What is Davunetide?

An eight-amino-acid fragment of the ADNP protein (NAPVSIPQ) that stabilizes microtubules; tested in Alzheimer's, schizophrenia and PSP.

Davunetide in the library · · Human Trials · What are peptides?

4 registered trials · 9 indexed papers · 1 human / 11 animal studies

From the PeptideWhiz library entry. "As described" sections summarize claims made in the sources; they are not PeptideWhiz endorsements.

What it is

Davunetide is described as an intranasal peptide derived from activity-dependent neuroprotective protein (ADNP).

Mechanism (as described)

It is described as protecting microtubules and tau function inside neurons.

Evidence (as described)

A phase 2/3 trial in progressive supranuclear palsy did not meet its endpoints (reviewed by Koros et al., 2016). Later analyses reported sex-dependent memory benefit in prodromal Alzheimer's (Gozes et al., 2024).

Status

Investigational.

Registered human trials (4)

Trial	Phase	Status	Year	Enrolled
Davunetide (AL-108) in Predicted Tauopathies - Pilot Study	Phase 1	completed	2010	12
Study to Evaluate the Safety and Efficacy of Davunetide for the Treatment of Progressive Supranuclear Palsy	Phase 2/Phase 3	completed	2010	313
Safety, Tolerability and Efficacy Study to Evaluate Subjects With Mild Cognitive Impairment	Phase 2	completed	2007	144
A Multicenter Study of NAP (AL-108) in Schizophrenia	Phase 2	completed	2007	63

Peer-reviewed studies (9)

Paper	Authors	Journal	Year	Type
Systemic davunetide provides sex-specific neuroprotection during Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting (CABG)	Gozes I et al.	Translational psychiatry	2025	Randomized Controlled Trial
Davunetide sex-dependently boosts memory in prodromal Alzheimer's disease	Gozes I et al.	Translational psychiatry	2024	Randomized Controlled Trial
Longitudinal magnetic resonance imaging in progressive supranuclear palsy: A new combined score for clinical trials	Höglinger GU et al.	Movement disorders : official journal of the Movement Disorder Society	2017	Randomized Controlled Trial
Minimal clinically important worsening on the progressive supranuclear Palsy Rating Scale	Hewer S et al.	Movement disorders : official journal of the Movement Disorder Society	2016	Randomized Controlled Trial
Clinical correlates of longitudinal brain atrophy in progressive supranuclear palsy	Tsai RM et al.	Parkinsonism & related disorders	2016	Clinical Trial, Phase III
Davunetide in patients with progressive supranuclear palsy: a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase 2/3 trial	Boxer AL et al.	The Lancet. Neurology	2014	Randomized Controlled Trial
A double-blind, placebo-controlled, ascending-dose, randomized study to evaluate the safety, tolerability and effects on cognition of AL-108 after 12 weeks of intranasal administration in subjects with mild cognitive impairment	Morimoto BH et al.	Dementia and geriatric cognitive disorders	2013	Randomized Controlled Trial
Effects of davunetide on N-acetylaspartate and choline in dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in patients with schizophrenia	Jarskog LF et al.	Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology	2013	Randomized Controlled Trial
Effect of the neuroprotective peptide davunetide (AL-108) on cognition and functional capacity in schizophrenia	Javitt DC et al.	Schizophrenia research	2012	Randomized Controlled Trial

More cited research

The role of vasoactive intestinal peptide in neuroprotection: Professor Illana Gozes is interviewed by Emma Quigley (2007, human observational)
VIP/PACAP-Based Drug Development: The ADNP/NAP-Derived Mirror Peptides SKIP and D-SKIP Exhibit Distinctive in vivo and in silico Effects (2019, animal)
Prenatal treatment prevents learning deficit in Down syndrome model (2012, animal)
Prevention of learning deficit in a Down syndrome model (2011, animal)
Activity-dependent neuroprotective protein (ADNP) expression in the amyloid precursor protein/presenilin 1 mouse model of Alzheimer's disease (2010, animal)

Conditions researched

Related compounds

FAQ

What is Davunetide?

An eight-amino-acid fragment of the ADNP protein (NAPVSIPQ) that stabilizes microtubules; tested in Alzheimer's, schizophrenia and PSP.

How many registered human trials study Davunetide?

The PeptideWhiz trial index lists 4 registered trials for Davunetide, the most recent from 2010.

How much published research exists on Davunetide?

The PeptideWhiz paper index links 9 PubMed papers to Davunetide; by study type, 1 human and 11 animal studies.

Which conditions is Davunetide researched for?

Cognition, focus & brain performance, Dementia, Alzheimer's & cognitive decline, Parkinson's disease.

Research and education only. Not medical advice. No dosing guidance. Data: ClinicalTrials.gov registry and PubMed via the PeptideWhiz index (204,289 studies).