Peptide nasal sprays are sold on two very different kinds of evidence. A small group are FDA-approved drugs whose labels report exactly how much of a spray is absorbed, how the bottle must be stored and when it stops delivering the right amount. The rest — semax, selank and a widening list of research compounds — are sold in spray bottles with none of that measured.
This page sets the two side by side, from the labels and registries, so a reader can see what a nasal peptide product has had to prove and what a research spray has not.
Why the nose, and why it only half works
The lining of the nose is thin and well supplied with blood, and whatever is absorbed there skips the stomach's enzymes and the liver's first pass. That makes it attractive for peptides, which are destroyed when swallowed — the problem covered on our oral peptides page. But the nasal lining is still a barrier, a spray holds only about 0.1 mL, and the nose clears away what it does not absorb. The labels show the result.
The approved nasal peptides, and what their labels print
From the current US labels on openFDA, read 30 September 2026:
| Product (peptide) | What it is approved for | Absorption the label reports | Storage and in-use rules on the label |
|---|---|---|---|
| Desmopressin nasal solution, incl. STIMATE (9 amino acids) | Central diabetes insipidus; STIMATE for haemophilia A and von Willebrand disease | STIMATE: 3.3%–4.1% absolute bioavailability | Refrigerate; up to 3 weeks at room temperature when travelling; discard after 50 sprays |
| SYNAREL (nafarelin, 10 amino acids) | Endometriosis; central precocious puberty | 2.8% average (range 1.2%–5.6%) at 400 µg | Store upright at 25 °C, protect from light; about 200 µg per spray, at least 60 sprays per bottle |
| Calcitonin-salmon nasal solution (32 amino acids) | Postmenopausal osteoporosis | 3%–5% relative to intramuscular injection | Refrigerate unopened; opened bottle at room temperature up to 35 days; discard after 30 doses |
| BAQSIMI (glucagon nasal powder, 29 amino acids) | Severe hypoglycaemia | Peak plasma about 15 minutes after the 3 mg dose | Single-use device; keep sealed in its tube until use because moisture can stop it working |
Two numbers from a third label close the loop. The desmopressin tablet label states that tablets deliver about 5% of the nasal spray's exposure and about 0.16% of an intravenous dose. Dividing one by the other puts the nasal spray at roughly 3% of intravenous — our arithmetic, and consistent with STIMATE's printed 3.3%–4.1%. Across the three sprays whose labels print a figure, three different molecules land in the same narrow band: a few percent.
What the labels are careful about that research sprays are not
The dose is the device. The desmopressin label tells users to discard a bottle after 50 sprays "since the amount delivered thereafter may be substantially less than the recommended dosage" of 10 mcg, even with liquid left inside. Calcitonin bottles are discarded after 30 doses for the same reason. The delivered amount was measured for that pump, with that solution.
Nasal doses are bigger than injected ones. BAQSIMI's nasal glucagon is 3 mg in one device, three times the 1 mg injected dose the glucagon-for-injection label gives adults for the same emergency. Calcitonin's absorption is 3%–5% of an intramuscular dose. A milligram figure from an injection study does not transfer to a spray.
In-use periods are tested, and short. An opened calcitonin bottle has a 35-day limit at room temperature. Desmopressin solution is kept refrigerated. These periods come from stability testing of the exact product with its preservative — SYNAREL, for example, contains benzalkonium chloride.
Congestion was tested. The BAQSIMI label states that a common cold with nasal congestion did not change glucagon's pharmacokinetics; SYNAREL found no significant effect of rhinitis but asks users to wait two hours before a decongestant.
Research-market nasal sprays: the record
- Semax and selank. Both are registered as nasal drops in Russia (semax as 0.1% and 1% solutions) and approved nowhere else. FDA's 2026 review of semax found eight usable human references, all intranasal, and only one said anything about adverse events; its one clear adverse-event report is persistent eye pain after nasal drops bought online. That record is on our semax side-effects page, and the doses sources cite are on our semax dosage page. ClinicalTrials.gov returned no study with semax as an intervention on 30 September 2026. One US vendor store we checked lists semax sprays at "30mg/300mcg per spray" and larger strengths — 100 sprays per bottle on its own figures — with no in-use period or delivered-dose test stated.
- GLP-1 sprays. No GLP-1 drug is approved as a nasal product anywhere we could find. One US research-vendor store lists a retatrutide nasal spray; its own product text states that clinical trials "primarily studied once-weekly subcutaneous retatrutide". ClinicalTrials.gov returned no study of retatrutide by a nasal route.
- Reconstituted sprays. Some guides describe mixing powdered peptides into a spray bottle. No approved label covers that, and none of the in-use periods above apply to it. How long a reconstituted peptide keeps at all, in a vial, is on our peptide storage page.
What is not established
- The absorbed fraction of any research-market nasal peptide in people.
- How much peptide a research spray pump actually delivers per actuation, and whether that holds through the bottle.
- The in-use shelf life of an opened research spray, with or without a preservative.
- Effects on the nasal lining of repeated research-spray use; the approved labels carry their own nasal adverse-event sections because they were measured.
Anyone using a nasal product for a medical reason should take the specific product and the question to a prescriber. Most research compounds are, in practice, injected; that route is covered in our subcutaneous injection guide, and the nootropic compounds most often sold as sprays are compared on our cognitive peptides page.
Sources and dates
- STIMATE (desmopressin acetate) nasal spray, Ferring, NDA 020355: openFDA label effective 2026-07-22, section 12.3. Desmopressin acetate nasal solution (ANDA 074830): openFDA label effective 2025-06-19, sections 2 and 16. DDAVP tablets, NDA 019955: openFDA label, clinical pharmacology.
- SYNAREL (nafarelin acetate) nasal solution, Pfizer, NDA 019886: openFDA label effective 2026-03-05, clinical pharmacology, description and how supplied.
- Calcitonin salmon nasal solution (ANDA 076979 and ANDA 076396): openFDA labels effective 2026-06-29 and 2026-09-10, sections 2, 12.3 and 16.
- BAQSIMI (glucagon) nasal powder, NDA 210134: openFDA label effective 2026-06-19, sections 2, 12.3 and 16.
- Glucagon for injection (NDA 201849): openFDA label effective 2020-09-16, section 2 (1 mg for adults and children over 25 kg).
- ClinicalTrials.gov v2 API: intervention "semax" (0 studies); "retatrutide" with nasal or intranasal (0 studies), 2026-09-30.
- Two US research-vendor product listings for semax and retatrutide nasal sprays, read through their public store data 2026-09-30.
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