Cortagen 20mg Peptide
For in-vitro laboratory research only. Not for human or animal administration.
Batch #: VPCT20100
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Research Use Only
For in-vitro laboratory research by qualified professionals only. Not for human or animal administration. Not a drug, food, cosmetic or dietary supplement. Not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, mitigate or prevent any disease. Batch-specific Certificates of Analysis available for all products.
Cortagen 20mg: overview
What the vial contains and what the material is, stated as specifications rather than as outcomes.
Cortagen supplied as a lyophilized powder in a sealed single-use vial containing 20 mg of material. Cortagen: molecular weight 446 g/mol. Released to a specification of >99% purity by HPLC. Soluble in bacteriostatic water. Supplied for in-vitro laboratory research only. Not a drug, food or supplement. Not for human or veterinary use.
Volta does not provide dosing, administration or protocol guidance for any material listed.
Cortagen 20mg specifications
Every field the product record holds. A field with no value is omitted rather than printed as a dash.
- Fill
- 20mg
- Form
- Lyophilized powder
- Molecular weight
- 446 g/mol
- Solubility
- Soluble in bacteriostatic water
- Shelf life
- 24 months from date of manufacture
Cortagen analytical verification and batch documentation
What the purity figure on this page is, who measured what, and which of the two a reader is looking at.
Specification. Every batch is released to >99% purity by HPLC. That is a threshold Volta sets, and it is a promise rather than a measurement.
Measurement. No certificate for this compound is published on the site yet. A batch-specific Certificate of Analysis is available on request, and the batch history lists the ones already published. Until one is published for this material, the figure above is the release specification and nothing on this page is a laboratory result.
Checking a certificate. The batch number printed beside the price is derived from the compound code and the vial strength; the lot number on a certificate is transcribed from the document. They are produced independently, so comparing them is a real check. How to read one is set out in the quality and testing methodology page.
For in-vitro laboratory research by qualified professionals only. Not for human or animal administration. Not a drug, food, cosmetic or dietary supplement. Not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, mitigate or prevent any disease.
Cortagen differs from Cardiogen by a single residue, leucine in place of arginine at the C-terminus, and that minimal difference is what the Khavinson framework holds responsible for tissue specificity. Reported research covers cortical neuron cultures and models of peripheral nerve injury, where effects on regeneration markers are the primary endpoint. The same caveats that apply across this peptide family apply here: the primary literature is largely Russian-language and independent replication outside the originating institute is sparse.
- Released to a >99% purity specification by HPLC
- Lyophilized powder, 20mg per vial
- Soluble in bacteriostatic water
- For laboratory research use only
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Related research materials
Cortagen 20mg: what is in the vial
The arithmetic specific to this 20mg vial, and what a milligram of Cortagen costs in each strength the catalogue carries. Concentrations are stated, not recommended.
Vial contents
20 mg
Lyophilised powder, reconstituted by the buyer
Cost of material
$2.95 / mg USD
CA$4.25 / mg in Canadian dollars
Concentration at each diluent volume
20 mg of dry material reaches these concentrations in the volumes below. A U-100 syringe marking is 0.01 ml by definition, so the last column is a unit conversion at each concentration rather than a quantity to use.
| Diluent added | Concentration | In 0.1 ml | Per U-100 unit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 ml | 20 mg/ml | 2 mg | 200 mcg |
| 2 ml | 10 mg/ml | 1 mg | 100 mcg |
| 3 ml | 6.67 mg/ml | 666.7 mcg | 66.7 mcg |
| 5 ml | 4 mg/ml | 400 mcg | 40 mcg |
For a volume this table does not list, the reconstitution calculator takes any vial size and diluent volume.
Cortagen purity and identity: how the figure is measured
What >99% (HPLC) means, the masses an identity check has to land on, and the entries that make a certificate of analysis checkable rather than decorative.
Stated purity
>99% (HPLC)
Area percent of the main peak by reversed-phase HPLC
Average mass
446 g/mol
The figure an identity check has to land on
Detection
214 nm
Identity by mass: the ions to expect
An electrospray source protonates the molecule rather than weighing it neutral, so a spectrum shows a series of charge states rather than the molecular weight itself. These are the m/z values 446 g/mol produces, and they are what a mass spectrum on a certificate for Cortagen has to match.
| Ion | Charge | Expected m/z |
|---|---|---|
| [M+H]+ | 1+ | 447.01 |
Why 214 nm
The sequence carries neither tryptophan nor tyrosine, so it has no absorbance at 280 nm. Detection is at 214 nm, on the peptide bond itself.
This matters when reading someone else's certificate: a purity figure quoted at 280 nm for a compound with no aromatic residue is measuring an absorbance the molecule does not have.
What a certificate for Cortagen should carry
A purity percentage on its own is not checkable. These are the entries that make one verifiable, and their absence is the most common weakness in a research-peptide certificate.
The chromatogram, not only the number
A stated area percent with no trace behind it cannot be read for the shape of the main peak or for what eluted beside it. The HPLC interpreter walks through what a trace shows.
Net peptide content, separately from gross mass
A lyophilised peptide is a salt, usually of trifluoroacetic or acetic acid, plus residual water. The vial's stated milligrams are gross; net peptide content is the fraction of that mass which is the molecule. The two differ by ten to twenty percent routinely, and only one of them is what the price is per milligram of. The net peptide content calculator converts between them.
The counterion, named
Which salt form the powder is in changes the net content and the pH the powder dissolves at. A certificate that never names it leaves both unknowable.
Water content, by a stated method
Loss on drying and Karl Fischer titration give different numbers, and a water figure with no method attached cannot be compared with anyone else's.
A laboratory and a report identifier
Without both, nothing on the document can be traced back to the laboratory that issued it. The red flag checker lists the rest.
Batch certificates are published as page images in the certificate library. The source PDFs are never served: a certificate is the most forgeable document a supplier publishes, and an editable copy carrying an accredited laboratory's letterhead is worth more to a counterfeiter than to a customer.
Cortagen storage and stability
Handling as the product record states it, followed by the degradation chemistry this particular sequence is and is not exposed to.
Handling
Store lyophilized peptide at -20°C in a dry, dark environment. Reconstitute in bacteriostatic water. Once reconstituted, store at 2-8°C and use within 30 days. Avoid repeated freeze-thaw cycles. Lyophilized powder is stable at room temperature for shipping and short-term storage.
What holds up
The degradation routes this compound is not exposed to, which is as specific a fact as the ones it is.
No oxidation-labile side chain
no Met, Cys or Trp in the sequenceThe three residues that oxidise readily are all absent, so the most common degradation route for a research peptide does not apply to this one. Air in the vial headspace is not the risk here that it is for a methionine-containing compound.
No deamidation site
no Asn or Gln in the sequenceDeamidation is the slow clock on most reconstituted peptides, and it needs an asparagine or a glutamine to run. This sequence has neither, so time in solution does not convert it to a one-dalton-heavier, more acidic relative.
No ultraviolet chromophore
no Trp or Tyr in the sequencePhoto-oxidation of peptides runs mainly through the aromatic side chains, and this sequence has none. Storing in the dark remains good practice for the excipients and the diluent, but the molecule itself has no strong absorber for ultraviolet light to act on.
Net hydrophilic
GRAVY -0.35A negative grand average of hydropathy means the side chains are on balance polar, which is the profile that stays in solution rather than associating. Freeze-thaw cycles are still worth avoiding, but this compound is not one of the hydrophobic sequences that aggregate irreversibly at an ice front.
Solubility window
calculated pI 2.9, net charge -2 at pH 7A peptide is least soluble within about a pH unit of its isoelectric point, where it carries no net charge. This one is far enough from neutral that it holds a real charge in an ordinary diluent, which is what keeps it dissolved.
Derived from the primary sequence AEDL, calculated isoelectric point 2.93, GRAVY -0.35. Check the arithmetic with the peptide property calculator and the freeze-thaw estimator.
Cortagen compared with BPC-157 and SS-31
Pharmacological class, half-life, evidence grade, competition status and cost per milligram, side by side.
| Compound | Class | Half-life | Evidence | WADA | Cheapest per mg |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cortagenthis page | Nootropic / Neuroprotective | Not established | DPreclinical / Uncontrolled Russian Studies | Not listed | $2.9520mg vial, out of stock |
| BPC-157 | Healing & Recovery | ~15 min IV (animal data); oral activity persists 24+ hours | CPhase I–II Clinical Trials | Prohibited | $4.6010mg vial |
| SS-31 | Metabolic / Mitochondrial | ~4 hours | AFDA Approved | Not listed | $4.9010mg vial |
| TB-500 | Healing & Recovery | <2 hours plasma half-life; tissue effects persist 2–3 days | DPreclinical | Prohibited | $6.9010mg vial |
| ARA-290 (Cibinetide) | Tissue Repair / Neuropathic Pain | ~2 minutes (plasma); tissue-level effects persist 24–72 hours | CPhase I–II Clinical Trials | Not listed | $4.9010mg vial, out of stock |
Evidence grades and half-lives are as recorded in the compound database, which cites its own sources on each compound page. Per-milligram prices are the cheapest strength each compound is currently listed at, in US dollars, and an out-of-stock note means that figure is not purchasable today. Cross-trial comparisons of efficacy are not comparisons: no head-to-head trial exists for most of these pairs.
Cortagen in Canada
Price in Canadian dollars, where the parcel ships from, and how long it takes.
Price in CAD
CA$85
The figure charged, not a converted estimate
Ships from
British Columbia
A domestic parcel, so no import clearance step
Transit
2 to 5 business days
After 1 to 2 business days of handling
Free standard shipping
Over CA$250
A bar set for this market, not converted from the US one
Cortagen 20mg ships from British Columbia to Canadian addresses, so the parcel never crosses a border. That removes the failure a Canadian buyer of research peptides is usually weighing: an inbound international shipment can be held for import clearance or seized, and a domestic one has no clearance step to be held at.
Shipping is quoted live against the delivery address at checkout rather than estimated here, and both the standard and express tiers show their price and transit window before a payment method is chosen. The figure the page shows is the figure the rail charges: all three settlement rails price shipping through the same functions the quote does.
The Canadian figure above is not a loose conversion. Each product's US dollar base is chosen so that the live conversion lands on the Canadian shelf price set for this market, and the result is pushed up to a whole dollar rather than left carrying cents, so one figure serves the page, the feed and every payment rail. See the shipping policy for carriers and cut-off times, and the legal position on research peptides in Canada for the regulatory picture.
Cortagen Mechanism of Action
Cortagen is the tetrapeptide Ala-Glu-Asp-Pro, AEDP. Its origin distinguishes it from most of the Khavinson family: it was identified as an active component of Cortexin, a preparation made by extracting peptides from bovine brain cortex. The synthetic tetrapeptide is the attempt to isolate what was doing the work in a complex animal-derived mixture and make it definable.
That lineage is the most interesting thing about it and the most important caveat. Organ extract preparations contain many peptides, and identifying one of them as the primary active component is a difficult inference. Evidence gathered with Cortexin is evidence about a mixture; evidence gathered with synthetic AEDP is evidence about a defined molecule. The two are routinely conflated, and they support different conclusions.
The proposed mechanism is the family's: transporter-mediated uptake into the cell, entry to the nucleus, and direct interaction with DNA and histone proteins to alter transcription of particular genes. The proline in the fourth position is what supposedly directs it toward neural tissue, under the same sequence-complementarity hypothesis that assigns AEDR to cardiac tissue and AEDG to the pineal gland.
Origin in an organ extract
Identified as an active component of Cortexin, a peptide preparation extracted from bovine brain cortex, then made synthetically as a defined single molecule.
Transporter-mediated uptake
Reported carriage into cells by POT family peptide transporters and L-type amino acid transporters rather than passive diffusion.
Nuclear entry
The peptide is proposed to reach the nucleus, without which the transcriptional model cannot operate.
DNA and histone interaction
Proposed direct engagement with DNA sequences and histone proteins, altering chromatin accessibility and gene transcription.
Proline as the tissue determinant
Under the family hypothesis, the fourth residue sets DNA complementarity. Proline is held to direct AEDP toward neural tissue, which is a claim about a single residue.
Cortagen and Khavinson Peptide Research Findings
As with the rest of this family, most published work addresses the class rather than AEDP specifically. Each entry names the peptide actually studied.
Comparative effects of KE and AED peptides on human fibroblasts
A study comparing KE and AED peptides on the functional activity of human skin fibroblasts is among the few designed to distinguish family members rather than treating them as equivalent, which is the design the specificity hypothesis requires.
In vitroShort peptides regulate gene expression and protein synthesis
Work reported that the KE peptide regulates SIRT1, PARP1 and PARP2 gene expression and protein synthesis in human mesenchymal cells, the clearest demonstration of the transcriptional mechanism claimed for this family. Studied with KE, not AEDP.
In vitroTransport mechanism characterised for the class
A study of ultrashort peptide transport using POT and LAT carriers addressed how these molecules enter cells, which is the most concrete and testable part of the mechanistic account.
In vitroEffects on signalling molecules in organotypic neural culture
Short peptides were reported to alter expression of signalling molecules in organotypic pineal cell cultures, a neural tissue system that preserves architecture better than dissociated cells, which is the closest class evidence to this peptide's assigned tissue.
In vitroEffects on interleukin-2 expression in hypothalamic structures
Short peptides were reported to alter interleukin-2 messenger RNA synthesis in rat hypothalamic structures, extending the transcriptional claims into brain tissue and into immune signalling at once.
Rodent modelPeptide markers of ageing examined alongside the family
A review examining peptides together with CCL11 and HMGB1 as molecular markers of ageing set out the framework in which this group positions its compounds, combining literature review with the group's own data.
ObservationalCortagen Molecular Information
| Sequence | Ala-Glu-Asp-Pro |
| Single-letter Code | AEDP |
| Length | 4 amino acids |
| Molecular Formula | C17H26N4O9 |
| Molecular Weight | 430.4 g/mol, computed from the sequence |
| Family | Khavinson ultrashort peptide bioregulators |
| Shared Core | Ala-Glu-Asp, as in cardiogen (AEDR) and epithalon (AEDG) |
| Original Source | Identified as an active component of Cortexin, a bovine brain cortex peptide extract |
| Assigned Tissue | Neural, on the sequence-specificity hypothesis rather than direct demonstration |
| Appearance | White lyophilised powder |
Cortexin and Cortagen Are Not the Same Thing
Cortexin is a preparation of peptides extracted from bovine brain cortex, used clinically in Russia and some neighbouring countries. Cortagen is a single synthetic tetrapeptide identified as one of its active components. These are different products and their evidence bases are not interchangeable.
The distinction matters in both directions. Clinical experience with Cortexin is experience with a complex, incompletely characterised mixture from an animal source, so it cannot establish what a single defined peptide does. Conversely, a cell culture result with synthetic AEDP says nothing about the extract, which contains a great deal else.
Product descriptions in this market frequently borrow the clinical history of the extract to support the synthetic peptide. That is the specific error worth watching for here, and it is analogous to the confusion between epithalon and epithalamin elsewhere in this catalogue: a defined molecule and the organ extract it came from, treated as one thing.
The Same Single-Residue Specificity Claim
Cortagen differs from cardiogen by one residue, proline instead of arginine, and from epithalon by one residue, proline instead of glycine. The family's premise is that this difference redirects the peptide to a different tissue by changing its complementarity to DNA sequences.
That premise is what makes the family a coherent research programme rather than an arbitrary set of short peptides, and it is also the part with the least direct support at the level of individual members. The comparative study of KE against AED peptides on the same cell type is the right shape of experiment for testing it, and there are few of those.
Anyone reading about this compound should notice how often evidence generated with a different family member is offered in support of it. Under the specificity hypothesis, that evidence should not transfer.
Regulatory Position and the Limits of the Evidence
Cortexin has regulatory approval in Russia and some neighbouring states. Cortagen as a synthetic single peptide has no marketing authorisation in any Western jurisdiction, and no controlled human efficacy trial for the synthetic peptide appears in the indexed literature.
The published work is genuine peer-reviewed pharmacology, mostly in Russian-language journals and largely from one institute and its collaborators, which is a real limitation on independent replication rather than a reason to dismiss it.
Material supplied for research is for in-vitro laboratory use only. Nothing here is guidance for use in humans or animals, and the clinical history of the extract is not evidence for the peptide.
Handling and Analytical Considerations
At 430 daltons this is among the smallest molecules in the catalogue, and it is very polar: glutamate and aspartate side chains give it two carboxylates alongside the free terminal groups. Reversed-phase retention is correspondingly weak, and a chromatographic method built for larger peptides may elute it close to the void volume where impurities are hardest to resolve.
The proline introduces cis-trans isomerism, which can broaden or split peaks for a peptide this short more visibly than it would for a longer sequence where one residue matters less. A split peak here should not be read as an impurity without considering that.
Cortagen Research FAQ
Cortagen in Summary
Cortagen is the tetrapeptide AEDP, identified as an active component of the bovine brain cortex extract Cortexin and then made synthetically. The extract and the peptide are different products whose evidence does not transfer in either direction.
Its mechanism is the family's proposal of transporter-mediated uptake and direct DNA interaction, and its assignment to neural tissue rests on a single residue difference from cardiogen and epithalon. Most published evidence concerns the family rather than AEDP.
Scientific References
Primary literature and public trial registries only. No supplier or retailer pages are cited.
- 1Comparison of the Effects of KE and AED Peptides on Functional Activity of Human Skin FibroblastsFridman NV, Linkova NS, et al. · Bulletin of Experimental Biology and Medicine · 2020
- 2KE peptide regulates SIRT1, PARP1, PARP2 gene expression and protein synthesis in human mesenchymal cellsKhavinson VK, Linkova NS, et al. · Advances in Gerontology · 2023
- 3Transport of Biologically Active Ultrashort Peptides Using POT and LAT CarriersKhavinson V, Linkova N, Dyatlova A, et al. · International Journal of Molecular Sciences · 2022
- 4Effect of short peptides on expression of signaling molecules in organotypic pineal cell culturesKhavinson VKh, Linkova NS, et al. · Bulletin of Experimental Biology and Medicine · 2011
- 5Synthesis of IL-2 mRNA in cells of rat hypothalamic structures after injection of short peptidesKazakova TB, Barabanova SV, et al. · Bulletin of Experimental Biology and Medicine · 2005
- 6Peptides and CCL11 and HMGB1 as molecular markers of aging: literature review and own dataKhavinson VKh, Kuznik BI, et al. · Advances in Gerontology · 2014
Disclaimer
All articles and product information provided on this website are for informational and educational purposes only. The products offered on this website are furnished for in-vitro studies only. These products are not medicines or drugs and have not been approved by the FDA to prevent, treat or cure any medical condition, ailment or disease.
Cortagen 20mg: frequently asked questions
Answered from the product record and the certificate file. Volta does not answer questions about administration, dosing or protocols.
What is supplied in a 20 mg vial of Cortagen?
A sealed single-use vial containing 20 mg of Cortagen as a lyophilized powder. Soluble in bacteriostatic water. No diluent, syringe or other supply is included.
Is Cortagen supplied for human use?
No. For in-vitro laboratory research by qualified professionals only. Not for human or animal administration. Not a drug, food, cosmetic or dietary supplement. Not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, mitigate or prevent any disease. Volta does not provide dosing, administration or protocol guidance for any material listed.
What purity is this Cortagen released to?
>99% by HPLC. That figure is a release specification, a threshold Volta sets for every batch, and it is not the same kind of statement as a purity measured by a named laboratory for a named lot.
Is there a certificate of analysis for this Cortagen vial?
A batch-specific Certificate of Analysis is available for this product on request. It is not published on the site yet: the batch history on the quality page lists the certificates already published, and this vial is covered by the release specification until its own is added there.
How is Cortagen identified?
molecular weight 446 g/mol. Those identifiers are what an incoming-goods check compares a certificate against, and they are stated here so the comparison can be made before ordering.
How should Cortagen be stored before reconstitution?
Store lyophilized peptide at -20°C in a dry, dark environment. Reconstitute in bacteriostatic water. Once reconstituted, store at 2-8°C and use within 30 days. Avoid repeated freeze-thaw cycles. Lyophilized powder is stable at room temperature for shipping and short-term storage.
Where does this ship from?
British Columbia, Canada. Canadian orders are domestic, so they clear no customs and pay no import duty. International orders ship from the same facility.
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