Melanotan 1 is the research name for afamelanotide, a 13-amino-acid alpha-MSH analogue. It has an FDA label as a 16 mg implant for erythropoietic protoporphyria.

What is the difference between melanotan 1 and melanotan 2?

Afamelanotide is a 13-amino-acid peptide with a label. Melanotan II is a shorter cyclic peptide with one small pilot study, listed for research use only.

Is melanotan 1 FDA approved?

Afamelanotide, the same peptide, is FDA approved as a subcutaneous implant given every 2 months by a health care professional, for one rare light-sensitivity condition.

Can afamelanotide be converted to syringe units?

No. The labeled product is a solid 16 mg implant with no liquid volume, so there is no concentration to divide.

Melanotan 1 vs Melanotan 2: Label and Studies

What are melanotan 1 and melanotan 2?

Afamelanotide is a synthetic 13-amino-acid peptide that activates the melanocortin 1 receptor, MC1-R, the receptor that drives the skin pigment eumelanin [1]. Its sequence carries norleucine at position 4 and D-phenylalanine at position 7 in place of the natural residues of alpha-MSH, and a 2026 analytical paper states plainly that afamelanotide is also known as melanotan-1 [3].

Melanotan II is a cyclic seven-amino-acid analogue of alpha-MSH, a different and shorter molecule [4]. PinPoint's library lists it as research use only, with a 1 hour half-life input marked as estimated, and the Melanotan II guide covers it in full [5]. The two share a hormone family and a naming history, and little else that can be measured.

What do the label and the studies report for each?

The afamelanotide label is for adults with a history of phototoxic reactions from erythropoietic protoporphyria, a rare condition in which light exposure causes severe pain, and its stated aim is more light exposure without pain [1][2]. A health care professional inserts one implant under the skin above the hip every 2 months. In healthy adults the label reports a median peak at 36 hours and an apparent half-life of about 15 hours from the controlled-release implant.

The supporting 2015 paper ran two randomised studies, 74 patients in Europe and 94 in the US, with an implant or placebo every 60 days [2]. In the US study, median time in direct sunlight without pain at 6 months was 69.4 hours against 40.8 hours on placebo. Adverse events were mostly mild.

Melanotan II rests on a 1996 pilot study of three healthy men given subcutaneous melanotan II or saline on alternating days [4]. Two of the three showed more skin pigment, and the study recorded nausea, sleepiness, yawning, stretching and spontaneous erections. That is the whole human evidence the library cites, which is why its timing input is labeled an estimate [5].

Library records for each compound
Compound	Status	Half-life input	Package example
Afamelanotide (melanotan 1)	FDA approved implant; not in library	Label: about 15 h	Label: 16 mg implant
Melanotan II	Research use only, estimated model data	1 h	10 mg (vendor listing)

How is each one measured and converted?

Afamelanotide has nothing to convert. The labeled product is a solid, bioresorbable rod about 1.7 cm long holding 16 mg, so there is no liquid volume, no mg/mL and no syringe unit [1]. The figure shows it as an implant for that reason.

Melanotan II has a 10 mg package example in the library, from a vendor listing [5]. In a hypothetical 2 mL of liquid that is 5 mg/mL, and 10 units on a U-100 syringe, 0.1 mL, holds 0.5 mg [6]. The 2 mL is an assumed volume for the arithmetic and the 10 units a marker, not an amount for anyone. A Melanotan II calculator repeats the division for any labeled vial and volume.

afamelanotide: 16 mg solid implant, no mL, no units

Melanotan II: 10 mg ÷ 2 mL = 5 mg/mL (hypothetical volume)

10 units = 0.1 mL × 5 mg/mL = 0.5 mg

Arithmetic illustration from stated inputs. Not a dose or a measured level.

How do people log melanotan 1 or melanotan 2 in PinPoint?

Melanotan II is in PinPoint's library, so an entry records the compound, dose, site and pain level, and vial setup turns a vial size and water volume into concentration and syringe units [7][5]. Once-daily, every-other-day or custom schedules carry reminders at the time set, and site rotation suggests where to inject next [7].

Afamelanotide has no library entry [5]. The two are never one record: a Melanotan II log describes Melanotan II alone, and the Home curve models it from its own estimated 1 hour input, as a mathematical visualization that does not account for individual variation [7]. Side effects with severity ratings and daily notes attach to dated entries, which matters for a compound whose only cited human study recorded nausea, sleepiness and yawning [7][4].

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What do people ask about melanotan 1 and melanotan 2?

What is melanotan 1?: Melanotan 1 is the research name for afamelanotide, a 13-amino-acid alpha-MSH analogue. It has an FDA label as a 16 mg implant for erythropoietic protoporphyria.
What is the difference between melanotan 1 and melanotan 2?: Afamelanotide is a 13-amino-acid peptide with a label. Melanotan II is a shorter cyclic peptide with one small pilot study, listed for research use only.
Is melanotan 1 FDA approved?: Afamelanotide, the same peptide, is FDA approved as a subcutaneous implant given every 2 months by a health care professional, for one rare light-sensitivity condition.
Can afamelanotide be converted to syringe units?: No. The labeled product is a solid 16 mg implant with no liquid volume, so there is no concentration to divide.

Where do these facts come from?

Sources are listed by kind: labels first, then peer-reviewed papers, then PinPoint's own library, arithmetic and app description. Library values were retrieved from the PinPoint application on 5 October 2026; vendor listings support package sizes only.

Afamelanotide implant prescribing information (DailyMed)Scenesse label. 16 mg afamelanotide in one bioresorbable subcutaneous implant; 13-amino-acid MC1-R agonist; apparent half-life about 15 hours; erythropoietic protoporphyria indication.Retrieved 2026-10-05 · label
Afamelanotide for erythropoietic protoporphyria, two randomised studies, 2015New England Journal of Medicine, 2015. 74 and 94 patients; 16 mg implant or placebo every 60 days; hours of direct sunlight without pain.Retrieved 2026-10-05 · study
Stability profile of the alpha-MSH analogue afamelanotide, 2026Journal of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Analysis, 2026. Identifies afamelanotide as melanotan-1, with norleucine and D-phenylalanine at positions 4 and 7.Retrieved 2026-10-05 · study
Evaluation of melanotan-II in a pilot phase I study, 1996Life Sciences, 1996. Three healthy men; subcutaneous melanotan II or saline on alternating days; pigmentation and adverse effects.Retrieved 2026-10-05 · study
PinPoint compound library, application recordsHalf-life inputs, routes, frequencies, package examples and confidence labels as stored in the iOS app library and mirrored in the peptide guides.Retrieved 2026-10-05 · library
Unit conversion arithmeticConcentration = amount / volume; volume = amount / concentration; U-100 units = mL x 100; remaining fraction = 2^(-elapsed / half-life).Retrieved 2026-10-05 · arithmetic
PinPoint App Store descriptionFeature wording from the approved application description, not pricing.Retrieved 2026-10-05 · app-description

Melanotan 1 vs Melanotan 2: one labeled implant, one research peptide