Thymalin
Thymalinum · Timalin
Snapshot
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Thymalin is a thymic peptide preparation approved in Russia as an intramuscular lyophilisate for immunodeficiency states in adults and children1. It is used to support recovery of immune function, with an adjunctive role alongside chemotherapy in pulmonary tuberculosis2.
Human research is limited to about three small trials, covering therapy-resistant schizophrenia, pulmonary tuberculosis, and parkinsonism. In a 1990 clinical study of patients with destructive pulmonary tuberculosis, thymalin added to chemotherapy shortened hospital stay and increased treatment efficacy2. The Russian product is a lyophilized powder dissolved in isotonic saline for intramuscular injection; see Form comparison1.
In a 2024 warning letter, the United States (US) Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said Thymalin products a seller offered for sale in the United States were unapproved new drugs3.
Last updated October 18, 2026. Read how we make monographs.
In the full monograph
21 sources, 5 studies
- When to useThe situations practitioners use it for, each with the reason and the study behind it.
- SafetyWho should avoid it, who needs extra care, and the side effects reported in studies.
- Protocol notesThe doses used in studies, how and when they were taken, and how the forms on the market compare.
- How it worksWhat it is and how it works in the body, in plain terms.
- Published studiesThe studies behind each use, popular claims checked against them, and trials still under way.
- Word of mouthWhat patients and practitioners report online, kept separate from the clinical evidence.
- Clinical perspectiveA closing read of where the evidence is solid, where it is thin, and what has not been studied.
Sources
- 1Foreign drug labelema.europa.euThe label of a medicine with this ingredient approved outside the US (a regulator's Summary of Product Characteristics or prescribing information, or the manufacturer's official instructions). Labels in German, Italian or Russian are quoted in English translation, marked as translated. What one country approved for one product, not US approval
- 2[Effectiveness of administration of thymalin in the complex treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis].pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.govKogosova, Chernushenko, Il'nitskiĭ et al. · Problemy tuberkuleza · 1990 · Pubmed
- 3FDA actionsfda.govFDA warning letters, import alerts and Pharmacy Compounding Advisory Committee documents that name this ingredient, in the FDA's words. Findings about products sold and a regulator's review, not evidence of harm from the ingredient itself