Compare · Melanocortin
Afamelanotide vs PT-141
Both are melanocortin compounds. Here's how they line up on the evidence — graded the same way.
| Afamelanotide | PT-141 | |
|---|---|---|
| Evidence | Preliminary human | Strong human |
| Class | Melanocortin | Melanocortin |
| Summary | Afamelanotide is an FDA- and EMA-approved implant for a rare light-sensitivity disease. The trial evidence is real but modest, and it is not the gray-market tanning drug. | An FDA-approved melanocortin agonist for low sexual desire in premenopausal women. Two real Phase 3 trials show a small, genuine benefit for that one use; almost everything else people take it for is unstudied. |
| Full profile → | Full profile → |
Afamelanotide
Afamelanotide is one of the few compounds in the broad "melanotan" family that is an actual approved medicine rather than a gray-market product. Sold as Scenesse, it is a clinician-implanted drug for a rare inherited light-sensitivity disease. That distinction matters: most of what people read…
PT-141
PT-141 (bremelanotide) is one of the few compounds discussed in this space that is actually an FDA-approved drug, sold as Vyleesi. That approval is narrow, and most of the ways people use PT-141 fall well outside it. The evidence behind the approved use is real and well-run; the evidence behind…