Epitalon
Epithalon, Ala-Glu-Asp-Gly
A four amino acid peptide that lengthens telomeres, sold for sleep and ageing.
Epitalon is sold as an anti-ageing and sleep injection. No study has ever given it to a person with a sleep problem. The mechanism it is marketed on, telomere lengthening, is the same reason FDA treats it as a cancer question: longer telomeres are associated with a higher risk of malignant tumours, and the mouse studies offered in its defence used one fixed dose in female mice only.
Where it stands, jurisdiction by jurisdiction
United States
Unregulated, unregulated, sold anywayDecided on: Precaution, Contested
Not a lawful dietary ingredient and not on the 503A list. Nominated as an injection for insomnia at 10 milligrams per milliliter and 3,000 micrograms per milliliter. FDA found no publication of any kind on epitalon in patients with insomnia and no human safety data. The single clinical study it identified gave a sublingual spray to 75 night shift workers for 20 days and measured a melatonin breakdown product in urine without measuring sleep. FDA dates American compounding to at least 2018 by way of a criminal case in which a compounding pharmacy and its owner were sentenced for unlawful distribution. The advisory committee recommended adding it 7 to 4 with one abstention on 24 July 2026, and it remains off the list.
Regulatory positions change, sometimes quickly. Check the date on a source before relying on it.