Recorded false positive: retrieved by the vilon query but a bioinformatics algorithm, not the peptide. Logged to show the vilon query term is noisy.
Analysis of some parameters of biological age and adaptation possibilities of workers of locomotive brigades · Nazimko VA, Morgul EV, Petrova OA, et al. · Adv Gerontol (2012) (PMID: 22708445)
The only human record here that states a dose: 100 micrograms per capsule, oral, twice daily, for two weeks. n and numeric outcome not stated.
PubChem compound records for Pinealon, Vilon and the thymalin name · National Library of Medicine · PubChem (CID 10273502, 7010502, 3085284) (2026) Link
Source of the formulae, weights and CAS numbers. Note the thymalin name resolves to nonathymulin, a different substance.
Drugs@FDA and drug label search returns no match for pinealon, vilon or thymalin · openFDA, US FDA (2026) Link
Nine queries, all NOT_FOUND, with an aspirin positive control confirming the endpoint works.
FDA Warning Letter to US Chem Labs naming Thymalin among products offered for sale · US FDA, CDER (2024) Link
Issued 02/07/2024, posted 02/13/2024. Calls the Semaglutide, Tirzepatide and Thymalin products unapproved new drugs and misbranded drugs.
Timalin (thymus extract) monograph, Russian drug reference · RLS (rlsnet.ru) · Registr Lekarstvennykh Sredstv Rossii (2026) Link
Secondary commercial reference, not the state register. Active substance thymus extract, ATC L03AX, manufacturer Samson-Med. No registration number obtained.

Important Disclaimer

Educational content only, not medical advice, and not a protocol. This page reports what a capped set of sources shows and no more. None of Pinealon, Vilon or Thymalin is an FDA-approved drug, and a US FDA warning letter has named a marketed Thymalin product as unapproved and misbranded. Their registration status in Vietnam could not be determined from these sources, and no Vietnamese pharmacy listing or price was found, which is a limit of the search rather than proof of availability or absence. Consult a licensed physician before any use.