A Food and Drug Administration advisory panel voted to allow compounding pharmacies to manufacture six peptides across two days of hearings in late July 2026.
The panel recommended on Thursday that pharmacies be permitted to produce BPC-157, KPV, TB-500, and MOTS-c, substances that have circulated for years through wellness clinics, medical spas, and online retailers.
On Friday, the panel added epitalon and semax to the approved list, voting 7-4 and 8-5 respectively, expanding the scope of compoundable peptides significantly.
The panel narrowly rejected a seventh peptide, emideltide, also known as DSIP, in a 6-7 vote that exposed meaningful divisions among the advisers over safety concerns.
David Pope, the chief pharmacy officer at XiFin Pharmacy Solution, broke with the majority on emideltide, citing concern about the peptide’s “potentially dangerous downstream consequences.”
The FDA noted that emideltide’s mechanism stimulates endorphin release, raising a theoretical concern about addictive potential similar to other reward-pathway stimulants.
Despite having the deepest human-study history of the group, dating to 1981, the FDA said emideltide trials were small, poorly controlled, and inconsistent.
The seven peptides under review had been marketed for uses ranging from wound healing and weight loss to anti-aging, sleep support, and neurological conditions including migraines and cerebral ischemia.
The advisory panel’s votes are nonbinding but amount to a direct rebuke of the FDA’s own scientists, who argued the compounds have not been adequately studied for safety or efficacy.
The votes move Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. closer to fulfilling his pledge to overturn FDA restrictions on peptides placed during the Biden administration.
Kennedy has described himself as a “big fan” of peptides, and his office nominated eight new advisory committee members ahead of the hearings, six of whom have sold peptide products.
Conflict-of-interest concerns have been raised publicly regarding panel members’ ties to clinics and businesses that supply these compounds to consumers.
The two-day meeting underscored broader tensions between the Make America Healthy Again movement and mainstream scientists, centering on whether individuals should have access to medicines of unclear safety or efficacy.
