F.D.A. Panel’s Vote on Peptides Raises Concerns About a Prescribing Boom

A Food and Drug Administration advisory panel recommended broader use of six unproven peptides, raising concerns that wellness and telehealth companies could adopt a once-obscure pathway to bring unapproved drugs to the commercial market.

The votes directed the F.D.A. to add some peptides to the list of substances that specialized, so-called compounding pharmacies can make for patients. That kind of prescribing, typically meant for exceptional cases, has grown into a booming business that has largely been limited to copycat GLP-1 drugs.

The panel’s decisions alarmed F.D.A. scientists who spoke extensively at sessions on Thursday and Friday. But they are likely to be well received by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and signaled an increasing openness in the Trump administration to products popular with wellness influencers. These peptides in particular have prompted concerns, since they are mostly injected into the body, and have not gone through the F.D.A.’s thorough approval process.

The committee endorsed four peptides on Thursday and two more on Friday, though it also voted down the broader use of one rarely used peptide.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/24/us/politics/fda-panel-vote-peptides.html