Pancragen

Pancragen is a peptide marketed for the pancreas and blood-sugar control, the organ that makes insulin. It's a synthetic four-amino-acid peptide (Lys-Glu-Asp-Trp) from the Russian 'Khavinson' bioregulator family. It is not an FDA-approved drug, and the evidence is mostly from animals plus one small human study, with no large controlled human trials.

Pancragen is marketed for the pancreas and blood-sugar control. In aged monkeys with impaired glucose tolerance, it was reported to lower fasting glucose and normalize insulin and C-peptide, with part of the effect lasting three weeks after the course. One small human study also exists: in 63 older people, the type-2-diabetes group who received pancragen showed lower fasting and post-tolerance-test glucose and lower insulin resistance, while those who did not showed no change — but that study was small, uncontrolled by modern standards, and from the same group as the animal work. There are no large controlled human trials showing Pancragen treats diabetes or any condition.

Not a drug in the US and not FDA-approved for any indication. A synthetic "Khavinson" short-peptide bioregulator ("cytogen") from the St. Petersburg Institute of Bioregulation and Gerontology (Russia), associated with the pancreas. Evidence is preclinical/animal plus small Russian studies; no large controlled human trials. WADA: not specifically named; best treated as S0 (non-approved), prohibited at all times — verify with your anti-doping organization. Not DEA-scheduled.

Pancragen has essentially no controlled human safety data and is not FDA-approved. It is not a treatment for diabetes or glucose problems — those require a clinician and evidence-based care. As a non-approved research peptide it is best treated as prohibited in regulated sport (WADA S0). VialWise is a research and educational reference, not medical advice.

⚠️ For research and educational purposes only. Pancragen is not FDA-approved and is not a treatment for diabetes or any glucose-regulation problem. Its evidence is preclinical and animal, plus one small human study — no large controlled human trials exist. Information here is informational, not medical advice.

⚠️ Part of the Khavinson "bioregulator" family — read the shared caveat. Pancragen is one of a set of short peptides from the St. Petersburg Institute of Bioregulation and Gerontology. The whole family shares a thin, mostly-preclinical, largely single-institute evidence base and no large controlled human trials.[²]

Pancragen is a synthetic tetrapeptide, Lys-Glu-Asp-Trp (KEDW), in the "Khavinson" short-peptide bioregulator family, associated with the pancreas. According to PubMed, an animal study administered Pancragen (/animal/day intramuscularly for 10 days) to old rhesus monkeys with impaired glucose tolerance and reported that it lowered basal blood glucose and normalized insulin and C-peptide levels, suggesting a recovering effect on disturbed glucose handling in aged animals; the authors called it effective and safe in that model and comparable in glucose-lowering to the reference drug glimepiride.[¹] A companion study in the same rhesus-monkey model reported an increased glucose "disappearance" rate and normalized plasma insulin and C-peptide dynamics after glucose administration, with the effect partially persisting three weeks after the 10-day course ended.[⁴] This fits the group's tissue-specific theory for a pancreas peptide.[²]

One small human study exists. In 63 older people — 30 healthy and 33 with type-2 diabetes — the study reported that in the diabetes group pancragen significantly decreased fasting glucose and glucose on a standard tolerance test, and reduced plasma insulin and the insulin-resistance index, while participants who did not receive pancragen showed no change in carbohydrate-metabolism indices.[³] This is a small, single-group study from the same research lineage as the animal work, not a randomized controlled trial, and it does not establish that Pancragen treats diabetes.

Evidence quality. Preclinical and animal, plus one small human study. There are no large controlled human trials. See the shared Khavinson caveat below.

### About the Khavinson bioregulators (shared framing)

Developed from the 1970s by Vladimir Khavinson at the St. Petersburg Institute of Bioregulation and Gerontology, these cytomedin/cytogen peptides progressed from organ-extract complexes to synthetic short peptides proposed to have tissue-specific effects under a "peptide theory of ageing."[²] Honest caveats: evidence is overwhelmingly preclinical plus small, often non-blinded Russian studies; no large independent randomized trials; none FDA-approved; sold in Russia as injectables and supplements. An unproven research tradition.

Regulatory status (US). Not FDA-approved; not a drug. Not DEA-scheduled.

Regulatory status (sport — WADA). Not specifically named; best treated as S0 (non-approved), prohibited at all times. Verify with your anti-doping organization.

Common research interests. Pancreatic/metabolic and age-related glucose support (its associated organ). Extrapolated from animal data, not an established human use.

Commonly reported

• Injection-site reactions
• Reactions to research-supply material of variable purity
• Glucose effects. Given the animal glucose-lowering signal,[¹] hypoglycemia is a theoretical concern, especially with other glucose-lowering agents.
• Unknown long-term safety.

Not a treatment for diabetes or glucose problems — see a clinician

Concurrent glucose-lowering medication — theoretical additive hypoglycemia; caution

Pregnancy and lactation — no data; default to contraindicated

Pediatric use — no data; not for researchers under 18

Known hypersensitivity — contraindicated

Regulatory note (US): Not FDA-approved; not DEA-scheduled.

Regulatory note (sport): Best treated as WADA S0. Verify with your anti-doping organization.

Bioregulator (Khavinson peptide)

A very short synthetic peptide from the St. Petersburg Institute of Bioregulation and Gerontology, each linked to an organ — here, the pancreas.

Glucose tolerance

How well the body handles a sugar load. It tends to worsen with age; Pancragen was studied in this context.

C-peptide

A marker of the body's own insulin production, measured in the Pancragen monkey study.

Preclinical / animal

Research in animals, before human testing. Animal results often don't translate to people.

1. Goncharova ND, Ivanova LG, Oganyan TE, Vengerin AA, Khavinson VKh. (2015). [Correction of impaired glucose tolerance using tetrapeptide (Pancragen) in old female rhesus monkeys]. Advances in Gerontology (Uspekhi Gerontologii), 28(3):579–585.(PMID 28509500)
2. Khavinson VKh. (2002). Peptides and Ageing. Neuro Endocrinology Letters, 23 Suppl 3:11–144.(PMID 12374906)
3. Korkushko OV, Khavinson VKh, Shatilo VB, Antonyk-Sheglova IA, Bondarenko EV. (2011). Prospects of using pancragen for correction of metabolic disorders in elderly people. Bulletin of Experimental Biology and Medicine, 151(4):454–456.(PMID 22448364)
4. Goncharova ND, Ivanova LG, Oganian TÉ, Vengerin AA, Khavinson VKh. (2014). [Impact of tetrapeptide pancragen on endocrine function of the pancreas in old monkeys]. Advances in Gerontology, 27(4):662–667. Russian-language; no DOI indexed.(PMID 25946840)

• Bronchogen — same mechanism class
• Cardiogen — same mechanism class
• Cartalax — same mechanism class
• Chonluten — same mechanism class
• Cortagen — same mechanism class
• Crystagen — same mechanism class