Also known as Melanotan I · Melanotan-1 · MT-I · MT-1 · CUV1647 · Scenesse
MC1R-selective α-MSH analog; FDA-approved (Scenesse) for photoprotection in erythropoietic protoporphyria.
Afamelanotide (Melanotan I) is a 13-amino-acid linear analog of α-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (α-MSH), highly selective for the melanocortin-1 receptor (MC1R). It is FDA-approved as Scenesse — delivered as a controlled-release subcutaneous implant — to increase pain-free light exposure in adults with a history of phototoxic reactions from erythropoietic protoporphyria (EPP).
Afamelanotide is the [Nle4, D-Phe7] analog of α-MSH — substitutions that confer metabolic stability and high MC1R selectivity (roughly three orders of magnitude lower affinity for MC3R/MC4R than for MC1R).
Unlike the non-selective Melanotan II, afamelanotide’s MC1R selectivity keeps its action largely confined to pigmentation/photoprotection, which is what allowed it to reach approval. It is administered as a controlled-release subcutaneous implant (Scenesse) rather than by injection.
MC1R-selective melanocortin agonism, driving eumelanin synthesis (photoprotection) via Gs-coupled cAMP signaling.
Behind every vial of Afamelanotide is the same exacting pipeline every research peptide runs — but the chemistry plays out differently for this molecule. Here is how Afamelanotide, specifically, is brought into being.
On paper, Afamelanotide is C78H111N21O19 — about 1,646.8 daltons of precisely arranged atoms. Before a single bond is made, the target sequence, salt form, and purity threshold are written down as the contract the finished material must meet.
Afamelanotide is assembled by solid-phase peptide synthesis — the chain grows one protected residue at a time on resin, and what you fail to build cleanly here you pay to remove later.
The crude mixture — Afamelanotide plus its deletions and side products — is then separated on preparative HPLC, and where the cut is taken decides the difference between a genuinely pure peptide and a barely-passable one.
A real batch of Afamelanotide proves itself: identity confirmed by mass spectrometry against its ~1,646.8 Da, purity read directly off an analytical HPLC trace, water and counterion content measured. That batch-specific certificate of analysis is the only honest way to know what is actually in a vial of Afamelanotide — and a short, cold, accountable chain of custody is how that purity survives the trip to your bench.
Producing Afamelanotide to a genuine purity spec means solid-phase synthesis, preparative HPLC purification, and batch quality control — none of it cheap, and none of it something you can verify by eye.
Don't judge a vial by its cake. A fluffy, good-looking lyophilized powder reflects bulking agents and freeze-drying parameters — not purity. Insist on a batch-specific certificate of analysis.
Recent clinical trials and publications mentioning Afamelanotide, pulled automatically from ClinicalTrials.gov and PubMed and refreshed daily. Listings are unfiltered search results, not curated endorsements.
Afamelanotide (Melanotan I) is an MC1R-selective α-MSH analog, FDA-approved as Scenesse for photoprotection in erythropoietic protoporphyria.
Afamelanotide is MC1R-selective and FDA-approved; Melanotan II is non-selective across MC1–5R (including the MC4R activity that drives side effects) and is not approved.
As a controlled-release subcutaneous implant (Scenesse), not a self-administered injection.
Endogenous copper-binding tripeptide widely studied in skin and hair biology.
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ViewDosing protocols, mechanism, comparisons, and the latest trials — citation-backed answers grounded in PubMed, PubChem, and ClinicalTrials.gov.