Vesugen
Lys-Glu-Asp Vascular Bioregulator
Evidence grade 1 of 5, Untested. Read how the Atlas grades evidence.
The Vesugen evidence base is almost entirely Khavinson-affiliated and preclinical: in vitro dissociated vascular endothelial cell cultures plus molecular docking of the KED (Lys-Glu-Asp) sequence at the MKI67 gene promoter (Khavinson, Tarnovskaya, Linkova, Adv Gerontol 2014), summarized in the group's own systematic review (Molecules 2021). The only human data are small uncontrolled Russian clinical reports on chronic lower-limb arterial insufficiency and geroprotection from the same institute, with no randomized placebo-controlled trials, no ClinicalTrials.gov registration, and no independent Western replication, so the honest grade is 1 (animal/in-vitro and unreplicated observational).
- FDA
- Not FDA approved for any indication; not evaluated by the FDA. Sold in the United States only as a research chemical labeled not for human consumption; in Russia it is marketed as a non-prescription peptide bioregulator/dietary preparation.
- WADA
- Not specifically named on the WADA Prohibited List. No documented WADA classification exists for this tripeptide.
Reference only. Not medical advice.
What can go wrong
Unapproved research chemical with no human safety data from controlled trials; all efficacy signals are preclinical or from small unreplicated Russian reports.
Talk to a clinician before taking this. The Atlas can tell you what has been studied about Vesugen. It cannot tell you how it would interact with your body, your history, or anything else you are taking, and nothing on this page is a reason to start.
A Khavinson tripeptide bioregulator targeting vascular tissue and endothelial function in aging. Russian data only.
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
Vesugen is a synthetic tripeptide (lysine, glutamic acid, aspartic acid) aimed at blood vessels, promoted for vascular health in the bioregulator framework. As with the others, the organ-specific gene-regulation claim is unproven in controlled human studies.
Vesugen is a synthetic short peptide, a defined-sequence second-generation bioregulator aimed at vascular tissue, part of the same organ-by-organ lineup as the heart peptide Cardiogen.
- Type
- Synthetic short peptide
- Target
- Blood vessels
- Generation
- Second (defined)
- Use
- Pulsed courses
- Evidence
- Preclinical and Russian
- Western RCT
- None
The Vascular Label On A Single-Lineage Peptide System
Vesugen repeats the family pattern exactly. Its proposed action is direct peptide-driven gene regulation in vascular tissue, a mechanism unestablished outside the originating group, and its endothelial and vascular claims are preclinical and Russian without independent human trials. It is another tissue-labeled member of a system resting on one research lineage, and as with the heart peptide it sits in cardiovascular territory where proven treatments exist and unverified self-treatment carries real risk.
Safety in detail
No randomized controlled trials, no ClinicalTrials.gov registration, and no independent replication outside Khavinson-affiliated laboratories. Human use is off-label and unregulated, and injectable research-chemical supply carries sterility and identity risks. Efficacy claims for vascular aging are associated with in-vitro and docking signals, not demonstrated human outcomes.
- Reported safety in decades of Russian clinical use is described as clean, with few serious adverse events, but that record comes largely from within the same research tradition that developed the peptides and has not been independently verified in Western trials.
- Long-term safety in rigorous, controlled human studies is essentially uncharacterized outside that tradition.
- Most material sold internationally is gray-market or supplement-grade, so unverified identity, dose and purity are the dominant practical risks.
- Not FDA-approved for any use; claims of disease treatment are not supported by Western regulatory review.
Children and teenagers
Vesugen has no validated pediatric use and is an unapproved injected peptide. There is no appropriate pediatric use.
What people get wrong
Nothing recorded here yet. There is almost certainly something people get wrong about this one, and the blank space means we have not written it down, not that the record is clean.
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.
Vesugen reaches users only through the bioregulator gray market and longevity vendors, with no approved product.
How we got here
Vesugen is the vascular-targeted member of Vladimir Khavinson's synthetic short-peptide (cytogen) family, developed at the St. Petersburg Institute of Bioregulation and Gerontology from a program that fractionated animal aortic tissue into progressively shorter regulatory peptides. Its Lys-Glu-Asp (KED) core is a recurring motif shared across sister organ-targeted bioregulators such as Vilon (Lys-Glu, KE), and it sits alongside longer peptide-extract preparations like Ventfort in the vascular line. In Russia it is sold under the Vesugen brand as a bioregulator/dietary preparation, while in Western markets it circulates through research-chemical vendors as 'KED peptide' with no drug approval.
Vesugen was developed as a defined-sequence organ bioregulator at the St. Petersburg institute, extending Khavinson’s approach to the vascular system.
The numbers behind the grade
- Type
- Tripeptide (Lys-Glu-Asp)
- Target
- Blood vessels
- Russia
- Bioregulator line
- FDA
- Not approved
- Evidence
- Single-tradition
- Western RCTs
- None
The people taking it
A vascular bioregulator within the Cytogen line, used by a small longevity audience.
Vesugen’s users are longevity and cardiovascular-aging enthusiasts and the bioregulator-protocol community.
Used as a vascular-support bioregulator, mainly within Russian-tradition longevity protocols.
Set against the alternatives
Vesugen is the vascular counterpart to the heart peptide Cardiogen, sharing Epithalon’s longevity framing applied to blood vessels. Its support is preclinical and single-lineage, unlike proven cardiovascular medicine.
What we do not know
- Whether independent, Western randomized trials confirm any of the claimed clinical effects.
- Whether the proposed DNA-binding, gene-regulating mechanism actually operates in human tissue at the doses used.
- Why, after forty years and hundreds of papers, replication outside the originating institute remains so limited.
- Whether results from complex tissue extracts (Cytomaxes) translate to the defined synthetic peptides (Cytogens) sold alongside them.
Legal status
Not FDA-approved for any indication in the United States. Several related bioregulators are registered pharmaceuticals in Russia, where they are used clinically, but that approval does not carry to the US or EU. The first formal FDA advisory-committee evaluation of a Khavinson peptide (Epitalon) is scheduled for July 2026. Internationally it is sold as a Cytogen or Cytomax supplement and as a research chemical.
Status current as of July 2026. Regulatory positions change, sometimes quickly.
The market for this
What follows describes how this is bought and sold. It is not a buying guide and it is not an endorsement of any seller.
Available internationally as oral or injectable bioregulator supplements (Cytogen and Cytomax lines) and as research-use-only peptide vials, with legal status varying by country. None is an FDA-approved medicine, so there is no regulated US prescription route; the honest course is to treat the claims with caution and consult a clinician.
Material reaches international buyers two ways: as branded Cytogen (synthetic) or Cytomax (animal-tissue extract) supplements produced in Russia, and as research-use-only vials, much of it synthesized in China. Neither route guarantees the identity or potency the label claims, so an independent certificate of analysis is the only real check and is uncommon.
What this entry does not yet cover
What follows is unfinished work on our side, not a finding about Vesugen.
- Timeline. We have not built the dated record of research and regulatory events.
- Supply chain. We have not mapped where it is made.
- What could change. No forward-looking summary yet.
Sources
KED (Lys-Glu-Asp/Vesugen) stimulated Ki-67 proliferation marker in aged vascular endothelial cell cultures via docking at the MKI67 gene promoter; in-vitro/molecular, not a human trial
Khavinson group's own systematic review framing short peptides including KED as sequence-specific regulators of gene expression; the mechanistic basis cited for Vesugen
Small Khavinson-institute clinical report claiming benefit of vascular peptide bioregulators in lower-limb chronic arterial insufficiency; uncontrolled, single-center Russian data
Khavinson-group clinical review presenting peptide bioregulators as geroprotectors; all data originate from the same Russian institute without independent replication
KED tripeptide studied as an epigenetic regulator in a mouse Alzheimer model, illustrating the cross-tissue Khavinson cytogen program rather than vascular human efficacy
Khavinson group's molecular-genetics account of the KED peptide, supporting the DNA-minor-groove/promoter-binding mechanism attributed to Vesugen
Independent full-text of the Khavinson/Tarnovskaya vascular-endothelium epigenetics work, hosted on the group's archive, confirming the in-vitro and docking methods
Vesugen is sold as a research chemical / not-for-human-consumption bioregulator (Lys-Glu-Asp, KED, ~390 Da), not an approved drug; establishes vendor and research-chemical framing and alternative names
Vesugen (KED Tripeptide, Lys-Glu-Asp, Vascular Bioregulator) reference listing, PeptideList
Independent secondary review noting the absence of registered RCTs and that all Vesugen clinical data trace to Khavinson-affiliated Russian institutions with no independent replication
The studies that matter
Khavinson group studies2000s-2010s
Reported vascular effects within the bioregulator research program.
Independent replicationnone notable
No independent Western trials of Vesugen have been published.