Check the claim
What eye-drop and skin-gel studies can tell you
Check what each study tested. Results for eye drops or skin gels do not answer whether TB-500 injections help.
Check what the study actually tested
Read these details before applying a result to your own care.
- Name the exact substance.
- Name the condition studied.
- Name the way it was given.
- Ask whether the main aim was met, rather than focusing only on a smaller finding.
Two ways the whole protein was tested
Eye drops tested the full protein
These studies used the whole thymosin beta-4 protein in eye drops. They did not test TB-500 injections. Dummy drops look like the study drops but leave out the ingredient being tested.
The earlier eye-drop study
- A 2015 study tested thymosin beta-4 eye drops in 72 people with dry eyes. Its two main checks were eye discomfort and a dye test of the eye's clear front surface. The medicine did not show a clear advantage over dummy drops on either check. Some other checks improved, but they were not the study's main goals.
The larger eye-drop study
- ARISE-3, a later eye-drop study, enrolled 700 people. Eye discomfort improved by the same average amount with thymosin beta-4 and dummy drops. The average dye-test scores also changed by similar amounts in both groups.
- The ARISE-3 record checked in September 2026 gave average scores. No calculation was found showing whether differences between the groups could be due to chance, such as who happened to join each group. The averages alone do not show that the medicine helped more than dummy drops.
Skin gel also tested the full protein
A gel put on a sore differs from a medicine injected into the body. A dummy gel looks like the study gel but leaves out the ingredient being tested.
- Two small studies tested thymosin beta-4 gel on leg sores and pressure sores. After 12 weeks, sores closed in about the same proportion of people using the medicine and the dummy gel.
- Neither study record included a calculation to show whether the small differences could be due to chance. With small groups and no such comparison, the results do not settle whether the gel helps.