SANA/MVD1
5-(2-nitroethenyl)salicylic acid
Evidence grade 2 of 5, Thin. Read how the Atlas grades evidence.
One randomized first-in-human study reported relevant weight and glucose-related observations in adults with overweight or obesity. The trial was designed and powered for safety and tolerability, the efficacy measures were exploratory, the relevant cohort was small, the publication was sponsor-authored, and no independent human replication was located. Mouse findings were not used to raise the human evidence grade.
- FDA
- The reviewed primary publication and trial registry establish clinical-development status, not governmental marketing authorization. No approved medical use was established in this research pass.
- WADA
- Not named in the 2026 Prohibited List or Monitoring Program. Class S0 could apply if the compound lacks governmental therapeutic approval and is not addressed elsewhere, but the reviewed evidence did not support a definitive public classification.
Reference only. Not medical advice.
What can go wrong
Two participants in the first-in-human study had reversible renal tubular injury judged definitively related to MVD1. Human exposure is too limited to establish the incidence, predictors, or longer-term significance of this signal.
SANA/MVD1 is a non-peptide nitroalkene derivative of salicylic acid. One randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase 1 study enrolled 41 adults and was designed primarily to assess safety and tolerability. Investigators reported exploratory weight and glucose-related changes in a 24-participant cohort with overweight or obesity. Two participants in another study part had reversible renal tubular injury judged definitively related to the compound. Mouse studies report thermogenesis and lower diet-related weight gain, but those findings do not establish a human effect.
A direct human signal exists, but it comes from one small safety study with exploratory outcomes.
What people take it for
These are the reasons people give for taking it. They are not effects it has been shown to have.
How it is supposed to work
The preclinical report proposes creatine-dependent thermogenesis. Mouse experiments found effects on diet-related weight gain and glucose measures without lower total food intake, and the reported thermogenic effect depended on creatine metabolism. The molecular target remains undetermined, and the mouse mechanism does not establish human efficacy.
PubChem records molecular formula C9H7NO5, molecular weight 209.16, InChIKey NVWQBWPWSNPTBM-UHFFFAOYSA-N, CAS 42571-07-3, and CID 54133300. The structure contains no amino-acid residue or peptide bond.
- Class
- Nitroalkene small molecule
- Scaffold
- Salicylic acid derivative
- PubChem CID
- 54133300
- Development stage
- Completed first-in-human phase 1 study
The mechanism is preclinical and the target is unresolved
The primary report found binding to mitochondrial creatine kinases and loss of a reported glucose effect in a knockout mouse model under controlled temperature conditions. It also reported increased mortality in treated knockout mice under standard housing, an animal finding that was absent in treated wild-type mice and changed under thermoneutral conditions. These experiments support a mechanistic hypothesis and an animal harm signal. They do not quantify human benefit or risk.
Safety in detail
The first-in-human report described two reversible renal tubular injury events judged definitively related to MVD1 in one study part. No severe adverse events were reported, but the total human exposure was small and longer-term or rare-event safety is unknown.
- The first-in-human report described two definitively related adverse events involving reversible renal tubular damage in the highest tested single-exposure cohort.
- No definitively related adverse events were reported in the multiple-exposure part, and no severe adverse events were reported in either part. The study remained too small to assess uncommon or delayed harms.
- The primary endpoint was safety and tolerability. Metabolic observations were exploratory and should not be read as a completed efficacy assessment.
- A mouse mortality signal appeared in a knockout model under one housing condition. This does not establish human harm, but it remains a mechanistic warning rather than evidence of safety.
Children and teenagers
No pediatric human evidence was located.
What people get wrong
Often saidSANA/MVD1 is a peptide
ActuallyChemical records identify a small aromatic molecule with no amino-acid chain or peptide bond. It belongs in the Compounds library, not Peptides.
Often saidA randomized human trial proves weight-loss efficacy
ActuallyThe one human trial was designed for safety and tolerability. Weight and glucose outcomes were exploratory in a small cohort and have not been independently replicated.
Often saidThe mouse thermogenesis findings establish the human mechanism
ActuallyThe molecular target remains undetermined, and animal thermogenesis does not establish a human clinical effect.
Who profits, and who pushes back
Nobody is named here yet, because we have not done that work on this entry. Read that as unfinished. Somebody almost certainly sells this, and somebody almost certainly disputes it. Assume both until we have checked.
How we got here
The primary publication supplies the explicit bridge between SANA and MVD1. That bridge matters because SANA is also used for an unrelated device and MVD1 is used for an unrelated yeast gene. Chemical structure, publication context, and the trial registration together identify the target compound.
The compound was studied as SANA in preclinical work and renamed MVD1 for clinical development. A prospectively registered phase 1 study was completed in Australia, and the combined preclinical and human report was published in Nature Metabolism in 2025.
- 2022The first-in-human study was prospectively registered.
- 2023 to 2024The phase 1 study enrolled and completed follow-up in Australia.
- 2025Nature Metabolism published the preclinical program and first-in-human findings in one report.
The people taking it
The human evidence consists of 17 lean adults and 24 adults with overweight or obesity in one first-in-human program. The metabolic observations come from the smaller overweight or obesity cohort and remain exploratory.
What we do not know
- Whether the exploratory weight and glucose-related findings replicate in a trial designed and powered for efficacy.
- What molecular target initiates the reported creatine-dependent thermogenic pathway.
- Whether the renal tubular injury signal recurs, and which exposures or patient factors affect it.
- What longer-term or rare-event human safety data will show.
- Whether any material outside the clinical program has independently verified identity, purity, or contamination testing.
What could change
Efficacy testingA trial powered for weight or glycemic efficacy has not yet been reported.Renal safetyThe reversible renal tubular injury signal requires characterization in a larger human program.MechanismThe reported creatine-dependent pathway has not yet yielded an identified molecular target.
At a glance
- Class
- Nitroalkene small molecule
- Formula
- C9H7NO5
- CAS
- 42571-07-3
- Entry evidence
- Grade 2
What this entry does not yet cover
What follows is unfinished work on our side, not a finding about SANA/MVD1.
- Cost and market. We have not documented what it sells for or who sells it.
- Supply chain. We have not mapped where it is made.
- How it compares. We have not set it against the alternatives.
Sources
The studies that matter
Nature Metabolism, SANA preclinical and first-in-human report2025
The report describes a randomized phase 1 safety study with 41 adults. In the 24-participant cohort with overweight or obesity, investigators reported exploratory body-weight and glucose-related changes. Two participants in a separate study part had reversible renal tubular injury judged definitively related. The report was sponsor-authored and was not powered for efficacy.
WHO ICTRP, ACTRN126220015197412022 to 2024
The registry records a completed randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase 1 study with safety and tolerability as the primary outcome.
PubChem, CID 54133300retrieved 2026
The chemical record supports the non-peptide identity, formula, molecular weight, InChIKey, and registry identifiers.