Retinalamin — EU research guide.

What is Retinalamin?

Retinalamin is a mixture of peptide fractions extracted from bovine retina, so it has no single formula, molecular weight or CAS number. It was created in Saint Petersburg (Khavinson and colleagues, Institute of Bioregulation and Gerontology) and is used in Russia for retinal disorders. The Russian instruction describes a reparative, retina-protective action on photoreceptors and retinal tissue, and developer-affiliated authors propose that short peptides regulate gene expression in retinal cells. This mechanism is a proposal from the developing group and has not been shown independently in humans.

What does the research show?

The published human literature is mostly Russian-language, small and largely from the developers' own network; no large independent randomised trial was found in the international literature. Developer-affiliated authors (Khavinson et al., Stem Cell Reviews and Reports 2019) claim that thirty years of use of peptide bioregulators in ophthalmology improved visual function in 80% of patients, but that review gives no trial data. A 2018 meta-analysis (Erichev, Petrov, Volzhanin, Ophthalmology in Russia) claimed efficacy in dry age-related macular degeneration, but the journal page carries a retraction notice, so it should not be relied on. A 2020 paper in Vestnik Oftalmologii compared routes of administration in glaucoma and concluded that retinalamin was most effective in early and moderate stages; the numbers could not be checked and are not reproduced here. A 2021 study used a rabbit model of light-induced retinal damage, which is animal-only data. No pharmacokinetic study was found.

EU legal status

Retinalamin is not authorised as a medicine in the EU: no EMA or national EU marketing authorisation was found, although not every national register was searched. It is a registered medicine in Russia: the medi.ru instruction lists registration number ЛС-000684 for a 5 mg lyophilisate for intramuscular and parabulbar injection, and the RLS page names GEROPHARM, Saint Petersburg as manufacturer. Registration dates differ between the two Russian pages, so the State Register of Medicines should be checked. The registered form is a freeze-dried vial, whereas a vendor lists a pre-filled pen (10 mg in 2 mL), so the vendor product is not the registered dosage form. Retinalamin is not named on the 2026 WADA Prohibited List (not verified on the WADA site).