Bromantane

An oral drug from Russia

Bromantane is a synthetic small molecule, also spelled Bromantan. Ladasten is a Russian tablet product containing it. It has no peptide sequence.^1442,1443

Asthenia in these papers

The studies use asthenia for symptoms such as fatigue, exhaustion and reduced capacity for activity. Patient groups include neurasthenia, post-infection symptoms and fatigue associated with other illnesses. Those groups need to stay attached to the results.^{1438,1439,1444}

The placebo comparisons

15 vs 7

In the 30-person neurasthenia trial, all 15 treated patients completed the 28-day study. Seven of 15 placebo patients completed. The protocol allowed placebo withdrawal for nonresponse or worsening.¹⁴³⁸

Improvement, with an uneven comparison

The trial reported greater symptom improvement with Ladasten. Random-number-table allocation and single blinding were described. The small sample and differential loss of placebo patients limit the estimate.¹⁴³⁸

Post-infection trial

Thirty patients were randomized to Ladasten or placebo after respiratory infections. At day 28, nine treated patients were rated very much improved and five much improved; the placebo group had 12 minimally improved and three unchanged. Both groups had 15 participants.¹⁴³⁹

The 180-person report

A multicenter study compared four groups of 45 within somatogenic asthenia and neurasthenia. It reported better symptom ratings with Ladasten, but did not state allocation or blinding methods. Participant overlap with another developer-era report is unresolved.¹⁴⁴⁵

The broader patient evidence

The largest published program

An uncontrolled multicenter program analyzed 728 patients treated for 28 days. It reported response rates of 76.0% on CGI-S and 90.8% on CGI-I. Two indexed publications describe this same program.^1440,1446

Cardiovascular patients

ETALON compared 58 patients receiving Ladasten plus usual care with 32 receiving usual care alone. The open study reported better asthenia ratings over 28 days. Eight possibly related adverse events occurred in five treated patients.¹⁴⁴⁴

After tick-borne borreliosis

An open randomized treatment cohort included 73 patients, 36 receiving Ladasten and 37 comparison treatment. A later paper reused that group within a larger survey. Counting both papers as separate trials would exaggerate the evidence.^1447,1448

Other uses need fuller results

Indexed reports concern Parkinson symptoms, irritable bowel syndrome and a three-drug cancer-fatigue regimen. The accessible records lack enough methods or numerical results to establish the treatment effect for those uses.^{1449,1450,1451}

Focus, fatigue and performance

Ten healthy volunteers

A single-dose placebo comparison found EEG changes and reduced tremor in ten healthy volunteers. The authors reported no change in subjective state or the main performance measures in unfatigued participants.¹⁴⁴¹

Mental fatigue

A separate experiment reported improvements in psychophysiological measures after a single 100 mg dose during mental fatigue. The available abstract gives no sample size or numerical effect. Everyday productivity and repeated-use effects are unresolved.¹⁴⁵²

High altitude

A volunteer study reported adaptation benefits when Ladasten was combined with metaprote during a move from 1,670 to 3,750 metres. The combination leaves Bromantane’s separate contribution unknown.¹⁴⁵³

ADHD claims

The cited patient studies and short healthy-volunteer experiments do not establish an ADHD treatment effect. Focus anecdotes describe a different level of evidence.^{1438,1441,1452}

Safety and stopping treatment

4 of 15

Four of 15 treated patients in the post-infection trial developed transient anxiety, sleep disturbance, sweating or dizziness five to seven days after stopping. Symptoms resolved within three days.¹⁴³⁹

Authors’ conclusions

The authors attributed those symptoms to apprehension about losing treatment. Another 30-person trial reported no withdrawal syndrome during a one-week observation period. The evidence is too short and limited to settle dependence or long-term withdrawal risk.^1439,1438

Activation and sleep

The Russian label reproduction lists excessive activation, difficulty falling asleep and allergic reactions. It lists pregnancy, breastfeeding and age under 18 as contraindications.¹⁴⁴³

The half-life claim

Vidal reports a half-life of 11.21 hours and a peak concentration time of two to four hours. The original human pharmacokinetic report behind those numbers is unverified. Those values therefore remain attributed to that label reproduction.¹⁴⁴³

Safety reports and product testing

A spontaneous FDA report

The saved medicinal-product query returned one report, received October 29, 2022, in the dataset updated July 30, 2026. It records swelling, burning, hypersensitivity, sinus and mucosal symptoms, with disability marked. Dose, formulation and route were unspecified. A spontaneous report provides no causal or incidence estimate.¹⁴⁵⁴

A forensic identification

CFSRE confirmed Bromantane in a Michigan medical-examiner blood sample alongside bromazolam and methamphetamine. Its 2024 report documented analytical identity without attributing a death or toxicity to Bromantane.¹⁴⁵⁵

Selected products have been analyzed

Japanese laboratory work identified Bromantane in one of nine smart-drug products. A 2025 official-laboratory surveillance paper also reported Bromantane samples. These findings cover only the tested products; they do not represent every product currently offered.^1456,1457

Mechanism and current status

The dopamine work is mostly in rats

Experiments found changes in dopamine synthesis, enzyme expression and synaptic plasticity in rat brain or tissue. Those animal and tissue findings do not describe permanent dopamine changes in people.^{1458,1459,1460}

Animal attention results varied

A 2022 mouse study found improvement in a low-attention group and worsening in a high-attention group. The baseline phenotype and model mattered.¹⁴⁶¹

Medicine status by jurisdiction

The FDA approval and label searches found no matching product. Vidal reproduces a Russian prescription registration dated May 16, 2024, while the live official detail remained inaccessible.^{1462,1463,1443}

Common questions

01 What is bromantane?

Bromantane is a synthetic drug developed in Russia and used there under the name Ladasten for asthenic conditions, which involve fatigue and reduced capacity for activity. Most clinical reports concern patients with these symptoms.^{1442,1443,1438}

02 Is bromantane a peptide?

No. It is a small molecule in the adamantane family, with the formula C16H20BrN. It has no peptide sequence.¹⁴⁴²

03 Are Bromantan and Ladasten the same thing?

Bromantan is another spelling of the compound name. Ladasten is a Russian tablet product containing it. Other products sold under the ingredient name need their own identity and formulation evidence.^1442,1443

04 Is bromantane FDA approved?

The FDA approval and label searches found no matching Bromantane product. An FDA substance identifier exists, but that identifies the chemical rather than approving a medicine.^{1462,1463,1467}

05 What is its status in Russia?

The Russian drug reference Vidal lists Ladasten as a prescription medicine for asthenic conditions and neurasthenia, under a replacement registration dated May 16, 2024. The live official registration detail could not be retrieved, so that current status is supported by a secondary reproduction.¹⁴⁴³

06 What does the human research mainly cover?

Most reports concern fatigue associated with neurasthenia, psychoautonomic symptoms or other illnesses. There are small placebo comparisons, open comparisons and uncontrolled studies, plus a few short experiments in healthy volunteers. Several papers describe the same participants.^{1438,1445,1439,1440,1441}

07 What did the 30-person neurasthenia trial find?

The 2009 trial reported greater improvement in asthenic symptoms with Ladasten than with placebo over 28 days. It randomized 15 patients to each group and used single blinding. All 15 treated patients completed, while only seven placebo patients did.¹⁴³⁸

08 Why does the dropout rate matter?

The protocol allowed placebo patients to leave after two weeks if they failed to improve or worsened. Losing eight of 15 placebo patients makes the end-of-treatment comparison harder to interpret. The paper describes random-number-table allocation, but the small sample and unequal follow-up remain substantial weaknesses.¹⁴³⁸

09 Was there a larger placebo study?

A 2009 multicenter report describes 180 adults in four groups of 45, comparing Ladasten with placebo within somatogenic asthenia and neurasthenia. It reports better symptom ratings with Ladasten, but does not describe the allocation or blinding method. Possible participant overlap with another study from the same research network is unresolved.¹⁴⁴⁵

10 What happened in the post-infection trial?

A separate 30-person trial compared Ladasten with placebo after respiratory infections. At day 28, nine of 15 treated patients were rated very much improved and five much improved; the placebo group had 12 minimally improved and three unchanged. The trial was small and single-blind.¹⁴³⁹

11 Does that establish a treatment for long COVID or ME/CFS?

Those diagnoses were not the populations studied in the 2009 post-infection trial. It enrolled people with asthenic symptoms after infections such as influenza, bronchitis and pneumonia. Its findings cannot supply an effect estimate for long COVID or ME/CFS.¹⁴³⁹

12 What did the 728-patient study report?

The multicenter study analyzed 728 patients with psychoautonomic symptoms and asthenia after 28 days of Ladasten. It reported response rates of 76.0% on CGI-S and 90.8% on CGI-I, with adverse effects in 3% and discontinuation in 0.8%. Everyone received treatment, so the study cannot separate a drug effect from other reasons for improvement.¹⁴⁴⁰

13 Are the two 728-patient papers independent confirmation?

No. The records PMID 21322821 and PMID 20559263 have matching titles, abstracts, study centers and sample size. They describe the same multicenter program and should count as one patient cohort.^1440,1446

14 Did improvements last after treatment stopped?

The 728-patient report describes improvements continuing one month after treatment. A separate uncontrolled study of 32 patients also followed symptoms for one month after a 28-day course. Without an untreated comparison, neither establishes that the drug caused the lasting change.^1440,1468

15 Has it been studied in people with heart disease?

The open ETALON study included 90 patients with cardiovascular disease: 58 received Ladasten plus usual care and 32 usual care alone. The authors reported greater improvement in asthenic symptoms over 28 days. Five of 58 treated patients had eight adverse events considered possibly related to treatment.¹⁴⁴⁴

16 Has it been tested after tick-borne borreliosis?

An open randomized treatment cohort after tick-borne borreliosis had 73 participants, with 36 receiving Ladasten and 37 comparison treatment. A later publication reused this cohort within a larger survey. The reports describe improvements in fatigue, with the limitations of open treatment and a small patient group.^1447,1448

17 What is known about Parkinson disease?

A 2011 paper on Ladasten for non-motor Parkinson symptoms is indexed as a randomized trial. The accessible PubMed record has no abstract, and the results are unavailable in that record.¹⁴⁴⁹

18 What is known about irritable bowel syndrome?

An indexed 2010 report describes Ladasten use in patients with irritable bowel syndrome and asthenic symptoms. Its accessible abstract gives no sample size, comparison or numerical outcome. The record leaves the treatment effect unclear.¹⁴⁵⁰

19 Has it been studied for cancer-related fatigue?

A 2015 report describes Ladasten together with ondansetron and agomelatine in patients with incurable cancer. The abstract claims an improvement over standard care but omits the sample size and numerical results. The combination also prevents a separate estimate of Bromantane’s contribution.¹⁴⁵¹

20 Does it improve focus in healthy people?

Evidence is limited. In a placebo comparison involving ten healthy volunteers, a single oral dose changed EEG measures and reduced tremor, while the authors reported no change in subjective state or the main performance measures in the unfatigued participants.¹⁴⁴¹

21 What about mental fatigue?

A 2009 healthy-volunteer experiment reported improved psychophysiological measures during mental fatigue after a single 100 mg dose of Ladasten. The accessible abstract does not give the sample size or numerical effect. It leaves everyday productivity and repeated-use benefits unresolved.¹⁴⁵²

22 Does the high-altitude study show an endurance benefit?

A study of volunteers moving from 1,670 to 3,750 metres tested Ladasten together with metaprote and reported improved adaptation measures. Because both drugs were given together, the findings cannot isolate Bromantane’s effect. The abstract does not provide the sample size.¹⁴⁵³

23 Has bromantane been established as an ADHD treatment?

Most cited clinical studies tested asthenic symptoms, and the small healthy-volunteer experiments measured different outcomes. Personal reports of focus changes do not fill the clinical gap in ADHD treatment evidence.^{1438,1441,1452}

24 Does it reduce anxiety?

Some asthenia studies reported improvements in anxiety-related symptoms. In the separate post-infection trial, the formal state-anxiety scale showed no statistically significant difference. The mixed findings leave treatment of an anxiety disorder unanswered.^1438,1439

25 Can it worsen mood or make someone feel overstimulated?

The Russian label reproduction lists excessive activation and difficulty falling asleep. The available trials give little information about uncommon mood effects or prolonged use. Online accounts can help identify questions, but they leave frequency and causation undetermined.^1443,1440

26 What does the research say about sleep?

Some patients in the asthenia studies reported better sleep as their overall symptoms improved. Difficulty falling asleep is also listed as a possible adverse effect in the Russian label reproduction. Results from patients with asthenia do not establish Bromantane as a sleep treatment.^1440,1443

27 What doses were actually studied?

The 30-person neurasthenia study began oral treatment at 100 mg/day and allowed adjustment to 50-150 mg/day over 28 days. The separate post-infection trial used oral 100 mg/day for 28 days; the 728-patient study used 50-100 mg/day over the same period. These amounts describe the study treatments.^{1438,1439,1440}

28 Were nasal and sublingual products tested in those trials?

The clinical reports cited here used oral Ladasten or oral Bromantane. Their absorption, effects and safety findings apply to the oral products studied. The FDA adverse-event record also leaves its route unspecified.^{1438,1439,1441,1454}

29 How quickly did improvements appear?

The uncontrolled multicenter report describes changes by day three, while the post-infection trial reported changes in some symptoms by day seven. Those group observations during patient treatment cannot supply a reliable onset time for an individual user.^1440,1439

30 What is the human half-life?

The Vidal label reproduction gives 11.21 hours, with a peak concentration time of two to four hours. The original human pharmacokinetic report and the population behind those values are unverified. The number is therefore attributed to that label source.¹⁴⁴³

31 What adverse effects were reported in studies?

Reports include activation, sleep problems, headache and dizziness, with ascertainment varying across studies. ETALON recorded eight possibly related events in five of 58 treated cardiovascular patients. The much larger uncontrolled study reported adverse effects in 3%, but its design and short treatment period limit what that rate can establish.^{1443,1444,1440}

32 Can symptoms appear after stopping?

Yes, symptoms were reported in one small trial. Four of 15 treated post-infection patients experienced mild anxiety, worse sleep, sweating or dizziness five to seven days after stopping, resolving within three days. The authors attributed them to apprehension about losing treatment, although the cause was unresolved.¹⁴³⁹

33 Is tolerance, dependence or a cycling schedule established?

The short patient studies leave the risk of tolerance or dependence during prolonged use unresolved. One neurasthenia trial reported no withdrawal syndrome during a one-week observation period, while the separate post-infection trial recorded transient symptoms after stopping. No cycling schedule was validated by these studies.^1438,1439

34 What is known about combinations with caffeine, antidepressants or ADHD medicines?

Controlled interaction data for these everyday combinations are missing from the cited studies. The Russian label reproduction discusses thiopental and benzodiazepines, while a cancer-fatigue report used a three-drug combination without isolating Bromantane’s effects. Neither provides a general safety clearance for other combinations.^1443,1451

35 What about pregnancy, breastfeeding and children?

The Russian label reproduction lists pregnancy, breastfeeding and age under 18 as contraindications. The cited clinical evidence does not establish safety in those groups.¹⁴⁴³

36 Is long-term organ safety known?

The clinical reports mainly cover short courses, commonly 28 days. Their routine laboratory findings describe those short courses; they cannot determine safety during months or years of use or provide reliable rates of rare harms. High-dose animal toxicology is a different type of evidence.^{1440,1444,1469}

37 Are there reports in the FDA safety database?

The saved five-alias medicinal-product search returned one report, received October 29, 2022, in the dataset updated July 30, 2026. It described swelling, burning, hypersensitivity, sinus inflammation and mucosal symptoms, with Bromantane recorded as suspect and disability marked. Dose, formulation and route were missing, and the report was not a validated causal finding.¹⁴⁵⁴

38 What did the forensic laboratory find?

A 2024 CFSRE report confirmed Bromantane in a Michigan medical-examiner blood sample alongside bromazolam and methamphetamine. The laboratory established the drug’s identity using a reference standard. The report did not attribute a death or toxicity to Bromantane.¹⁴⁵⁵

39 Have products sold as bromantane been tested?

Japanese laboratory work identified Bromantane in one of nine sampled smart-drug products. A separate 2025 official-laboratory surveillance study also reported Bromantane findings. Those selected samples describe only the products tested. They cannot show that a product available today has the same contents.^1456,1457

40 What does the dopamine research show?

Rat experiments found changes in dopamine production and in the expression of enzymes involved in making dopamine. A separate rat and tissue study examined synaptic plasticity. The effects varied by brain region and experimental conditions.^{1458,1459,1460}

41 Does bromantane permanently raise dopamine in people?

Permanent dopamine increases have not been established in people. The commonly cited enzyme and dopamine findings come from rat experiments, while the clinical studies mostly measured symptoms and EEG changes.^{1458,1459,1438,1441}

42 Did animal attention studies all show improvement?

No. A 2022 mouse study found improved attention indices in a low-attention group and worse indices in a high-attention group. The result depends on that animal model and does not predict who would benefit in a human population.¹⁴⁶¹

43 Is bromantane prohibited in sport?

Yes. WADA names Bromantan under S6.A, prohibited in competition in the 2026 list. The published 2027 list retains the entry and takes effect on January 1, 2027.^1464,1465

44 Can the half-life tell an athlete when a test will be negative?

No cited evidence establishes a reliable clearance interval. Anti-doping detection depends on the analytes and laboratory methods, and a plasma half-life is not a validated testing window. WADA laboratory thresholds are technical reporting rules.^{1443,1466,1464}

45 What about fatigue after tick-borne encephalitis?

Two reports describe treatment after tick-borne encephalitis: a 32-person open randomized study and a 64-person comparison whose allocation and blinding methods were not stated. Both reported improvement with Ladasten. Their participant overlap is unresolved. These are separate from the borreliosis reports.^1470,1471