Davunetide
Neuroprotective peptide
Also NAP, AL-108, AL108, NAPVSIPQ, NAP peptide
- Evidence
- BSome human evidence
- FDA status
- In clinical trialsas of 2026-10-27
- Route
- Nasal
- Studies cited
- 1 human1 animal or cell
It is a nasal spray promoted for memory and brain protection. The one big trial, in 313 people with a rare movement disease, found it worked no better than a dummy spray.
Sold for
Davunetide circulates in nootropic forums as a nasal spray that protects neurons and stabilizes microtubules, pitched for memory, autism and neurodegeneration.
Studies say
The one phase 3 trial, 313 patients over a year, found davunetide no better than placebo on movement or daily-function scores in progressive supranuclear palsy, so the human evidence is a well-conducted negative result.
Why grade B. There is one large randomized placebo-controlled trial: 313 people with progressive supranuclear palsy treated for 52 weeks, with no difference from placebo on either primary endpoint. The trial exists and was well run, which by our definitions is B, but it is negative for the use davunetide is known for. Everything else is cell and animal work on microtubule stabilization. 21
FDA. Davunetide is not approved by the FDA for any use. It is an investigational peptide whose phase 2/3 trial in progressive supranuclear palsy failed in 2012; no new trial of it has been registered since, and vials sold online are research chemicals.
Written from 3 cited sources. Fact-checked 2026-10-27: 17 claims checked, 2 corrected. Last refreshed 2026-10-27. Not physician reviewed.
What this means for you
- What people take it for
- Protecting brain cells and memory
- Can a US doctor prescribe it?
- No. It is not approved and is sold as a research chemical.
- Properly tested in people?
- Partly: some human trials, with gaps. One trial of 313 people, and it found no benefit.
Evidence checklist
- Randomised controlled trial 52-week placebo-controlled phase 3yes
- Human study over 100 people 313 people with PSPyes
- More than one research group One trial; no second group citedno information
- Clinical outcomes, not surrogate markers Movement and daily-function scores; no benefityes
- Human safety data beyond case reports Serious events equal across arms in 52 weeksyes
Drawn from the cited studies below. A dash means the sources give no information.
What it is
Davunetide (also called NAP or AL-108) is an eight-amino-acid fragment of activity-dependent neuroprotective protein (ADNP), a protein that brain support cells release and that is needed for normal brain development. Illana Gozes's group at Tel Aviv University identified the fragment, and Allon Therapeutics took it into clinical trials as an intranasal spray. 12
After the 2012 trial failure Allon stopped development. Davunetide has since been studied in small academic settings, but no company holds an active FDA application for it. 2
How it works
Inside neurons, davunetide binds to tubulin and to microtubule end-binding proteins, helping to stabilize microtubules, the protein scaffolding that transports cargo along nerve fibres. In tau-related diseases such as progressive supranuclear palsy, the tau protein that normally supports microtubules clumps instead, and the hypothesis was that davunetide would compensate. Cell and animal models supported this: it protected neurons from a range of toxic insults and reduced tau pathology in mice. The human trial did not confirm a clinical benefit. 12
What human research shows
Boxer and colleagues randomized 313 people with progressive supranuclear palsy at 48 centres in six countries to intranasal davunetide or placebo for 52 weeks; 241 (77%) completed the trial. The two primary endpoints were the PSP Rating Scale, a clinician score of movement and function, and the Schwab and England Activities of Daily Living scale. Neither separated the groups: the median change in PSP Rating Scale was 11.8 points in both arms, and the daily-living score fell by the same 0.20 in both. Secondary and exploratory endpoints showed no drug effect. 2
A 2026 post hoc reanalysis of the same trial, led by the peptide's discoverer, reported that women did better on davunetide than on placebo on a 10-item version of the rating scale and on some cognitive scores, with no such effect in men. This is a subgroup finding from a negative trial, the authors hold commercial interests in davunetide, and the claim has not been tested prospectively. 3
| Study | Model | Finding |
|---|---|---|
| Boxer 2014, phase 2/3 PSP trial | Humans, n=313 with progressive supranuclear palsy, randomized double-blind placebo-controlled, 52 weeks | No difference from placebo on the PSP Rating Scale or daily-living scale; safety similar in both arms. 2 |
| Gozes 2011, mechanism review | Cell culture and animal models | Davunetide interacts with microtubules and protects neurons from varied toxic insults in laboratory models. 1 |
Safety
In the 52-week trial, davunetide was well tolerated: 54 serious adverse events occurred in each arm, with 11 deaths on davunetide and 10 on placebo, consistent with the underlying disease. Nasal irritation was the main drug-specific complaint. Earlier phase 1 and 2 studies in healthy volunteers and people with mild cognitive impairment reported no safety signals. 2
The unknowns concern the products sold online: there is no information on their purity, and no human data for the memory or autism uses they are marketed for. 1
Questions for your clinician
- Is there any controlled trial for the use I have in mind?
- What does the negative PSP trial mean for memory claims?
- How would I know if an online vial contains what it says?
Questions people ask
Is davunetide FDA-approved?
No. It reached a phase 2/3 trial in progressive supranuclear palsy that failed in 2012, and no approval application is pending. 2
Did davunetide work in the big trial?
No. In 313 patients treated for a year, the change in the PSP Rating Scale was identical in the davunetide and placebo groups (median 11.8 points), and daily-function scores were also identical. 2
What is it supposed to do?
Stabilize microtubules, the internal transport scaffolding of neurons, which break down in tau diseases. The idea held up in cells and mice but did not translate into a clinical benefit in people. 12
Is it safe?
In the trial it was as well tolerated as placebo over a year, with nasal irritation the main complaint. That says nothing about research-chemical vials of unknown purity. 2
Citations
- Gozes 2011, Curr Pharm Des: davunetide (NAP) and microtubules, review doi.org
- Boxer 2014, Lancet Neurol: davunetide in patients with progressive supranuclear palsy, randomised double-blind placebo-controlled trial doi.org
- Shapira 2026, Mol Psychiatry: sex-specific reanalysis of the davunetide PSP trial pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Updates
- 2026-10-27 the existing paragraph on the 2026 sex-specific reanalysis of the PSP trial now cites its own paper (PMID 42399413) instead of Boxer 2014, with conflict-of-interest note.