FOUND THIS HERE www.pharmacy-forum.co.uk/have-drug-related-question/1689-melanotan.html
NOV 2008
Hi folks, my first post here but since this i my specialist subject at the moment I thought i'd better chip in.
Before I continue, I am a drug researcher at Liverpool John Moores University. My remit centres around injecting drug use and to that end I also provide monitoring for needle exchange, both fixed site and pharmacy, as well as contributing to training across the north west.
So, having got that out of the way...this is the deal with Melanotan; by the way...this is the brief version, I am more than happy to provide people with more information if you wish.
Melanotan comes in two forms. Melanotan I & II. Melanotan II is the one that increases libido. The drug is an analog of alpha-melanocyte stimulating hormone which increases melanin production; the idea being to provide a sunless tan.
The drug is injected subcutaneously, usually in the belly fat somewhere near the belly button.
Only two companies have the licence for this drug - Clinuvel and Palatin - and it is in Phase III trials for a number of conditions (such as Polymorphous Light Eruptions). The Melanotan II version was trialed for sexual dysfunction but that has been discontinued due to the high incidence of hypertension amongst trial participants.
+++EDIT: Please note the high incidence of hypertension is more a feature of bremalnotide, the analogue of MT-II. However a small number of trial participants in teh most recent human trials of MT-II (2008) id experience rapid and extreme rises in blood pressure. Please note also, this may or may not be an issue for people buying it over the internet...but the fact they don't REALLY know what they are putting in the syringe is a much bigger one. The comment about hypertension may have been overstated but it was appropariate with informaion available to me at the time. I do make mistakes sometimes....surprisingly.. however hypertension is and remains an issue for some people with this drug++++
The drug people are buying from the internet, as well as some beauty salons/hairdressers/randoms in pubs..is originally sold as a "research peptide, not for human use". This is povided by other companies, including some in China - which given their recent record leaves me rather worried!
It is an unlicenced medicine and is illegal to sell but not to possess.
As regards the provision of injecting equipment for it - I would say yes, do it PLEASE!!!
The kits being provided, especially over the internet, are frightening to say the least. Inkjet printed labels stuck on supposedly sterile vials - or in the case of the ready mixed stuff we bought - small vials with caps that had clearly been prised off before the stuff was mixed. The kits have one or two syringes in them, unwrapped. Given the need for daily injections for 10 days or more to start with - providing one needle is scary to say the least.
We've had reports of groups of young girls sharing one syringe between them for two weeks. I think you'll agree there is a significant problem there.
For those providing syringe exchange; please do provide suitable kit (insulin needles) and advice on proper injection. In particular the inherent dangers in the following:
Re-using or sharing injecting equipment
Subcutaneous injection (much higher risk of bacterial infection...even if they do think they're "clean")
The difference between "clean" (i shower regularly) and "clinically clean" (i swabbed the injecting site first)
It could also be worth pointing out that, despite what it says on internet sites and forums - the drug has NOT been found safe for general human use, it is NOT licenced as a cometic..and won't be - and that the kits are not put together by people who really understand sterile procedure or human physiology. So the risks are actually quite high.
I hope this is of some use to you - feel free to contant me if you want any more information about it, or round needle exchange generally for that matter. Always happy to natter