"Anti-ageing" research does not mean one thing. On this site it covers peptides and small molecules studied for mitochondrial function, cellular energy, telomere biology or markers of decline in cells and animals. None of them has been shown to extend a human lifespan, improve a validated ageing biomarker in a large trial, or reverse ageing in any general sense. This page ranks what evidence does exist, strongest first, and says plainly where each compound's story stops.
| Compound | Best evidence | Stage |
|---|---|---|
| SS-31 (elamipretide) | FDA accelerated approval for one rare disease | Approved medicine (Forzinity, Barth syndrome) |
| NAD+ Stocked locally | Small randomised trials of oral precursors (NMN, NR) | Human pilot trials |
| MOTS-c Stocked locally | Phase 1b trial of a modified analogue; native peptide only measured, not tested | Phase 1 (analogue only) |
| Epitalon | Small uncontrolled reports from one Russian research group | Animal and cell studies mainly |
| SLU-PP-332 | Mouse and cell studies only | Preclinical |
SS-31 (elamipretide): FDA-approved, but for one rare disease
SS-31, the drug elamipretide, is the only compound on this page that is an approved medicine anywhere. On 19 September 2025 the US FDA granted it accelerated approval as Forzinity, to improve muscle strength in Barth syndrome, an ultra-rare inherited disorder of mitochondrial cardiolipin metabolism. The approval rested on a 12-person trial, TAZPOWER, that missed its main result in the randomised phase but showed knee-extensor strength gains after 36 weeks of open-label treatment. A larger trial in a different condition, primary mitochondrial myopathy (MMPOWER-3, 218 adults), missed both of its main outcomes.
The target, cardiolipin in the inner mitochondrial membrane, is exactly the kind of mechanism longevity researchers care about, which is why SS-31 gets grouped with ageing peptides even though its one approval covers a genetic muscle disease in people weighing at least 30 kg, not ageing. Full detail: SS-31.
NAD+: oral precursors have trial data, injections barely do
NAD+ is not a peptide. It is the coenzyme cells use to make energy and repair DNA, and animal research links falling NAD+ levels to ageing. Two delivery routes are sold. Oral precursors, nicotinamide riboside (NR) and nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN), have been through several small randomised trials in older adults: a six-week crossover in people aged 55 to 79 raised a blood NAD+ marker by about 60%, and a ten-week NMN trial in postmenopausal women with prediabetes improved muscle insulin sensitivity without moving blood glucose, blood pressure or liver fat. Injected or IV NAD+ has almost no controlled human data. A six-hour infusion pilot found the infused NAD+ barely reached the bloodstream for the first two hours, and a small 2026 clinic review found IV NAD+ caused more nausea, chest pressure and a faster heart rate than IV nicotinamide riboside. No trial of any form has shown an ageing-related health outcome changing. Full detail: NAD+.
MOTS-c: measured in people, tested as someone else's molecule
MOTS-c is a 16-amino-acid peptide encoded in mitochondrial DNA that rises naturally during exercise, about 12-fold in muscle in one small study of 10 young men. That is a real human measurement, not a treatment result. The only human treatment data comes from CB4211, a modified analogue CohBar developed for fatty liver disease, which completed a phase 1a/1b trial in 88 people; the company reported improved liver enzymes and glucose after four weeks of treatment but no significant change in liver fat or body weight. Native MOTS-c, the molecule sold as a research peptide, has never been given to a person in a published trial. Full detail: MOTS-c.
Epitalon: telomerase in a dish, mortality claims from one lab
Epitalon is a four-amino-acid peptide designed to mimic epithalamin, a pineal-gland extract studied since the 1980s by Russian gerontologist Vladimir Khavinson's group. Its best-known finding, that it switches on telomerase and lengthens telomeres, was first reported by Khavinson's own lab in human cells in 2003, and reported again in 2025 by a UK lab outside that network, still in cultured cells. In mice, lifelong monthly dosing did not extend average lifespan but did extend the longest-lived 10% of mice by 13.3%. The human mortality claims, lower death rates in a 266-person Russian cohort followed for six to eight years, used a different compound, the extract epithalamin rather than synthetic epitalon, in an observational design far short of a randomised trial. Nearly all epitalon research, in cells, animals and people, comes from one research network. Full detail: Epitalon.
SLU-PP-332: a mouse "exercise mimetic" with no human data at all
SLU-PP-332 is not a peptide. It is a small molecule that activates the estrogen-related receptors, a gene family tied to mitochondrial biogenesis and aerobic capacity. In mice it increased running endurance and fatigue-resistant muscle fibre, reduced fat mass gain, and reversed markers of mitochondrial dysfunction in the ageing kidney. No clinical trial has been published, and no dose, safety profile or pharmacokinetics in people exist. The only work on human tissue took muscle cells from older women's hip-replacement biopsies and treated them in a dish, which is not the same as giving anyone the compound. Full detail: SLU-PP-332.
Reading the evidence honestly
Line these five up and a pattern shows. The one compound with a real drug approval, SS-31, is approved for a narrow genetic disease, not ageing. The compound with the most human trials, NAD+, works through precursors that raise a blood marker without a proven downstream health benefit. Everything past that is animal data, cell data, or one research network's own reports. That is not a reason to dismiss the biology behind them; mitochondrial function and telomere maintenance are legitimate ageing mechanisms. It is a reason to be skeptical of any supplier calling one of these a proven anti-ageing peptide.
Status in the Philippines
None of these five is registered with FDA Philippines, and none is approved anywhere for ageing. SS-31, as Forzinity, has US approval for Barth syndrome only. The rest circulate here through research-chemical suppliers. See each compound's page for its specific regulatory status, and the bloodwork guide for the labs worth tracking if you are already using one of these.
