Explore Melanotan-I (afamelanotide) dosage trends, reconstitution volumes, and vial size patterns from anonymized WPA peptide calculator sessions.
Melanotan-I (afamelanotide) is a potent, MC1-selective alpha-MSH analog approved in implant form as SCENESSE for the prevention of phototoxicity in adults with erythropoietic protoporphyria (EPP). It shares a research origin with Melanotan II at the University of Arizona but followed a fundamentally different commercial path. This data shows the dose amounts, vial sizes, and diluent volumes researchers most commonly select when working with Melanotan-I.
Melanotan-I — the international nonproprietary name afamelanotide — is a synthetic linear [Nle4, D-Phe7]-alpha-MSH analog with the same University of Arizona origin (the Hadley and Hruby structure-activity work of the 1980s) as the cyclic heptapeptide Melanotan II. The two molecules diverge sharply at the receptor-selectivity level: Melanotan-I is substantially more MC1-receptor-selective, driving melanin synthesis in skin melanocytes with much less of the MC3/MC4-mediated central-nervous-system effects (libido, appetite suppression, spontaneous erections, nausea, flushing) that characterize MT-2. That cleaner side-effect profile is what allowed afamelanotide to follow a regulated clinical-development path where MT-2 could not.
Melanotan-I (afamelanotide) is a 13-amino-acid analog of α-MSH most often sourced for skin-pigmentation and photoprotection research. Its pharmaceutical form, Scenesse, is FDA- and EMA-approved as an implant for a rare light-sensitivity disorder. **It is pharmacologically distinct from Melanotan II** — see the standalone [Melanotan II entry](/vendors/melanotan-ii). Research-grade material ships as a lyophilized powder you reconstitute with bacteriostatic water.
Afamelanotide is a substantially MC1R-selective agonist (it activates all five melanocortin receptors but with the strongest signalling at MC1R), which drives eumelanin synthesis in skin melanocytes and provides photoprotection by absorbing visible-light wavelengths that trigger phototoxic reactions in EPP patients. The increased eumelanin acts as a photoprotectant by filtering the violet-blue wavelengths (400–700 nm) that drive protoporphyrin-IX-mediated phototoxic injury.
The pivotal EPP development program (Langendonk et al. NEJM 2015) and the post-approval CUV039 confirmatory program established that the implantable controlled-release afamelanotide (16 mg implant, every 60 days) substantially increases sun-exposure tolerance and reduces phototoxic-reaction frequency in EPP patients. Active research includes vitiligo (Phase 2 program in combination with narrow-band UVB), Hailey-Hailey disease, and other photoprotection indications.
Melanotan-I has a reported half-life of ~1 hour, and the dose intervals researchers model most often fall around once daily during loading. The free peptide (afamelanotide) clears within hours, so daily injections act per-dose with little buildup — the slow-release implant formulation behaves very differently. It is catalogued under Skin Peptides on WPA.
190 Melanotan-I reconstitution calculations have been logged by the WPA community. The most common dose entered is 250mcg (68 calculations). The most common bacteriostatic water volume is 2mL. The most popular vial size is 10mg (180 sessions). The most common dosing frequency is daily (7x/week) (15 logged protocols), followed by once weekly (11).
These figures come from anonymized WPA peptide calculator sessions.
All figures shown are aggregated from anonymized calculator inputs and are provided strictly for independent laboratory research and educational purposes. They are community usage statistics — not dosing recommendations, and not medical advice.