Compare prices and buy Melanotan I from 32 research peptide vendors - also called suppliers or sources. Updated daily.
Melanotan I is afamelanotide (CAS 75921-69-6), a linear 13-amino-acid analog of alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone with norleucine at position 4 and D-phenylalanine at position 7, a substitution pair that made it resistant to serum enzymes. Its FDA label says it binds predominantly to MC1R and increases eumelanin in the skin. It is FDA-approved as Scenesse, a dissolving subcutaneous implant from Clinuvel, to increase pain-free light exposure in adults with a history of phototoxic reactions from erythropoietic protoporphyria.
For research purposes only. Not medical advice.
Melanotan I is afamelanotide, CAS 75921-69-6, a linear synthetic peptide of 13 amino acids: Ac-Ser-Tyr-Ser-Nle-Glu-His-D-Phe-Arg-Trp-Gly-Lys-Pro-Val-NH2, molecular formula C78H111N21O19, molecular weight 1646.8. It is the full sequence of alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (alpha-MSH) with norleucine at position 4 and D-phenylalanine at position 7, written in the literature as [Nle4, D-Phe7]-alpha-MSH or NDP-MSH.
PubChem lists alpha-MSH as C77H109N21O19S, so the first substitution is visible in the formulas: trading methionine for norleucine replaces one sulfur atom with a CH2 group. The second substitution inverts one residue's stereochemistry and leaves the formula unchanged. Melanotan II keeps both substitutions, shortens the chain to positions 4 through 10 and closes it into a ring, and PT-141 is that ring with its C-terminal amide converted to an acid. Melanotan 1 vs 2 compares the two compounds' receptor targets, clinical records and FDA status side by side.
Tomi Sawyer, Victor Hruby, Mac Hadley and colleagues reported the analog in PNAS in 1980. It resisted degradation by serum enzymes and was 26 times as potent as alpha-MSH in a melanoma adenylate cyclase assay. Joined by Robert Dorr, the University of Arizona group then ran a placebo-controlled study in 28 healthy men (JAMA, 1991) that recorded skin darkening only in the active group. Clinuvel later developed it as afamelanotide under the code CUV1647.
The FDA label for Scenesse describes afamelanotide as a melanocortin receptor agonist that "binds predominantly to MC1-R" and increases eumelanin in the skin independently of sunlight or artificial UV exposure. The European Medicines Agency summarizes the rationale in erythropoietic protoporphyria (EPP): patients accumulate protoporphyrin IX, which is phototoxic, and added eumelanin reduces how much light penetrates the skin.
Binding studies put numbers on "predominantly". In cells expressing one receptor subtype each, the radiolabeled peptide bound MC1R about five times more tightly than MC3R and about sixty times more tightly than MC5R (Schioth et al., European Journal of Pharmacology, 1995), and a 1998 rat-receptor study found it non-selective between MC3R and MC4R.
The label records skin hyperpigmentation in 4% of treated patients against none on vehicle, and warns that existing moles and freckles may darken. Implant-site reactions (21% against 10%) and nausea (19% against 14%) were the most common adverse reactions.
Langendonk and colleagues reported two randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase 3 trials in EPP in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2015, both sponsored by Clinuvel. In the US trial (94 patients, six months), median time in direct sunlight without pain was 69.4 hours against 40.8 on placebo. In the European trial (74 patients, nine months) it was 6.0 hours against 0.8, with 77 phototoxic reactions against 146. The FDA label's own analysis of the US trial gives 64.1 and 40.5 hours.
Other registered programs:
The FDA approved Scenesse on October 8, 2019 (NDA 210797), a dissolving subcutaneous implant inserted by a trained healthcare professional, to increase pain-free light exposure in adults with a history of phototoxic reactions from EPP. The label states that safety and effectiveness have not been established in pediatric patients, and an August 2024 supplement added a severe-hypersensitivity contraindication, with anaphylaxis now listed among postmarket reports. The European Commission authorized Scenesse on December 22, 2014, under exceptional circumstances, for prevention of phototoxicity in adults with EPP. The EMA's committee called the added time in sunlight small and weighed it against quality of life and unmet need.
Because afamelanotide is the active ingredient of an approved drug, its US status is set by that approval, outside the bulk-substance nomination process that governs most research peptides. Neither Melanotan I nor afamelanotide appears in either table of FDA's Category 2 page as of its April 22, 2026 revision, while Melanotan II sits in the withdrawn table.
PeptideScouter verifies identity against the molecular formula rather than the product title.
Melanotan I and afamelanotide are two names for one molecule, CAS 75921-69-6, a 13-amino-acid analog of alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone carrying norleucine at position 4 and D-phenylalanine at position 7. Melanotan I is the name used by the University of Arizona researchers who developed it and by research vendors today, and afamelanotide is its international nonproprietary name. Scenesse is one specific product: a dissolving controlled-release implant in which afamelanotide is mixed with a bioresorbable polymer, made by Clinuvel under FDA application NDA 210797 and placed under the skin by a trained healthcare professional. Research vials sold as Melanotan I were not made under that application and are labeled for laboratory use only.
Both are synthetic analogs of alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone carrying norleucine at position 4 and D-phenylalanine at position 7, but they are built differently and hold different regulatory positions. Melanotan I is linear and keeps all 13 residues of the hormone, molecular formula C78H111N21O19. Melanotan II is cut down to seven residues, positions 4 through 10, and closed into a ring by a lactam bridge, molecular formula C50H69N15O9. The FDA label for afamelanotide, the approved form of Melanotan I, describes it as binding predominantly to the MC1 receptor. Melanotan I is approved in the United States and the European Union as Scenesse for erythropoietic protoporphyria. Melanotan II has no FDA approval, and the FDA lists it among bulk substances nominated for compounding and then withdrawn, with its safety concerns still attached.
Yes, as afamelanotide, in one product for one indication. The FDA approved Scenesse, a dissolving implant from Clinuvel placed under the skin by a trained healthcare professional, on October 8, 2019, under NDA 210797. It is indicated to increase pain-free light exposure in adult patients with a history of phototoxic reactions from erythropoietic protoporphyria, a rare inherited disorder in which light exposure causes painful skin reactions. The label states that safety and effectiveness have not been established in pediatric patients. In the European Union, Scenesse was authorized on December 22, 2014, under exceptional circumstances. Research-grade Melanotan I sold by peptide vendors is not Scenesse, was not made under that approval, and is labeled for laboratory research only.
Afamelanotide's main clinical program is erythropoietic protoporphyria, in which light exposure causes painful phototoxic reactions. Two randomized, placebo-controlled Phase 3 trials reported in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2015 measured pain-free time in direct sunlight: a median of 69.4 hours against 40.8 on placebo over six months in the US trial, and 6.0 against 0.8 hours over nine months in the European trial. In vitiligo, a randomized trial reported in JAMA Dermatology in 2015 combined afamelanotide with narrowband UVB phototherapy and found 48.6 percent repigmentation at day 168 against 33.3 percent with phototherapy alone. Clinuvel has also registered a Phase 3 vitiligo trial, CUV105, and studies in polymorphic light eruption, xeroderma pigmentosum, variegate porphyria and acute ischemic stroke. A 1991 placebo-controlled study in JAMA, from the University of Arizona group behind the molecule, measured skin darkening in 28 healthy men.
Melanotan I is sold by 32 research peptide vendors indexed on PeptideScouter, with 44 tracked listings compared per vendor in the table above. Pricing is normalized and refreshed daily.
31 of the 32 indexed vendors currently have Melanotan I in stock. The comparison table marks out-of-stock listings, and stock state is refreshed daily.
ZC Labs currently lists Melanotan I at $1.95/mg, the lowest listed price across 32 tracked research peptide vendors. With current vendor discount codes applied, the lowest effective price is $1.49/mg.
Discount codes are issued per vendor rather than per peptide, so any code applies across that vendor's whole catalog. All 32 vendors listing Melanotan I publish a PeptideScouter code, worth 5% to 50% off. Applied, the lowest effective price falls from $1.66/mg listed to $1.49/mg at Studz Peptides. Each vendor's code is shown beside its price in the table above.
Melanotan I ranges from $1.66/mg to $8.80/mg across 44 listings from 32 research peptide vendors, normalized to USD per milligram and refreshed daily.
32 research peptide vendors currently list Melanotan I on PeptideScouter, with 31 in stock right now. We track 44 listings across size and kit variants.
Melanotan I's CAS Registry Number is 75921-69-6. It is also sold as MELANOTAN 1, MLT I, MT1.
