The peptide gold rush: How impending deregulation could supercharge a shadow industry

Peptides are a staple of the Silicon Valley wellness underground. But impending actions by the Trump administration could push them into the mainstream, a shift that could commercialize a category of supplements currently in the gray market. 

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is reportedly poised to allow compounding pharmacies to dispense certain peptides that are currently restricted by the Food and Drug Administration. As of now, consumers are bypassing the FDA by buying vials of peptides labeled “for research use only” and then conducting that research on themselves. 

But with the potential of federal deregulation, an array of players — from billion-dollar telehealth platforms to the gray-market suppliers themselves — are scrambling to establish legitimate supply chains. 

Search interest in the US for “peptides” has skyrocketed and now even surpassed searches for “Ozempic.” The global peptide therapeutics market is valued at approximately $52 billion today and projected to reach $87 billion by 2035, according to one estimate from Precedence Research.

Zak David, managing partner of Pirsek Technologies, which runs a research peptide supplier, Peptide Partners, said his company is preparing to open up facilities to elevate raw materials to medical-grade standards and ultimately supply doctors’ offices.

“There is a rush right now,” David said in an interview. “We know that there’s an increasing number of companies that are gearing up to move out of the gray and into the legitimate market.”

What are peptides?

Peptides are compounds consisting of chains of amino acids. Insulin, which millions of people take to manage diabetes, is a peptide. Semaglutide, the active ingredient in Ozempic, is also a peptide. 

But the term “peptides” is most often used as shorthand for injectable supplements associated with the biohacking tech elite. They are said to help melt fat, build muscle, clear up skin, and improve cognitive function — though most have not been thoroughly researched. 

“Everyone has a Chinese peptide dealer now,” the San Francisco Standard proclaimed in September. In December, hundreds attended a “Chinese Peptide Rave” in San Francisco sponsored by Peptide Partners.

BPC-157, one popular peptide, is said to have regenerative effects. Another is retatrutide, which is the active component in Eli Lilly’s next-generation GLP-1 currently in late-stage trials. Unlike insulin and Ozempic, BPC-157 and retatrutide are not currently FDA-approved medications.

Compounding pharmacies, which have grown in recent years thanks to demand for knockoff GLP-1s, used to be able to dispense many of the peptides currently accessible only through research suppliers. 

In September 2023, the FDA placed more than a dozen popular peptides, including BPC-157, into a list of drugs compounding pharmacies can’t touch. David from Peptide Partners calls that moment the “peptide apocalypse.” Between then and now, interest in these supplements has exploded, but without direct FDA supervision. 

“Given the eyeballs that have increased since 2023 on this, the public interest, it might spur a lot of, just a lot of growth in compliant pharmaceutical compounding,” David said.

Kennedy, who oversees the FDA’s parent agency, is expected to reverse much of that 2023 decision.

In August, a group of compounding pharmacies that had sued the FDA over its stance on peptides agreed to stand down after the agency said it “expects to submit” a final rule before February 2027 pertaining to some of the peptides the pharmacies want to produce. Kennedy said on the “Joe Rogan Experience” podcast in late February that the Food and Drug Administration would make about 14 different peptides “more accessible.”

New era of peptide dealers

China is a major supplier of active pharmaceutical ingredients, including peptides, so the source may not change — but the dealer may look more like a sleek telehealth site as opposed to a sketchy WhatsApp group. 

Andrew Dudum, CEO of telehealth heavyweight Hims & Hers, told investors in February that the company is actively exploring expanding into “peptide therapies.” The company has a network of its own compounding pharmacies, as well as a peptide facility in California it acquired last year.

Max Marchione, CEO of Superpower, told Sherwood News his company is ready to quickly roll out peptides for its patients as soon as it gets the nod from the FDA. Superpower is one one of several startups that interprets blood tests and sells supplements.

“We have the supply chain set up,” Marchione said in an email. The company is also working with biotechs to run clinical trials on some peptides, he said, adding that he wants to see results by next year. 

Enhanced Games, the Peter Thiel-backed startup known for organizing a “steroid Olympics,” said earlier this month that it would pivot toward telehealth and supplements, including peptides. 

It launched a “personalized performance medicine and supplement platform.” Pending regulatory approval, it will add eight peptides currently banned for human use to its catalog: CJC-1295, ipamorelin, thymosin alpha-1, TB-4, GHRP-2/6, kisspeptin-10, semax, and selank.

“Understanding how popular peptide usage has become globally we intend to invest heavily in this space,” the company’s CEO, Maximilian Martin, said in the statement.