Endocrine (other)

Pancragen

Also called Pankragen, KEDW, Lys-Glu-Asp-Trp, H-Lys-Glu-Asp-Trp-NH2

Pancragen is a tiny lab-made peptide, just four amino acids long, from Vladimir Khavinson's group in St. Petersburg, Russia. It is promoted as a "pancreas bioregulator" and has been studied mainly in rats, cell cultures and a few old monkeys, plus two very small, weakly designed human studies from Ukraine. It is not an approved medicine, and there is no good-quality evidence that it treats diabetes or any other condition.

Early human dataSome small human studies exist; evidence is limited.

New · under editorial review. Added October 30, 2026 by our automated research, with every claim sourced. A person has not checked this page yet; treat it with extra care. How we research

All printable flashcards

Drawn from its published sequence: 4 residues, one bead each.

Overview

How it works

Proposed only; not established. Khavinson's group suggests the peptide enters cells and binds DNA or histone proteins, switching on genes that guide pancreatic cell development and insulin production. Their evidence is computer modeling and test-tube binding studies, which predict binding to particular DNA sequences such as GGCAG or ACCT ¹¹¹³ and a test-tube study showing it can bind histone proteins taken from wheat ¹⁴. In cultured human pancreatic cells, the peptide raised levels of differentiation proteins such as Pdx1, Pax6, Pax4, Foxa2 and Nkx2.2 ⁵, and one cell-culture study reported small changes in DNA methylation near one of these genes (FOXA2) that did not match changes in gene activity ¹². None of these mechanisms has been confirmed by independent groups or shown in people.

What research shows

Rats with chemically induced (alloxan) diabetes (animal study): the peptide partly restored insulin production and the blood-sugar curve looked closer to normal ¹.
Rats with streptozotocin-induced diabetes (animal study): pancragen given by mouth lowered blood sugar during treatment; given by injection it improved one measure of small-blood-vessel lining (adhesion) but not leakiness ². A separate rat study reported better pancreas tissue structure, with few details in the abstract ³.
Human pancreatic cell cultures (cell study): the peptide raised markers of cell differentiation and growth and lowered the cell-death protein p53, with stronger effects in 'aged' cultures ⁴⁵⁶.
Old female rhesus monkeys (animal study, Russian-language; 5 monkeys in the 2015 comparison): 10 days of injections improved glucose clearance and normalized insulin and C-peptide responses to a glucose test; part of the effect remained 3 weeks later. Glimepiride, a diabetes drug, lowered sugar more strongly ⁷⁸.
Older adults with type 2 diabetes (small human study, Kyiv, Ukraine; 33 patients, plus 30 healthy older people measured only as a reference for melatonin levels): the abstract reports that patients given pancragen had lower fasting and glucose-test sugar, lower insulin and lower insulin resistance, while patients not given it showed no change. It does not say how many patients got pancragen, how they were chosen, the dose or route, or whether there was randomization or blinding ⁹.
Older adults with impaired glucose tolerance (prediabetes) (uncontrolled human study, Russian-language, n=12, no control group): after 4 weeks of a product called 'Pankragen forte', the abstract says about half had a significant drop in blood sugar during a glucose tolerance test; the other half apparently did not. With no control group, this cannot show the product caused the change ¹⁰.

Doses studied in people

Study or label	Dose used	Source
Uncontrolled study (n=12), route not stated in abstract; older adults with impaired glucose tolerance; Russian-language; product called 'Pankragen forte'	500 micrograms twice daily for 4 weeks	¹⁰

The only published human dose comes from one tiny uncontrolled study (n=12) whose abstract does not state the route; it is reported for reference, not recommended.

Read this first: these are the amounts given to participants in published studies or written on official prescribing labels, reported for reference. They are not recommendations. Trial doses were chosen for specific patients under medical supervision, and a dose that is safe in one person can be harmful in another.

Vial math

Many research vials hold 5 or 10 mg of powder. This table shows how much ends up in each mark on a U-100 insulin syringe for common amounts of added liquid. It is arithmetic only, not a dose.

Vial	Liquid added	Concentration	Per unit (0.01 mL)
5 mg	1 mL	5 mg/mL	50 mcg	Open in calculator
5 mg	2 mL	2.5 mg/mL	25 mcg	Open in calculator
5 mg	3 mL	1.67 mg/mL	16.7 mcg	Open in calculator
10 mg	1 mL	10 mg/mL	100 mcg	Open in calculator
10 mg	2 mL	5 mg/mL	50 mcg	Open in calculator
10 mg	3 mL	3.33 mg/mL	33.3 mcg	Open in calculator

More sizes: all vial sizes · How this works: Syringes and units · Reconstitution guide.

Safety

No proper human safety data: the human studies were very small and short, and their abstracts do not report side effects ⁹¹⁰.
The monkey study authors called it safe, but this was based on 5 animals treated for 10 days ⁸.
Long-term safety is unknown. The only human study that states its length lasted 4 weeks ¹⁰.

Report side effects of any drug or product to the FDA through MedWatch. For a possible poisoning in the US, call Poison Control at 1-800-222-1222.

Legal status

FDA: Not FDA-approved; no FDA application was found for pancragen in the Drugs@FDA database ¹⁵.
Compounding: Not named on FDA's 503A nominated bulk drug substance category lists (Categories 1–3, updated May 14, 2026) ¹⁶.
Sports (WADA): Not named on the WADA 2026 Prohibited List. S0 (non-approved substances) may apply, because no government approval for human use was found for pancragen. Check with your anti-doping body ¹⁷.
Other: No registration as a medicine in any country was found in the sources reviewed. Research comes almost entirely from Russian and Ukrainian groups linked to its developer.

Rules change often. See Legal status of peptides for how these categories work.

History

Khavinson reported in 2005 that he had made the tetrapeptide as a gut-stable copy of a fragment common to insulin-releasing hormones, and that it partly restored insulin production in diabetic rats ¹. Through the late 2000s and 2010s, his institute published rat, cell-culture and organ-explant studies ²³⁴⁵¹⁸. Two small studies in old rhesus monkeys were run with the Research Institute of Medical Primatology in Sochi (2014–2015, Russian-language) ⁷⁸, and two small human studies came from the Institute of Gerontology in Kyiv, Ukraine (2011 and 2013) ⁹¹⁰. Nearly all published work involves Khavinson or his co-workers.

Common questions

Is pancragen an approved diabetes drug?

No. It is not FDA-approved ¹⁵, and no approval as a medicine anywhere was found in the sources reviewed. It has only been tested in animals, cells and a few very small human studies ⁸⁹¹⁰.

What does the human evidence show?

Very little. Two small studies from Kyiv, Ukraine reported lower blood sugar in older adults: one with 33 type 2 diabetes patients that gives no details on randomization or dose ⁹, and one with only 12 people with prediabetes and no control group ¹⁰. No randomized, blinded trial has been published.

How is it supposed to work?

Its developers propose that it enters cells and switches on genes for pancreatic cell development and insulin production ⁵¹¹. This idea rests on lab and computer-modeling work and has not been confirmed in people ¹¹¹³.

Is pancragen safe?

Its safety is largely unknown. Human studies were tiny and short, and the 'safe' conclusion in monkeys came from 5 animals treated for 10 days ⁸¹⁰.

Is pancragen banned in sport?

It is not named on WADA's 2026 list, but the S0 class (non-approved substances) may apply. Check with your anti-doping body ¹⁷.

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Sources

Wondering how to judge the claims made about compounds like this one? The Academy track Thinking clearly about peptide claims walks through it. You can try the Academy free first.

Last reviewed 2026-10-30 · How we research · Found an error? See our corrections policy.