A panel of outside advisers to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) voted Thursday to let specialized pharmacies produce and sell four peptide treatments the agency banned three years ago.
The votes are nonbinding, but they amount to a rebuke of the FDA’s own scientists who said the drugs have not been studied enough to know whether they are safe or effective, reports The New York Times.
As of Thursday evening, four of seven peptide products under review had cleared the panel. Votes on the remaining three were scheduled for today, the second and final day of the meeting.
The four products backed Thursday — BPC-157, KPV, MOTS-c and TB-500 — are mostly injections now sold online as “research grade” items, with marketing claims ranging from tendon repair to brain health, The Times reports.
Peptides are short chains of amino acids that signal cells to do things like reduce inflammation or produce more collagen.
Some have been fully vetted by the FDA, including insulin and GLP-1 drugs. The four endorsed Thursday have not.
Studies in rodents and lab dishes hint at possible benefits for wound healing, osteoporosis or inflammation. A similarly thin body of research points to possible harms, including severe allergic reactions and accelerated tumor growth.
Human data is scarce to nonexistent, according to The Times.
“We’re missing safety, we’re missing efficacy — we’re missing the critical evidence,” said Dr. Eric Topol, a cardiologist and founder of the Scripps Research Translational Institute in La Jolla, California.
U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who oversees the FDA, has long pushed to lift the peptide restrictions.
On a podcast last year, he said the agency should study products like peptides but should not tell patients or physicians what they can use.
“If you want to take an experimental drug, you can do that,” he said.
Leading up to the hearing, Kennedy’s office nominated eight new advisory committee members, six of whom have sold peptide products, according to The Times.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said all committee members went through the same ethics review required of any FDA adviser, and that candidates who could not meet those requirements were dropped from consideration.
The first vote, on BPC-157, went 8 to 6 in favor of allowing bespoke pharmacies to dispense them . The six peptide sellers were joined by a compounding pharmacist and a pharmacy business executive in voting in favor.
Dr. Brian Lee, a liver transplant physician at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, voted no. He said the peptide’s measured effect was smaller than a placebo response, which can convince about 30 percent of patients their condition has improved.
“I think this endorsement can be potentially harmful, and I cannot, in good conscience, vote yes,” he said.
Kennedy has argued that the 2023 ban pushed consumers toward gray-market peptides and that letting regulated pharmacies make them would be safer.
But FDA officials told the panel they have no authority over the state pharmacy boards that are the main overseers of those compounding operations, The Times reports.
Black Americans continue to face barriers accessing specialty care, which may increase interest in wellness clinics or direct-to-consumer telehealth services. Patients may view peptides as an alternative to traditional care for chronic pain, weight management, inflammation, recovery, or healthy aging.
For clinicians, it’s critical to discuss with patients what is — and is not — supported by current evidence before patients spend significant money on unproven therapies.
Many peptide therapies are being heavily marketed on social media by influencers and companies. Patients often hear anecdotal success stories rather than evidence from randomized clinical trials.
That being said, clinicians should acknowledge patient interest while explaining:
Taking these approaches can help reinforce trust instead of simply discouraging peptide use.
More information
Visit the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for more information about compounded drugs.
SOURCE: The New York Times, July 23, 2026
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