Immune & Antimicrobial — Category Comparisons
Published · Researched 2026-09-21
Twelve peptides, one track: thymic bioregulators, antimicrobial peptides, and the 2026 viral Russian-protocol pair. Research year 2026; all prices observed 2026-09-20 unless marked UNVERIFIED.
Headline takeaways
- Thymosin Alpha-1 and LL-37 are the only Tier 1 items — real, multi-platform communities with owner discussion. Everything else is narrative (Tier 2) or near-invisible (Tier 3).
- The track's biggest social moment is a two-peptide story: the FITSCRIPT "forgotten Russian protocol" reel (FB: 1.9K likes / 2.1K comments) drives both Thymalin and Epithalon — huge reach, thin ownership.
- Five of twelve items are registered drugs in Russia (Thymalin, Thymogen, Alloferon/Allokin-alpha, Gepon, Imunofan) and one in China (Thymopentin) — the strongest regulatory pedigree cluster in the whole peptide project, and the weakest Western social presence.
- The Thymalin/thymulin identity swap is the track's sharpest buyer trap: gray-market "Thymalin" vials are usually synthetic thymulin — a different molecule than the Russian pharma complex in the studies.
- Epithalon is flagged for Longevity-track overlap — deduplicate or cross-reference at artifact build time; do not count it twice.
Specs head-to-head
| Item | Size | Identity | Origin | Approved drug? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thymosin Alpha-1 | 28 aa, 3108.3 g/mol | Ac-Ser-Asp... (CAS 62304-98-7) | Thymus fraction 5 | Yes — 35+ countries (Zadaxin); not FDA/US |
| LL-37 | 37 aa | Human cathelicidin | Endogenous human | No |
| KPV | 3 aa | α-MSH fragment | Endogenous fragment | No (July 2026 PCAC recommended 503A Bulks List — not approval) |
| Thymalin | Peptide complex ≤10 kDa (pharma) / thymulin nonapeptide (gray market) | Calf thymus extract | Khavinson, 1974 | Yes — Russia |
| Thymogen | 2 aa, 333.3 g/mol (CAS 38101-59-6) | Glu-Trp (Oglufanide) | Khavinson, 1980s | Yes — Russia (3 forms) |
| Vilon | 2 aa (Lys-Glu) | KE dipeptide | Khavinson | No |
| VIP | 28 aa, 3326.8 g/mol (CAS 37221-79-7) | HSDAVFTDNYTRLRKQMAVKKYLNSILN | Endogenous human | No (compounded nasal use in CIRS) |
| Epithalon | 4 aa, 390.35 g/mol (CAS 307297-39-8) | Ala-Glu-Asp-Gly | Khavinson pineal program | No |
| Alloferon | 13 aa, 1265.3 Da | HGVSGHGQHGVHG | Firefly hemolymph | Yes — Russia (Allokin-alpha, 2003) |
| Gepon | 14 aa (TEKKRRETVEREKE) | HEP-1, ezrin mimic | Holms/Ataullakhanov | Yes — Russia (2000) |
| Imunofan | 6 aa, 836 Da | Arg-Asp-Lys-Val-Tyr-Arg | Thymopoietin 32–37 analog | Yes — Russia |
| Thymopentin | 5 aa, 679.8 g/mol (CAS 69558-55-0) | Arg-Lys-Asp-Val-Tyr | Thymopoietin 32–36 | Yes — China |
Value-for-money comparison
Observed 2026-09-20 street/retail prices (MSRP/retailer):
- Thymosin Alpha-1: Cosmic Peptides 5 mg $42.99 / 10 mg $69.99; Peptide Hubs 10 mg $95; Regen Peptides UK £35; Bio Peptides UK £46; OZZ AU AUD 195.95. Best value: UK vendors per mg; worst: Australian markups.
- LL-37: Particle Peptides (EU) 5 mg €65.03. Mid-range for an antimicrobial peptide.
- KPV: no price captured in research pass — UNVERIFIED.
- Thymalin: Verified Peptides 10 mg $36; PeptidesWorldWide 10 mg $49; Polaris 10 mg $40. Best value per mg on the track after the Epithalon bundle.
- Epithalon: Epitalon+Thymalin bundle (Verified Peptides) $62.10 for 2×10 mg — the track's cheapest per-milligram research purchase.
- Thymogen: EU spray €35 (peptide-products.com).
- Thymopentin: EU 10 mg €52 (peptide-products.com).
- Allokin-alpha: EU 1 mg €49 (peptide-products.com).
- Vilon: no price captured in research pass — UNVERIFIED.
- Gepon / Imunofan: Russian pharmacy; prices UNVERIFIED.
- VIP: 6 mg research vials listed (suaway.com); price UNVERIFIED.
- Facebook Marketplace: no used listings observed for any item — say so plainly.
Social sentiment matrix
| Item | Tier | IG | FB | Threads | Sentiment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thymosin Alpha-1 | 1 | Viral educator reels (cancer-claim controversy) | Group recommendation staple | Peer protocol discussion | Enthusiastic, polarized on cancer claims |
| LL-37 | 1 | Mold/Lyme educator wave, mixed comments | Owner anecdotes, sourcing help-desks | Present | Polarized: success stories vs. mast-cell warnings |
| KPV | 2 | Educator explainers, PCAC news | HNR reel 1.9K likes, sourcing threads | Thin | Rising; anti-FDA-distrust undercurrent |
| Thymalin | 2 | Russian-protocol reels, Khavinson carousels | FITSCRIPT reel 1.9K/2.1K | Moderate | Viral-curious, low ownership |
| VIP | 2 | Cheat-sheet feature (8.1K likes) | Thin | Sparse | Niche-legit (CIRS crowd) |
| Epithalon | 2 | Russian-protocol reels | Same viral reel | Moderate | Telomere excitement vs. oncology-risk questions |
| Vilon | 3 | Vendor/educator infographics only | Thin reels | None found | Educator-funneled, no owner base |
| Thymogen | 3 | Retrospective mentions only | None | None | Invisible |
| Thymopentin | 3 | None | None | None | Invisible |
| Alloferon | 3 | One consumer post (Aug 2026) | None | None | Curiosity-level |
| Gepon | 3 | None | None | None | Patient-forum only (Phoenix Rising) |
| Imunofan | 3 | None | None | None | Invisible |
Use-case fit and risk matrix
| Use case | Best fit (community-reported) | Highest-risk notes |
|---|---|---|
| General immune support | Thymosin Alpha-1 (strongest owner base) | Cancer-claim controversy; autoimmune nuance |
| Mold/Lyme/biofilm | LL-37 (dominant narrative) | Mast-cell reactions, bleeding concerns (community-reported) |
| Gut inflammation | KPV (PCAC momentum) | Adverse GI/headache anecdote; vendor quality opacity |
| Annual "protocol" buyers | Thymalin + Epithalon (viral 20-day story) | Thymalin/thymulin identity swap; telomerase oncology questions |
| CIRS/neuroimmune | VIP (nasal-spray community) | 2-minute half-life; expensive |
| HPV/herpes | Alloferon/Allokin-alpha (registered Russian drug) | Zero Western community; sourcing |
| Mucosal/STI-adjacent | Gepon (topical/sublingual) | Volunteer-report evidence only |
| China-pedigree seekers | Thymopentin (China-approved) | No Western discussion at all |
| Antioxidant + immune | Imunofan (3 dosage forms) | Invisible in the West |
| Khavinson completists | Thymogen, Vilon | Thymogen: no gray-market vials; Vilon: transgenic-mouse tumor flag |
Social-pulse summary
The track's 2026 pulse is top-heavy: two Tier-1 workhorses (TA1, LL-37) carry real communities while a single viral asset (the FITSCRIPT Russian-protocol reel, Aug 2026) single-handedly created the Thymalin/Epithalon conversation — the most-engaged post in the track (FB 1.9K likes / 2.1K comments) with almost no owner-experience follow-through. KPV rides institutional momentum (July 2026 PCAC recommendation) plus gut-health educator content. VIP is a CIRS-community insider item. The five Russian-registered drugs and the China-approved Thymopentin are socially invisible despite the strongest regulatory pedigrees — the track's central irony. Sentiment skews enthusiastic-educator on Instagram, peer-anecdotal on Facebook Groups, and near-silent on Threads.
Direct-source transparency / log
- Threads + Instagram: connected accounts confirmed 2026-09-21; bulk social corpus retrieved via Threads/IG search (zeitgeist XMLs) — item-level hits extracted per file: TA1 (8 IG posts), LL-37 (mold/Lyme wave), KPV (PCAC coverage), Thymalin (10 hits incl. FITSCRIPT reels, Carvalho, HNR Labs), VIP (Albanese cheat sheet), Epithalon (FITSCRIPT reels), Vilon (infographic wave), Alloferon (1 IG post); zero hits for Thymogen, Thymopentin, Gepon, Imunofan.
- Facebook: connected 2026-09-21; FB Groups "Peptides - information. Education. and sharing" and "Peptide Community 101" observed; FB reel 1361328015687708 (FITSCRIPT Russian protocol) is the track's top-engagement source.
- Hard-fact sources: Umbrella Labs (TA1 specs/images), ChemicalBook, LKT Bioscience, PharmaCompass, peptide-products.com (EU prices: Thymogen €35, Thymopentin €52, Allokin-alpha €49), Verified Peptides (Thymalin $36, bundle $62.10), PeptidesWorldWide ($49), Polaris ($40), Particle Peptides (LL-37 €65.03), Cosmic/Peptide Hubs/Regen/Bio/OZZ (TA1 prices), apteka.ru + eva.ru + zibero.ru (Russian packaging images), PMC (Russian peptide-drug table), EP patents, PubMed.
- Failed/empty: gepon.ru image fetch timed out (used apteka.ru instead); peptide-shop.com blocked direct fetch (succeeded with browser UA); peptide-products.com pricing is EUR retail, not US street; no Facebook Marketplace listings for any item; no prices captured for KPV, Vilon, Gepon, Imunofan, VIP — marked UNVERIFIED, not invented.
Report index
- thymosin-alpha-1 — Tier 1, 6 images
- ll-37 — Tier 1, 5 images
- kpv — Tier 2, 5 images
- thymalin — Tier 2, 2 images
- vip-vasoactive-intestinal-peptide — Tier 2, 6 images
- epithalon — Tier 2, 2 images — LONGEVITY-OVERLAP FLAG
- vilon — Tier 3, 5 images
- thymogen — Tier 3, 2 images
- thymopentin — Tier 3, 0 images
- alloferon — Tier 3, 1 image
- gepon — Tier 3, 1 image
- imunofan — Tier 3, 1 image
Total: 12 items, 12 research files, 36 real JPEG images, 1 category-comparisons file.
Named sources
- Verified Peptides — Thymalin $36, bundle $62.10 — - **Hard-fact sources:** Umbrella Labs (TA1 specs/images), ChemicalBook, LKT Bioscience, PharmaCompass, peptide-products.com (EU prices: Thymogen €35, Thymopent
- PeptidesWorldWide — $49 — - **Hard-fact sources:** Umbrella Labs (TA1 specs/images), ChemicalBook, LKT Bioscience, PharmaCompass, peptide-products.com (EU prices: Thymogen €35, Thymopent
- Polaris — $40 — - **Hard-fact sources:** Umbrella Labs (TA1 specs/images), ChemicalBook, LKT Bioscience, PharmaCompass, peptide-products.com (EU prices: Thymogen €35, Thymopent
- Particle Peptides — LL-37 €65.03 — - **Hard-fact sources:** Umbrella Labs (TA1 specs/images), ChemicalBook, LKT Bioscience, PharmaCompass, peptide-products.com (EU prices: Thymogen €35, Thymopent
- Cosmic — TA1 prices
- Peptide Hubs — TA1 prices
- Regen — TA1 prices
- Bio — TA1 prices
- OZZ — TA1 prices
- FITSCRIPT Russian-protocol reel — The track's 2026 pulse is **top-heavy**: two Tier-1 workhorses (TA1, LL-37) carry real communities while a single viral asset (the FITSCRIPT Russian-protocol reel, Aug 2026) single-handedly created the… (Aug 2026)
- FITSCRIPT reel — - **Threads + Instagram:** connected accounts confirmed 2026-09-21; bulk social corpus retrieved via Threads/IG search (zeitgeist XMLs) — item-level hits extracted per file: TA1 (8 IG posts), LL-37 (mold/Lyme wave), KPV…
- Albanese cheat sheet — - **Threads + Instagram:** connected accounts confirmed 2026-09-21; bulk social corpus retrieved via Threads/IG search (zeitgeist XMLs) — item-level hits extracted per file: TA1 (8 IG posts), LL-37 (mold/Lyme wave), KPV…
- FB reel 1361328015687708 — FITSCRIPT Russian protocol
- Peptides - information. Education. and sharing — Facebook — direct-source log
- Peptide Community 101 — Facebook — direct-source log
- Umbrella Labs — TA1 specs/images
- ChemicalBook — Hard-fact sources — direct-source log
- LKT Bioscience — Hard-fact sources — direct-source log
- PharmaCompass — Hard-fact sources — direct-source log
- peptide-products.com — EU prices: Thymogen €35, Thymopentin €52, Allokin-alpha €49
- apteka.ru — Hard-fact sources — direct-source log
- eva.ru — Hard-fact sources — direct-source log
- zibero.ru — Russian packaging images
- PMC — Russian peptide-drug table
- EP patents — Hard-fact sources — direct-source log
- PubMed — Hard-fact sources — direct-source log
Source URLs were not recorded for these references.