Skip to content
Limited human dataFDA 503A Category 3

ARA-290

Also known as: Cibinetide · ARA 290 · ARA290 · pHBSP · Pyroglutamate helix B surface peptide

Updated 33 sources

An 11-amino-acid peptide cut from the helix-B face of erythropoietin (EPO). It switches on EPO's repair and anti-inflammatory signal without making red blood cells. Unusually for a research peptide, it has small human Phase 2 trials for nerve pain in sarcoidosis and diabetes, mostly at 4 mg a day for 28 days. It never reached Phase 3.
Calculate with ARA-290Dosage chart

Quick facts

Half-life
  • About 2 minutes in plasma; the biological effects last much longer. Plasma enzymes trim it quickly.
Routes
  • Subcutaneous injection
  • Intravenous (IV)
Forms
  • Vial (powder)
Reported dose ranges
  • 1 to 8 mg (subcutaneous injection)
  • 2 mg (intravenous (iv))
Vial sizes
  • 10 mg, 16 mg, 5 mg, 50 mg
Chemistry
  • 1,257.3 g/mol · C51H84N16O21 · CAS 1208243-50-8
FDA status
  • FDA 503A Category 3
WADA
  • Prohibited

What people use ARA-290 for

  • Small-fiber neuropathy: burning nerve pain and numbness in sarcoidosis and diabetes, the trial indication
  • General nerve protection and recovery after nerve injury, as part of healing stacks
  • Inflammation and tissue repair in general, a marketing claim with no human trials
  • Mood and cognition, tested once in healthy volunteers without a clear effect

How it is thought to work. Activates the innate repair receptor, a pairing of the EPO receptor with the beta-common receptor (CD131) that switches on tissue protection and calms inflammation. It does not activate the EPO receptor pair that drives red blood cell production. Preclinical work also links its pain effect to the TRPV1 channel on small nerve fibers.

ARA-290 dosing

10 protocols from studies, guides and community reports, grouped by goal. Tap a source badge to see where a number came from.

Sarcoidosis small-fiber neuropathy2

Sarcoidosis small-fiber neuropathy (dose-ranging trial)

Amount
1 to 8 mg
How often
Once daily, arms of 1, 4 or 8 mg
Route
SubQ, vial (powder)
Cycle
28 consecutive days
Timing and details

Loading…

Sarcoidosis small-fiber neuropathy (IV pilot)

Amount
2 mg
How often
Three times a week by IV
Route
Intravenous (IV)
Cycle
4 weeks
Timing and details

Loading…

Other protocols: injected7

Painful diabetic neuropathy (trial dose)

Amount
4 mg
How often
Once daily, self-injected
Route
SubQ, vial (powder)
Cycle
28 days, then one month of follow-up off drug
Timing and details

Loading…

Diabetic macular edema (12-week trial)

Amount
4 mg
How often
Once daily, self-injected
Route
SubQ, vial (powder)
Cycle
12 weeks, the longest human course
Timing and details

Loading…

Nerve repair (community)

Amount
1 to 4 mg
How often
Once daily
Route
SubQ, vial (powder)
Cycle
About 4 weeks, matching the trial blocks
Timing and details

Loading…

Neuropathy (community standard)

Amount
2 to 4 mg
How often
Once daily
Route
SubQ, vial (powder)
Cycle
28 to 84 days
Timing and details

Loading…

General nerve protection (community low dose)

Amount
1 to 2 mg
How often
Once daily
Route
SubQ, vial (powder)
Cycle
4 to 8 weeks
Timing and details

Loading…

Daily range (guide)

Amount
1 to 4 mg
How often
Once daily
Route
SubQ, vial (powder)

Three times weekly (guide)

Amount
2 mg
How often
Monday, Wednesday and Friday
Route
SubQ, vial (powder)
Timing and details

Loading…

Other protocols: intravenous (iv)1

Mood and emotion processing (single dose, healthy volunteers)

Amount
2 mg
How often
One dose
Route
Intravenous (IV)
Timing and details

Loading…

Doses shown are what sources report, labelled by origin. Not medical advice.

Full ARA-290 dosage guideEvery titration step in syringe units, missed doses and how to mix.

Vial strengths and syringe units

Every ARA-290 vial size with the water volumes sources use. Units are what to draw on a U-100 insulin syringe, worked out exactly.
ARA-290: concentration and U-100 syringe units for each vial size and water volume
WaterStrength1 mgdose, units2 mgdose, units4 mgdose, units
5 mg vial
2 mLCompetitor guide2.5 mg/mL400.4 mL800.8 mL1601.6 mL2 draws
10 mg vial
2 mLCompetitor guide5 mg/mL200.2 mL400.4 mL800.8 mL
16 mg vial
2 mLCompetitor guide8 mg/mL12.50.125 mL250.25 mL500.5 mL
All 4 vial sizes on the dosage chart (1 more)
Units are on a U-100 insulin syringe (100 units = 1 mL). U-50 and U-30 barrels read the same units.† Water volume sourced for a different vial size. The math is exact either way.Water volumes from

Doses shown are what sources report, labelled by origin. Not medical advice.

Calculate with this peptideYour vial, your water, your dose: ARA-290 in syringe units, with the math shown.

ARA-290 side effects

What trials and labels report, kept apart from what users and guides report. Frequencies are worded as each source states them.

Reported by users and guides5

From community reports and dosing guides. Not measured rates.

  • Injection-site redness or discomfort

    The most commonly reported effect; mild and short-lived

    How people manage it

    • Rotate sites and inject slowly, as reports commonly describe.

  • Headache

    Occasional, at low frequency; one guide says at rates similar to placebo

  • Mild fatigue in the first days

    Rare

  • Mild flu-like feeling

    Rare and very mild, more common in the first days (one guide)

  • Injection-site irritation (app logs)

    Logged 4 times across 6 app reports

All 5 ARA-290 side effects and how people manage themEvery management tip, who should not use it, and side-effect questions.

Who should avoid it

  • Pregnancy or breastfeedingCondition

    No safety data; avoided in the trials.

  • Active cancerCondition

    Tissue-repair signalling from an EPO-derived peptide could in theory affect tumors; not studied.

  • Blood disorders such as myeloproliferative conditionsCondition

    A conservative precaution given its EPO lineage.

  • Serious active infectionCondition

    Blunting inflammation during sepsis or serious infection may be counterproductive (one guide).

Storage

Powder (before mixing)

Temperature
-20 °C

Freezer at -20 C for long-term storage, out of light. One guide says room temperature or the fridge is fine.

Mixed vial

Temperature
2 to 8 °C
Use within
7 to 30 days

Fridge at 2 to 8 C, out of light. Guides disagree on how long: 7 days, about 14 days, 28 days or 30 days. Mix only what you will use in your chosen window.

Mixed with: Bacteriostatic water

Mixing. ARA-290 is dosed in milligrams, so vials run out fast: at 4 mg a day a 16 mg vial gives about 4 doses. The mixed solution should be clear and colourless; discard it if cloudy.

Stacks people report

Combinations from guides and community posts, with the reason given.
  • BPC-157

    Nerve repair through the innate repair receptor plus BPC-157 for broader tissue healing. A niche community pairing; one guide says it is widely stacked with no reported interactions.

  • Semax

    A niche cognitive pairing: ARA-290 through the innate repair receptor, Semax through BDNF.

  • TB-500

    Listed with GHK-Cu, KPV and thymosin alpha-1 as commonly stacked in the community, with different targets and no documented interactions.

  • KPV

    Listed as a common community stack partner with no documented interactions.

  • Retatrutide

    The most common co-logged compound among PeptIQ app users (3 of 6 reports). Usage data, not a rationale.

Compare ARA-290

Evidence and legal status

Evidence: limited human data

Small human Phase 2 trials, most run or sponsored by the developer: sarcoidosis small-fiber neuropathy (IV pilot n=22; placebo-controlled subQ trial; dose-ranging Phase 2b n=64 where only 4 mg hit the primary endpoint), type 2 diabetes with neuropathy (4 mg, 28 days), diabetic macular edema (n=9, no visual benefit) and a healthy-volunteer mood probe (n=36). No Phase 3, no long-term safety data.

FDA and WADA

FDA 503A Category 3

Nominated for compounding, but FDA says the nomination had too little information to evaluate.

Not FDA approved; it never reached Phase 3. FDA's orphan database lists four designations, none approved: kidney transplant graft function (2009), neuropathic pain in sarcoidosis (2011), sarcoidosis and islet transplantation (2016). FDA lists it in 503A Category 3 (nominated without adequate support), so it is not on the compounding bulks list. EU orphan designation for sarcoidosis (2013).

WADA 2026 section S2.1.5 bans innate repair receptor agonists at all times, and ARA-290 is one by design. A WADA-accredited lab paper names it among peptides prohibited in sports. Guides also report an FDA Fast Track designation; no FDA page was found to confirm it.

WADA: Prohibited

ARA-290 questions

What is ARA-290?

ARA-290 (cibinetide) is an 11-amino-acid peptide modelled on part of erythropoietin (EPO). It switches on the innate repair receptor, which calms inflammation and supports tissue repair, without making red blood cells the way EPO does.

What is ARA-290 used for?

Its trials covered small-fiber neuropathy in sarcoidosis and type 2 diabetes: nerve pain, nerve fiber loss and related symptoms. Community use stretches to general nerve protection and healing stacks, which no trial has tested.

What is the ARA-290 dosage per day?

Human trials gave 1 to 8 mg under the skin once a day, and 4 mg was the most tested dose, usually for 28 days. Community users mostly copy that at 1 to 4 mg a day.

Is a higher dose better?

Not in the data. In the 64-person sarcoidosis trial only the 4 mg arm significantly increased corneal nerve fiber area; 1 mg and 8 mg did not.

How do you reconstitute ARA-290?

A common setup is a 16 mg vial with 2 mL of bacteriostatic water, giving 8 mg/mL, so 4 mg is 50 units on a U-100 syringe. A 10 mg vial with 2 mL gives 5 mg/mL, so 4 mg is 80 units. Use the calculator for your own vial.

Daily or three times a week?

Every subcutaneous trial dosed once a day. The only three-times-weekly schedule in the trials was an early IV pilot at 2 mg. One guide suggests 2 mg three times weekly by injection, but it cites no trial for it.

What is the half-life of ARA-290?

About 2 minutes in plasma. Researchers argue its effect comes from the signalling it triggers, which outlasts the peptide, and once-daily dosing was what worked in trials.

What are the side effects of ARA-290?

Guides summarising the trials report mostly mild, short-lived injection-site reactions and occasional headache. The trials themselves raised no safety concerns, but they were small and lasted 4 to 12 weeks, so long-term safety is unknown.

Does ARA-290 raise red blood cells like EPO?

It was engineered not to. It binds the repair receptor and not the EPO receptor pair that drives red cell production. Guides report no rise in hemoglobin or hematocrit in the trials.

How long does ARA-290 take to work?

Trials measured nerve changes after 28 days of daily dosing. In the diabetes trial, HbA1c and lipid gains held through a month of follow-up off the drug.

Is ARA-290 FDA approved?

No. It stalled after Phase 2. FDA has granted it four orphan designations, including neuropathic pain in sarcoidosis, none approved. FDA lists cibinetide (ARA-290) in 503A Category 3 (nominated without adequate support), so it is not on the list of bulk substances for compounding. It also holds EU orphan designation for sarcoidosis.

Is ARA-290 banned in sport?

Yes. The WADA 2026 list bans innate repair receptor agonists at all times (section S2.1.5), and ARA-290 is one by design. Anti-doping labs already test for it.

How long does a mixed vial last?

Guides disagree: 7 days, about 14 days, 28 days or 30 days in the fridge. Because ARA-290 is dosed in milligrams, most vials are used up within a week at trial doses anyway.

Are there human studies on ARA-290?

Yes, more than most research peptides: a 22-person IV pilot and a placebo-controlled subQ trial in sarcoidosis, a 64-person dose-ranging Phase 2b, a type 2 diabetes Phase 2, a 9-person macular edema study and a 36-person healthy-volunteer study. All are small and most were run by the developer.

ARA-290 vs BPC-157: which is better for nerves?

For nerve endpoints ARA-290 has the human data: Phase 2 trials on nerve pain and regrowth. BPC-157 is a broader repair peptide backed mostly by animal studies. They do different jobs.

Ask about ARA-290

Answers come from this site's pages only, with a link to each source.

Sources

33 sources, each checked by date. Record updated Oct 24, 2026. Numbers are restated in our own words and labelled by where they came from.

Reference work2

  1. Cibinetide (CID 91810664) computed propertiesPubChem · checked Oct 24, 2026
  2. CibinetideWikipedia · checked Oct 24, 2026

Vendor guide2

  1. ARA-290 10 mg product pageVendor product page · checked Oct 24, 2026
  2. ARA-290 (16 mg) product pageVendor product page · checked Oct 24, 2026

Competitor guide6

  1. ARA-290 peptide protocol guidepeptidedosingprotocols.com · checked Oct 24, 2026
  2. ARA-290 (10 mg vial) dosage protocolpeptidedosages.com · checked Oct 24, 2026
  3. Ara 290 protocol guidepathtopeptides.com · checked Oct 24, 2026

Community-reported2

  1. ARA-290 community protocols and anecdotal reportspeptideprotocolwiki.com, via a competitor guide · checked Oct 24, 2026
  2. ARA-290 compound page, app community datapeptiq.io, via a competitor guide · checked Oct 24, 2026