Thymogen is a synthetic two-amino-acid peptide (Glu-Trp) first isolated from Thymalin, the calf thymus extract developed in Russia by the group of V. Khavinson, and later made into a Russian medicine under that brand name. It is not approved in the US. Under the code name IM862 it was tested in US and UK cancer trials as a nose drop.
Also known as: Thymagen, IM862, Glu-Trp, L-glutamyl-L-tryptophan.
Thymogen powder vials are usually labeled 20 mg.
Water and syringe-unit charts by vial size: 20 mg
Here is the math for a 20 mg vial mixed with 2 mL of bacteriostatic water, drawing 1 mg with a U-100 insulin syringe (1 mL = 100 units).
20 mg ÷ 2 mL = 10 mg/mL1 mg ÷ 10 mg/mL = 0.1 mL0.1 mL × 100 = 10 units| Amount | Volume | U-100 syringe |
|---|---|---|
| 500 mcg | 0.05 mL | 5 units |
| 1 mg | 0.1 mL | 10 units |
| 2 mg | 0.2 mL | 20 units |
Adding more water doesn't change how much thymogen is in the vial. It only spreads it over more liquid, so each draw is bigger and easier to read.
| Water added | Concentration | Volume | U-100 syringe |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 mL | 20 mg/mL | 0.05 mL | 5 units |
| 2 mL | 10 mg/mL | 0.1 mL | 10 units |
| 3 mL | 6.67 mg/mL | 0.15 mL | 15 units |
| 5 mL | 4 mg/mL | 0.25 mL | 25 units |
For any other vial size or amount, the free peptide reconstitution calculator works backwards from the amount you want and suggests a water volume that lands on a clean syringe mark.
As IM862, it was given as a nose drop in three published cancer trials. In 44 people with AIDS-related Kaposi's sarcoma, 5 mg on one of two schedules was followed by major responses in 36%, with mild side effects (Tulpule 2000). A larger placebo-controlled phase 3 trial in 202 people, using 5 mg every other day for 24 weeks, found no difference in response (23% versus 21% on placebo), and time to progression was shorter on IM862, 16 versus 35 weeks (Noy 2005). In 25 people with advanced kidney cancer, 20 mg three times a day produced no tumor responses and no moderate or severe side effects linked to the drug (Deplanque 2004).
In rats, injections under the skin 5 times a week for 12 months did not change average lifespan but lowered tumor rates (Anisimov 2000). Studies of Thymogen as an injection come mostly from Russia and from the group that developed it.
We could not find a published human half-life for this compound. Figures quoted online usually come from animal or cell studies, so we do not list one here.
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