Nemifitide dosage and evidence
Written by Aaron CuhaReviewed Sep 2026
The short answer
Nemifitide is a lab made peptide for depression, given as a daily shot for 5 to 10 days.
Evidence grade for Nemifitide: Moderate. The rule: at least one finished study in people, and at least 100 people who took it. The sum on this page: 5 completed trials, 177 people given it. A grade counts how much has been done to people, not whether it works.
- People given it
- 177
- Human studies
- 5
- Found nothing
- 1
Dose
No human dose established
Amounts that were given in studies sit in Human evidence on this page. None of them is a personal dose.
5 completed trials, 177 people given it
No first-hand reports gathered yet. That is a gap in what we have collected, not a finding that nothing has been reported.
Goal pages: Brain, memory and mood, Sleep
In plain English
In plain English, from Aaron
This is how I would explain it to a friend. The evidence, with the numbers, is further down the page.
Nemifitide is a small lab made peptide tested for depression in the early 2000s. It was given as a daily shot for 5 to 10 days. The company stopped work on it. It is not approved anywhere.
What people take it for
- Fast relief from depression.
- Depression that did not lift on other treatment.
What studies in people showed
Three small studies compared it with a dummy shot, in 52, 55 and 81 people. None showed a clear win on the comparison it was built to make. The good results only show up when patients are sorted afterwards. They were sorted by blood level, by one chosen moment, or by how bad their depression was. That kind of sorting can make a gap out of chance. People on the dummy got better a lot too. No study was ever done to confirm it. Two studies where everyone got the drug found 11 of 25 and 18 of 27 got better. With no one to compare against, that tells you little.
What people report
Reports, not study results
The good
- In about 300 people, nobody quit a study over side effects.
The bad
- Brief pain and redness where the needle went in, at high doses.
- It has not been in a human study in about twenty years. The dose and schedule were never worked out.
Where these come from: From the studies on this page. We have not collected user reports on this one yet.
My bottom line
My opinion: this is a stopped programme with shaky results. Buying a vial of it today means guessing at a dose nobody settled. I would not do it.
An opinion, not a finding. I am a coach, not a doctor.
What it has been measured to do
Measured in people
Goals Nemifitide has been tested for in people, biggest studies first. We count only what the studies on this page say, so the real numbers may be higher.
- Mood and anxietyno headcount stated · 1 study
35 of the 36 indexed goals have no study of any kind behind Nemifitide
No study in people, animals or cells on this page reports a result for these. That does not prove Nemifitide does nothing for them. It does mean anything you have heard about Nemifitide and one of these did not come from a study cited here.
Show full evidence
What is Nemifitide?
Nemifitide is a lab made peptide for depression, given as a daily shot for 5 to 10 days. Three small studies between 2000 and 2006, in 52, 55 and 81 people, compared it with a dummy shot. The good results only show up when patients are sorted after the fact: by blood level, by one chosen moment, or by how severe their depression was. No study ever confirmed it, and work on it stopped.
Nemifitide is a lab made peptide of five amino acids. It is a changed copy of MIF-1, a small brain peptide. Innapharma developed it as a fast acting antidepressant, given as a shot under the skin in short courses. Early papers called it INN 00835, and for a while it was called netamiftide.
Three published studies in major depression compared it with a dummy shot. The largest had 81 people across several clinics (2006). They got 30 or 45 mg a day for two weeks. The authors said the 45 mg dose beat the dummy at one moment, a week after the shots stopped. It only clearly beat the dummy in people with more severe depression at the start, a group picked out afterwards. A 55 person study (2001) gave 18 mg a day for 5 or 10 days. It reported 89 percent improving among people whose peak blood level was at or above average, against 40 percent below it. That split was also made after the fact. A 52 person pilot (2000) gave 0.2 mg/kg a day for 5 days. People whose blood level topped 5 ng/mL did better than the dummy group. But that group was defined by blood level after the study, not by who got what. The authors note that people on the dummy improved a lot too. In all three, the drug was well tolerated, and nobody quit over side effects. The authors of the 2006 study called it a first proof that the idea might work.
Two studies gave everyone the drug. In 25 people whose depression had not lifted with other treatment, 11 improved. In a 27 person follow on where people were treated again, 18 improved. In five early safety studies, more than 100 healthy volunteers got 18 to 320 mg. The drug was absorbed within 10 minutes and gone with a half-life of 15 to 30 minutes. The only drug related side effects were brief pain and redness where the needle went in, at the highest doses.
No follow up study was published. No trial of nemifitide has ever been registered on ClinicalTrials.gov, and Innapharma's programme ended. In rats bred to act depressed, nemifitide made them swim more in a stress test at low and high doses, but not at doses in between. Nemifitide has no approval anywhere. This is a history page.
How does Nemifitide work?
In people, only two things were measured. A 1999 study reported a change in how blood platelets take up serotonin in treated patients. And the drug's path through the body is known. It is absorbed fast, gone with a half-life of 15 to 30 minutes, and does not build up over five daily doses. Nobody ever explained how a peptide that leaves the blood within an hour could lift mood for weeks. In animals, nemifitide is described as a copy of MIF-1 (Pro-Leu-Gly-NH2), a small brain peptide that acts like an antidepressant in rodent tests. What it sticks to in the body is not known. In rats bred to act depressed, it made them more active in a swim test at 0.025 to 0.3 mg/kg and at 3 to 15 mg/kg, but not in between. The authors report that pattern without explaining it.
What have studies in people found about Nemifitide?
188 patients took part in three small studies that compared it with a dummy shot. About 50 more were in two studies where everyone got the drug, and more than 100 healthy volunteers were in early safety studies. The good results in the three comparison studies come from sorting patients after the fact: by blood level, by one chosen moment after treatment, or by how severe their depression was. No study confirming the result was ever published.
- Largest study (2006): 81 patients across several clinics, 30 or 45 mg on weekdays for 2 weeks. 45 mg beat the dummy at one moment, a week after the shots stopped. It only clearly beat the dummy in people who started with more severe depression. Nobody quit over side effects.
- Study (2001): 55 outpatients, 18 mg for 5 or 10 days. 89 percent improved among people with a high peak blood level, against 40 percent with a low one. That split was made after the fact.
- Pilot (2000): 52 patients, 0.2 mg/kg for 5 days. The drug only beat the dummy in people whose blood level topped 5 ng/mL, a group defined afterwards. The authors note that the dummy group improved a lot too.
- Early safety studies (2002): more than 100 healthy volunteers, 18 to 320 mg as a shot under the skin. Half-life 15 to 30 minutes. Needle site reactions at the top doses only.
- Treated again (2003): 27 patients from the earlier studies got the drug again, and everyone knew it. 18 improved. Courses were about 3.3 months apart on average.
- Hard to treat depression (2008): 25 patients, everyone got the drug. 11 improved. 9 whose improvement held were treated again as needed for up to 660 days.
- ClinicalTrials.gov, September 2026: no trial of nemifitide has ever been registered.
What this does not tell you: None of the three comparison studies shows it works on the comparison the study was set up to make. Sorting treated patients by blood level after the fact, or by how severe they were at the start, or picking the moment the drug looked best, can all make a difference appear out of noise. The authors of the largest study hinted at this by calling it a first proof of the idea. The studies gave 2 weeks of shots and followed people for 4 to 6 weeks more. Nothing is known about longer use. Good tolerance in roughly 300 people is real but small. It was only ever given as a shot under the skin.
The state of the research
Nemifitide's story is a small company that ran the early studies it could afford. It never found, or never paid for, the big study that would have settled the question. Innapharma paid for every study. A 2002 paper says the drug was in mid to late stage trials. No late stage result was ever published. ClinicalTrials.gov became required for most trials in 2007, and it holds no record under this name. So whatever happened next happened before registration was required, or did not happen. A 2003 drug profile and reviews of new antidepressants in 2008 and 2009 list it as a candidate. After that it drops out of the medical papers.
The honest reading is this. A peptide with a believable idea and a clean safety record gave hopeful but shaky results in about 190 patients. It was never tested properly. That is not proof it does not work, and it is not proof it does. It is a stopped programme. Vials sold as nemifitide today are of a compound that has not been in a human study in roughly twenty years. Its dose, schedule and how long any effect lasts were never worked out.
The evidence, in charts
Fig. 1a · how many people
177people, across 3 studies in people cited here
| Study | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Biopharmaceutics and Drug Disposition 2002 | 100 | 56% |
| Journal of Affective Disorders 2000 | 52 | 29% |
| International Clinical Psychopharmacology 2008 | 25 | 14% |
One study holds 56% of these people, so the total rests more on one study than its size suggests. Counts are the number of people each study on this page says it signed up. That includes studies that only watched people and gave nobody the compound. 2 more studies in people give no headcount and are not counted here. Studies still signing people up are left out, and only studies cited on this page are counted.
Fig. 1b · evidence mix
5 of 6 sources here are studies in people. The rest is not.
- Study in people · done in people583%
- Animal study · done in animals117%
Counted from the list of sources on this page. It counts only what we cite, so there may be more studies out there. A review counts once, however many studies it sums up.
Fig. 2 · evidence over time
The studies cover 6 different years, 2000 to 2008, counted from the list of sources on this page. The newest source on file is from 2008, more than five years ago. Research on it may have gone quiet.
Fig. 3 · legal status at a glance
US
Not approved
UK
Not approved
AU
Not approved
CA
Not approved
Not approved in any of the four countries shown. This is what the law says, not a verdict on the science. See Legal status below for the full text and any notes.
Fig. 4 · how much does what
Nobody has tested different amounts in people
This chart would show how the effect changes as the amount goes up. For this compound, nobody has measured that in people. So we leave it empty. We will not borrow an animal chart and pretend it works the same in people.
Fig. 5 · what the molecule is
- Kind of compound
- Peptide
- Molecule weight
- Not on file
- Half-life
- About 23 minutesUltra-short, minutes
- Chain length
- Written out, not as plain letters
The chain as written
4-F-Phe-Hyp-Arg-Gly-Trp-NH2 (4-fluoro-L-phenylalanyl-trans-4-hydroxy-L-prolyl-L-arginylglycyl-L-tryptophanamide)
Written the way the source writes it, so we do not count the amino acids. Two chains, changed amino acids or three-letter codes are all reasons it can look like this.
The studies we cite
- Study in people2006Efficacy and safety of 30 mg/d and 45 mg/d nemifitide compared to placebo in major depressive disorder
The result here depends on when you look and who you count. Eighty one adults with depression got a shot of nemifitide at one of two strengths, or a dummy, on weekdays for two weeks. The higher dose beat the dummy at one chosen moment, a week after the shots had stopped. It separated from the dummy only among the more severely depressed, a group carved out afterwards. Nobody quit over side effects. The authors call it a first look rather than an answer. The maker paid.
81 outpatients with major depression randomised to 30 mg/day, 45 mg/day or placebo by subcutaneous injection on weekdays for 2 weeks, followed for 4 more. Primary measure MADRS change. The authors report superiority of 45 mg over placebo at the timepoint of peak effect, one week after treatment ended, and separation from placebo only in the exploratory subgroup with baseline HAM-D above 22. No dropouts for adverse events. Described by its authors as a proof of principle study. Developer funded (Innapharma).
- Study in people2000A double-blind, placebo-controlled, efficacy, safety, and pharmacokinetic study of INN 00835, a novel antidepressant peptide, in the treatment of major depression
This trial did not show the drug beat a dummy. Fifty two adults with depression got either the peptide or a dummy shot for five days, then were followed for a month. The only group that looked better was defined by a blood level measured an hour after dosing, and that grouping was invented after the study had run. People on the dummy improved a lot too. The authors ask for larger trials before anyone concludes anything. The maker paid.
52 patients (26 drug, 26 placebo), 0.2 mg/kg subcutaneously for 5 days, followed 4 weeks. Response correlated with plasma concentration 1 hour after dosing; patients above a 5 ng/mL threshold differed from placebo, a grouping defined after randomisation. The authors note a relatively large placebo response and call for confirmation in larger trials. Developer funded.
- Study in people2001Double-blind, placebo-controlled study of INN 00835 (netamiftide) in the treatment of outpatients with major depression
The headline number does not come from the comparison this trial set up. Fifty five adults with depression were split between the peptide and a dummy shot. The impressive figure, nearly nine in ten improving, describes only those who happened to reach a high blood level of the drug. That split was made after the fact and is not the group anyone was assigned to. The comparison the trial was built on is not reported this way. Side effects were not a problem. The maker paid.
55 outpatients: 22 given 18 mg daily for 10 days, 11 for 5 days then placebo, 22 placebo. 89 percent responders among patients with peak plasma level at or above 45.7 ng/mL versus 40 percent below it, a post hoc pharmacokinetic split rather than a randomised comparison. No significant adverse effects. Developer funded.
- Study in people2008Clinical effect of nemifitide, a novel pentapeptide antidepressant, in the treatment of severely depressed refractory patients
Everyone here got the drug and knew it, so there is nothing to compare against. Twenty five people whose depression had resisted other treatment were given daily shots at a single centre. Fewer than half improved. Some of those were treated again over the next two years, and a response lasted about two months on average. With no dummy group there is no way to know what would have happened anyway. The maker paid for it.
Open label, single centre, 25 patients with chronic refractory depression given 40 to 240 mg daily for 10 to 20 doses. 11 responded on the MADRS, 7 of them sustained through the acute phase; 9 sustained responders were re-treated as needed over up to 660 days with a mean response duration of about 2 months. Uncontrolled. Developer funded.
- Study in people2002Clinical pharmacokinetic studies with INN 00835 (nemifitide), a novel pentapeptide antidepressant
These studies measured what the body does to the drug, not whether it helps anyone. More than a hundred healthy volunteers across five studies got shots ranging from small to very large. The peptide peaked in the blood within ten minutes and was mostly gone within half an hour. It did not build up over five days of dosing. The only side effects were pain and redness where the needle went in, at the two largest doses. The maker paid.
Five phase 1 studies, more than 100 healthy volunteers, single and multiple subcutaneous doses of 18 to 320 mg. Peak plasma level at 10 minutes, half-life 15 to 30 minutes, dose proportional exposure, no accumulation over 5 daily doses. Drug related adverse events limited to transient injection site pain and redness at 240 and 320 mg. Developer funded.
- Animal study2004Antidepressant-like effects of a novel pentapeptide, nemifitide, in an animal model of depression
In rats. These rats were bred to act depressed. They got nemifitide for 5 or 14 days, then a swim test used to screen antidepressants. It made them swim more at low doses and at high doses, but not at doses in between. At 5 days, one dose matched an older antidepressant, desipramine. This is rat data only.
Flinders Sensitive Line rats treated for 5 or 14 days. Nemifitide increased forced swim test swimming at 0.025 to 0.3 mg/kg and 3 to 15 mg/kg but not at 0.4 to 2.4 mg/kg; 0.3 mg/kg matched desipramine at 5 days. Rat data only.
Where to buy Nemifitide
1 seller lists Nemifitide in our latest read. They are ranked by trust score, then by archive rating, then by certificate tier, then by the lowest price per milligram. Archive evidence is counted before source-backed. Each path is out of 4, and the two are not added. A higher price does not raise the score. The letter is the certificate chip. 0 of them have a published certificate that names Nemifitide.
Some seller links may pay this site when you buy through them. A payment never changes a seller's tier or rank, and no seller has a say in any page.
| Seller | Trust score | Vial sizes | From, per mg | Certificate for Nemifitide | Seller link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RUO | 18 InsufficientSource-backed 3 of 4. Archive evidence 2 of 4.Letter withheld | 5 mg | $9.20 | None found for Nemifitide | View |
- LC Lab-confirmed: the issuing laboratory echoed this certificate back
- A Current certificate, independent laboratory named, laboratory not yet checked
- B Certificate published, but no laboratory link, older than a year, or the laboratory did not recognise the published lookup
- C No certificate could be read
Every listing and vial size for Nemifitide · How the trust score is counted
Sellers named on the price pages are ranked by certificate tier, then price, and any affiliate income is disclosed there. Naming a seller is not a recommendation to buy or use anything.
Common questions
Has Nemifitide been tested in people?
Yes. 177 people given it across 5 completed trials cited here, 1 of which found nothing. Nemifitide is a lab made peptide for depression, given as a daily shot for 5 to 10 days.
What is the Nemifitide dosage?
No human dose established. Amounts that were given in studies sit in Human evidence on this page. None of them is a personal dose. 5 completed trials, 177 people given it
Is Nemifitide FDA-approved?
Not FDA approved. Work stopped after mid-stage studies. No study is registered on ClinicalTrials.gov, and we found no application for approval.
Did nemifitide work as an antidepressant?
Three small studies in 52, 55 and 81 people compared it with a dummy shot and reported good results. But each good result depends on sorting patients after the fact. One sorted by drug level in the blood. One looked at a single moment a week after the shots stopped. One looked only at people with more severe depression. The authors of the largest study called it a first proof of the idea. No study confirming it was published.
Why did development stop?
No published source gives a reason. Innapharma said in 2002 that the drug was in mid to late stage trials. It published the 81 person study in 2006 and a study with no comparison group in 2008. Then nothing. No trial was ever registered on ClinicalTrials.gov, and no filing with any regulator has been found.
Was it safe?
In roughly 300 people across early and mid-stage studies, the only drug related side effects were brief pain and redness where the needle went in, at high doses. No patient left a study because of side effects. That is a good short term record in a small number of people. It does not prove long term safety.
How is it related to Semax or Selank?
Only loosely. All three are short lab made peptides copied from natural brain peptides and studied for mood and thinking. Nemifitide is a copy of MIF-1, tested in Western depression studies against a dummy shot. Semax and Selank are copies of ACTH and tuftsin from the Russian drug list, and their evidence comes from a different set of studies.