Dosage protocol · Healing & Recovery
Ara-290 16 mg
Target dose: 4 mg once daily subcutaneously (after initial 2 mg titration).
- Reconstitute: Add 2.0 mL bacteriostatic water → 8 mg/mL concentration.
- Target dose: 4 mg once daily subcutaneously (after initial 2 mg titration).
- Easy measuring: At 8 mg/mL, 1 unit = 0.01 mL = 80 mcg on a U-100 insulin syringe.
- Storage: Lyophilized: refrigerate at 2–8 °C (35.6–46.4 °F) or freeze at −20 °C (−4 °F); reconstituted: refrigerate and use within 28 days.
BAC water2.0mL
Concentration8mg/mL
Per unit (0.01 mL)80mcg
Reconstitution
Ara-290 dosage chart
Ara-290 dosage chart
| Week | Dose | Draw |
|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | 2 mg2,000 mcg | 25 units0.25 mL |
| Weeks 2–8 (or up to 16) | 4 mg4,000 mcg | 50 units0.50 mL |
How much to draw
The Draw column shows exactly where to stop on a U-100 insulin syringe. Different vial size or dose? The calculator below recomputes it live.
Supplies needed
Supplies needed
Peptide vial
The lyophilized compound
Bacteriostatic water
For reconstitution
U-100 insulin syringes
One per injection
Alcohol swabs
Stopper + site each time
How it works
ARA-290, now more commonly called cibinetide in later scientific and regulatory documents, is an 11-amino-acid synthetic peptide engineered from a specific three-dimensional region of erythropoietin (EPO) known as the helix B surface.[1] It was designed to preserve EPO's tissue-protective signaling while deliberately avoiding EPO's core function of stimulating red blood cell production.
This distinction matters because approved EPO-based anemia drugs, such as epoetin alfa, carry boxed warnings for thrombosis, stroke, heart attack, and tumor progression tied to their blood-stimulating activity. ARA-290 is studied specifically as a non-erythropoietic alternative that might retain protective effects on nerves and tissue without those hematologic risks — a hypothesis that remains under investigation rather than confirmed.
Benefits & side effects
Human research on ARA-290 centers on small fiber neuropathy and neuropathic pain, mainly in sarcoidosis or type 2 diabetes. A small 2012 pilot study in 22 sarcoidosis patients found improvement on a neuropathy symptom checklist after four weeks of intravenous ARA-290 versus placebo, with no safety concerns in that short trial.[4] A larger 2017 Phase 2b trial found a significant increase in corneal nerve fiber area at the 4 mg/day dose, though pain outcomes were more mixed.[6]
A 28-day Phase 2 study in type 2 diabetes reported changes in pain scores and corneal nerve fiber density in a subgroup, and a small pilot in diabetic macular edema found no overall improvement in vision outcomes.[7][8] These are consistently early, small, short-duration studies that generate hypotheses about nerve-fiber biology but fall well short of the large, replicated trials needed to establish ARA-290 as an effective treatment.
Calculator
Plan your own dose
Reconstituting a different vial size or targeting a different dose? Run the numbers.
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