Melanotan II
Cyclic alpha-MSH analog
- Injection
- Oral
- Nasal spray
- Suppository
- Gel or cream
Injection — no established protocol, and no lawful supply.
No provider we've verified carries Melanotan II yet
Melanotan II is a synthetic cyclic heptapeptide built off the structure of alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone, the body’s own pigmentation signal. It was designed at the University of Arizona in the 1990s as a sunless-tanning agent, tested once in three men, and never approved anywhere. The molecule then walked off the university bench and into widespread underground use.
It works by activating four melanocortin receptors: MC1R (pigmentation), MC3R (energy homeostasis and inflammation), MC4R (appetite suppression and pro-erectile pathways), and MC5R (exocrine glands). That non-selective receptor profile is the single most important thing to understand about the drug. It’s not a tanning peptide that happens to have side effects — it’s a four-receptor agonist whose downstream effects are determined by which tissue you’re talking about. MC1R activation on melanocytes drives skin darkening, independent of UV exposure. MC4R activation in the hypothalamus and brainstem suppresses appetite, raises sympathetic nervous system outflow, and produces spontaneous erections through a central melanocortin signal, not the peripheral nitric-oxide pathway that PDE5 inhibitors like sildenafil target.
One of the stranger stories in peptide pharmacology: a tanning drug that became known for its erections, with an adverse-event record no controlled trial ever measured.
The full receptor pharmacology, the case-report literature, and the regulatory history live on our PeptideWellness deep-dive.
Who it's for (or who should avoid)
What it's aimed at
Nobody prescribes it, so there is no patient group. What people take it for:
- Pro-erectile effects — central melanocortin activation that produces erections independent of sexual stimulus
- Appetite suppression — MC4R-mediated reduction in food intake, though this comes bundled with cardiovascular activation
- Pigmentation — skin darkening without UV exposure, though this is the effect that carries the melanoma surveillance requirement
- Sexual-desire augmentation — related to bremelanotide (Vyleesi), the FDA-approved derivative used for hypoactive sexual desire disorder in premenopausal women
Every one of those effects arrives together, because one injection hits all four receptors. The monitoring that would make this defensible — cardiovascular assessment, dermatologic surveillance — requires a clinician, and there is no clinician in this picture.
Who should avoid it
- Pre-existing cardiovascular disease, hypertension, or arrhythmia history — MC4R activation drives sympathetic outflow; hypertensive crisis reported
- Personal or family history of melanoma or dysplastic nevi — temporal association with melanoma documented across multiple case reports
- Pre-existing renal or hepatic disease — serious adverse events including renal infarction reported
- Pregnant, breastfeeding, or planning pregnancy — no controlled human data
- History of priapism or conditions predisposing to prolonged erection — priapism requiring medical intervention documented in case reports
This is not a cosmetic peptide with minor side effects. It is a four-receptor agonist whose published human record includes priapism, rhabdomyolysis, hypertensive crisis and renal infarction.
Melanotan II has been in widespread underground use for roughly two decades, but high-quality human data remains three subjects in one 1996 trial plus case reports. Long-term cardiovascular risk, lifetime melanoma risk attributable to the drug, and minimum effective doses for any single effect remain genuinely unknown.
Route, dose and course
There is no lawful US route to a dose, so nothing here is a protocol. What circulates is subcutaneous injection, which the molecule tolerates: the cyclic structure makes it considerably more stable than a linear peptide, and that stability is why something first proposed as a topical agent ended up as an injection.
What circulates outside any clinical setting:
- Loading phase: 0.25–0.5 mg/day SC until desired pigmentation (typically 2–4 weeks)
- Maintenance: 0.5–1 mg once or twice weekly to sustain pigmentation
- Cycling: structured on/off periods with ongoing dermatologic surveillance
- Monitoring: baseline and periodic CV assessment (BP, HR); baseline full-skin exam with mole mapping
Reconstitution uses bacteriostatic water, and the monitoring listed above — blood pressure, heart rate, a baseline full-skin exam with mole mapping — is what would be appropriate if anyone were supervising this. Sold as a research chemical, nobody is: there is no prescriber, no dispensing pharmacy, and no verified potency, identity or sterility in the vial.
One distinction is worth keeping straight. Bremelanotide — Vyleesi — is a deaminated derivative of this molecule, approved in June 2019 for hypoactive sexual desire disorder in premenopausal women. Same starting point, one indication, real trials, and a route. It is not this compound, and the two get conflated in copy that sells the unapproved one.
The usual arc
Read this first. This is not a protocol arc, because no protocol exists to run — it is what the literature actually contains, in the order it accumulated. The three-person Phase I trial is the only prospective human study; everything after it is case reports, which means the serious events are the ones documented well enough to publish.
The tan arrives, which is why people use it. What sits underneath is a compound tested prospectively in three human beings, whose longer-term human record consists of case reports serious enough to publish — kidney injury, hypertensive crisis, renal infarction, and a pattern of dysplastic nevi and melanoma reported across several countries. Anyone who has used it should get a baseline full-skin dermatologic examination with mole mapping, and that recommendation is the most useful sentence on this page.
- FIRST DOSESWhat the trial recordedNausea, in every subject at every dose, in a Phase I trial with three participants. Facial flushing, fatigue, sweating, dizziness and appetite suppression are the commonly reported effects outside it.
- WEEKSWhat people are chasingSkin darkening builds over a few weeks and does not require UV exposure, which is the whole appeal. It is also the point at which nobody is monitoring anything, because there is no clinician in the loop.
- THE CASE REPORTSWhere the record actually isRhabdomyolysis with kidney injury after a single 6 mg injection. Renal infarction after six months. Priapism needing medical intervention. Dysplastic nevi and melanoma in temporal association across several countries. These are the published human data on longer use.
No provider we've verified carries Melanotan II yet
That is the honest answer, and it is not the same as "you can't have it". None of the licensed telehealth providers we track publishes Melanotan II, so there is no price to quote and no intake to send you to. Whether that changes depends on federal action rather than on us — which is why the next box exists rather than a button that goes nowhere.
Tell me when someone carries it
Questions we get about Melanotan II
Is Melanotan II FDA-approved?
No — Melanotan II is not an FDA-approved drug and is not sold at retail pharmacies. It's not eligible for compounding under 503A or 503B pathways and is not on the FDA's bulk drug substance list. The FDA has issued public warnings citing serious adverse events and lack of safety data. A related molecule, bremelanotide (Vyleesi), is FDA-approved for hypoactive sexual desire disorder in premenopausal women, but that approval does not extend to Melanotan II.
Is it legal?
Melanotan II sold for human use in the United States is, by definition, an unapproved new drug. Sales typically rebrand it as a 'research chemical,' a regulatory dodge that doesn't change what the drug does in tissue. International enforcement varies; UK and Irish authorities have been particularly active given prevalence among sunbed users. A state-by-state check does not apply here: nothing about this one turns on state law.
Are there side effects?
Nausea is universal — every subject in the original trial experienced it at every dose. Facial flushing, fatigue, sweating, dizziness, and appetite suppression are common. Serious adverse events documented in peer-reviewed case reports include priapism (erection lasting more than four hours, requiring medical intervention), rhabdomyolysis (muscle breakdown leading to kidney injury), hypertensive crisis, and renal infarction. A temporal association with dysplastic nevi and melanoma has been documented across multiple countries; anyone who has used Melanotan II should consider baseline full-skin dermatologic examination with mole mapping.
Can I take it with my current medications?
Melanotan II activates four melanocortin receptors and affects cardiovascular, metabolic, and sexual-function pathways. Anyone with pre-existing cardiovascular disease, renal or hepatic disease, a personal or family history of melanoma, or anyone taking medications that affect blood pressure or sexual function must disclose their full medical history and medication list to their provider before starting.
How much does it cost?
There is no price to quote, and the reason matters more than the number. No provider we cover carries it, no pharmacy is authorized to compound it, and it was never submitted for approval — so there is no dispensing channel to have a price. Figures attached to it online belong to research-chemical sellers shipping an unverified powder, which is not the same kind of transaction as a prescription.
We publish no medical reviewer by design. Every claim on this page traces to a source we hold on file, and the reviewed write-up with those citations lives on our hub. Read the full research on PeptideWellness ↗
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