Vilon is a synthetic dipeptide, lysine joined to glutamic acid (Lys-Glu), made at the St. Petersburg Institute of Bioregulation and Gerontology in Russia, the same group behind epitalon.[1][6] Russian papers call it a “thymomimetic” (thymus mimetic), and its developers describe Lys-Glu as one of the active substances of the calf thymus extract thymalin.[14][7] In mice and rats it was linked to fewer tumors and, in one report, longer life.[1][3] But almost all research comes from one Russian research network, and human data are small and thinly described.[13][16] It is not approved as a medicine in the US.[18]
What is vilon?
Vilon belongs to a family of very short “peptide bioregulators” developed by Vladimir Khavinson’s group. In a 1997 review, Khavinson and his colleague Vladimir Morozov described how they extracted natural peptides from calf thymus (sold as thymalin), isolated one dipeptide from it (Glu-Trp, sold as Thymogen) and then synthesized a new immune dipeptide they named Vilon.[6] A 2023 paper from the same institute describes Lys-Glu (KE) and Glu-Trp (EW) as active substances of thymalin.[7]
The group’s theory is that such short peptides interact with DNA and so regulate gene activity.[12][7] That idea rests on computer docking models and cell studies, not on direct evidence in living people.[7][12]
For the wider family of these compounds, see our guide to Khavinson peptide bioregulators.
Vilon benefits: what the research shows
Animal studies
| Study | Model | What was reported |
|---|---|---|
| Lifespan, 2000 | Female CBA mice from 6 months of age | More activity and endurance, longer life, fewer spontaneous tumors[1] |
| Lifespan, 2001 (fuller report) | Female CBA mice, monthly 5-day courses until death | More physical activity and fewer lung adenomas; the survival gain was reported for epitalon, not vilon[2] |
| Bladder cancer | Rats given a bladder carcinogen | Tumors in 56% of treated rats vs 75.5% of controls[3] |
| Bowel carcinogen | Mice given dimethylhydrazine | Tumors in 14.3% of treated mice vs 60% of controls, among mice alive at first tumor detection (46 weeks)[4] |
| HER-2/neu breast cancer | Transgenic mice | No protection reported; two or more tumors in 95% of vilon mice vs 75% of controls; a similar share of mice had lung metastases, but metastasis incidence was 2.6 times that of the epitalon group[5] |
| Radiation-induced aging | Rats | Partly slowed thymus and spleen aging[17] |
| Old male rats | Rats with one testis removed | Better sexual function and lower prolactin[21] |
The two lifespan papers share authors and both describe female CBA mice treated from 6 months of age, so they may report the same experiment, but they read differently. The short 2000 report says vilon prolonged life.[1] The longer 2001 paper, published in an international aging journal, credits the extra survival to epitalon and lists only activity and lung tumor changes for Lys-Glu.[2]
Cell studies
- Immune signals: vilon switched on interleukin-2 gene activity in mouse spleen cells.[8]
- Chromatin in older people’s cells: in white blood cells taken from older people, a Georgian-Russian team reported that vilon loosened tightly packed chromatin, which they read as reactivating silenced genes.[9]
- Stem cells: in aging cultures of human embryonic bone marrow stem cells, KE and two related peptides raised activity of some aging-related genes, including IGF1.[10]
- Inflammation: an Italian-Russian study found vilon and four related peptides reduced inflammatory signals (TNF and IL-6) in a human monocyte cell line.[11]
Human studies
- Type 1 diabetes: two Russian reports said adding vilon to standard care improved clotting and fibrinolysis markers and stabilized immune cell counts; one said it often lowered the insulin dose needed.[13][14]
- Older adults with bowel cancer: a 2005 Russian report described “pioneer experience” adding vilon to treatment for stage III colon and rectal cancer and called the results preliminary.[15]
- Reviews: the developers’ 2013 review lists vilon among the bioregulators they have used clinically.[16]
Why the vilon evidence is hard to judge
- One research network. Nearly every study comes from Khavinson’s institute or close collaborators, often in Russian-language journals. We found no independent replication of the lifespan or tumor results.[1][3]
- Conflicting reports. The two accounts of the mouse lifespan experiment disagree on whether vilon extended life.[1][2]
- Mechanism by modeling. The idea that Lys-Glu binds DNA comes mainly from computer docking and cell cultures, not from studies in living people.[12]
- Blood markers, not outcomes. The human reports track clotting and immune cell counts rather than infections, cancer or survival.[13][14]
Vilon vs thymalin and other thymus peptides
| Vilon | Thymalin | Thymosin alpha-1 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | Synthetic dipeptide, Lys-Glu[1] | Peptide extract of calf thymus[6] | 28-amino-acid thymic peptide, now made synthetically[23][22] |
| Developer | Khavinson’s institute[6] | Khavinson and Morozov[6] | First sequenced by Allan Goldstein’s team (1977)[23] |
| Medicine status | Not FDA-approved[18] | Prescription medicine in Russia[24] | Sold as Zadaxin in other countries; not FDA-approved[22] |
See our profiles of thymalin, thymosin alpha-1 and epitalon for more detail.
Vilon dosage
There is no approved or established human dose. The animal studies used tiny amounts, such as 0.1 microgram per mouse in monthly five-day courses, and 50 micrograms per rat in the sexual-function study.[2][21] The human abstracts do not report doses.[13][14] Doses found online come from vendors and forums, not trials. Our peptide calculator explains vial math in general, but it cannot make an untested dose safe.
Vilon side effects
- Unknown in people. No human safety, cancer or reproductive studies have been published that we could find.
- Animal safety: the developers reported no harmful effects on development in mice given vilon long-term.[1]
- A mixed cancer signal: in mice prone to HER-2/neu breast cancer, vilon was not reported to slow tumors; more vilon-treated mice had multiple tumors than controls (95% vs 75%), and lung metastasis incidence was 2.6 times that of the epitalon group.[5] The abstract’s conclusions discuss only epitalon, so this signal was not explored.
- Product quality: vilon sold online is a research chemical, so its purity, dose and sterility are not checked by any regulator.
Is vilon legal?
- US: not FDA-approved. Vilon (Lys-Glu) does not appear on any of FDA’s 503A bulk substance lists as of May 14, 2026, which suggests no one has nominated it for compounding.[18] It is also absent from FDA’s list of compounding substances with significant safety risks.[19] In our reading, that leaves no legal route for pharmacies to compound it.
- Russia: Russian papers describe it as a “preparation” used in studies, but we could not find a current registration for it as a medicine.
- Sports: vilon is not named on WADA’s 2026 list. As a substance with no government approval for human use that we could confirm, in our reading it falls under the S0 category, which is banned at all times.[20]
This is general information, not legal advice.
What users report
We could not find detailed first-hand reports of vilon use in the forums we checked. Discussions mostly concern sourcing and whether products are genuine, so there is no useful user picture to summarize.
For other compounds promoted for aging and immunity, see our longevity peptides and immune peptides pages.
