Peptides Are Coming for the Wellness Mainstream, and the Industry Is Already Preparing

Has any telehealth clinic, wellness influencer, or online vendor tried to pitch you peptides lately? If not, it’s almost certainly only a matter of time before someone does.

Once a little-known niche obsession limited to competitive bodybuilders and DIY biohackers, peptides have exploded into mainstream wellness, promoted by everyone from fringe social media creators to the current U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services. Earlier this year, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told podcast host Joe Rogan that federal officials planned to roll back existing restrictions on peptide manufacturing. This week, that shift could finally become reality: on July 23 and 24, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will hold hearings to debate reclassifying a slate of peptides, a change that would allow pharmacies to legally produce custom-blended peptide products, a practice called compounding.

If approved, the move would overturn a 2023 Biden administration rule that banned compounding for a specific set of peptide compounds. Even though the FDA’s career scientific staff have recommended against reclassification, multiple industry sources told WIRED they expect the agency to sign off anyway. The committee tasked with evaluating the proposal includes multiple outspoken peptide advocates, after all. Already, many major telehealth players are operating as if the regulatory floodgates are about to open.

“We’ve got everything lined up and ready to launch,” says Myra Ahmad, CEO of telehealth platform Mochi Health, which originally built its business around GLP-1 weight loss medications. “Our partner pharmacies have completed all required safety testing, and they’re finalizing pricing right now.”

Many of the largest telehealth companies have been anticipating this moment for more than a year. Telehealth giant Hims & Hers Health acquired a dedicated peptide manufacturing facility in February 2025 and is currently developing standardized clinical protocols for peptide use, according to chief medical officer Anant Vinjamoori, who is scheduled to testify at the upcoming FDA hearing.

Joshua Fritzler, president of compounding pharmacy Olympia Pharmaceuticals, says his firm has been preparing for the expected regulatory shift for months, “investing heavily to develop these peptide formulas” so they are ready the second the FDA gives approval. “Everyone in the industry knows something huge is on the horizon,” he says.

The recent GLP-1 boom already acclimated consumers to self-administering injectable medications at home, and turned into a massive revenue generator for pharmacies and virtual clinics alike. Now, many of these businesses are eager to branch out into a new fast-growing market.

Cole Thomas, director of sales and operations at pharmacy marketing and tech platform RxConnexion, says many of the company’s compounding pharmacy clients are already testing peptides expected to be top sellers. One of the most popular candidates is BPC-157, short for Body Protection Compound, which is marketed as a healing treatment and makes up half of the viral peptide combo nicknamed the “Wolverine stack.”

Cameron Bravo, a research scientist at biotech firm Sapho Bio, says his company has already received dozens of requests to test a wide range of peptide products from prospective sellers (Mochi Health is one of Sapho’s clients). Sapho’s work involves “validating” client-submitted formulas, confirming that mixtures are free of contamination and properly formulated and packaged. So far, the firm has tested BPC-157, as well as lesser-known peptides like MOTS-c, which peptide proponents hype as “exercise in a vial.”

Many partner pharmacies are testing multiple new peptide lines at considerable cost, Bravo says. “They’re probably sinking around $100,000 into these products before they even officially launch,” he notes.

Even if this week’s hearing goes exactly the way peptide advocates hope, with the committee approving every peptide up for reclassification, sellers won’t be able to launch legally right away. The next step is a formal public review period, where the FDA will draft proposed rules and open the door for public comment. “It’s a slow, drawn-out process,” explains Gerard Olson, recently former director of research at LegitScript, a firm that issues safety certifications for telehealth providers and pharmacies.

Hims & Hers is taking a wait-and-see approach. “We don’t necessarily want to be the first to market. We want to be the best in market,” says Vinjamoori. But other compounding pharmacies and clinics are already moving ahead with prescribing injectable peptides right now.

Amanecia Health, a concierge medicine service that offers in-person appointments at clinics in Texas and Virginia alongside telehealth services, has already started prescribing popular options like BPC-157. “Interest has spiked because it’s everywhere on Instagram and in the media,” says Amanecia founder Ann Czarnik, who also works as an emergency medicine physician.

While Czarnik openly acknowledges that these peptides do not have the same level of rigorous safety and efficacy testing that traditional FDA-approved drugs have, her practice has begun tentatively offering prescriptions to a small subset of patients. She stresses that this “tiny percentage” of her patient base is fully aware that the peptides they are taking have not received FDA approval. “I can’t even advertise that I’m prescribing them yet,” she says.

Scott Brunner, head of the Alliance for Pharmacy Compounding, has been warning member pharmacies to stay compliant with current law and avoid rolling out peptides prematurely. “A lot of them are getting pushed hard by prescribers and patients to start offering this now,” he says. The temptation to cut corners is even stronger because compounders know that any customers they turn away can easily find peptides on the unregulated gray market right now.

Right now, every peptide up for discussion at July’s FDA hearing, plus dozens of others, are shockingly easy to purchase. They’re sold by online vendors that add fine-print disclaimers labeling the products “for research use only” and not intended for human consumption to get around current rules. “We don’t sell peptides for human use, that’s not legal for us to do right now,” says Olympia’s Fritzler. “This gray market is completely out of control, and obviously we’re not part of it.”

“Everyone and their mother wants to launch a peptide company right now,” says Thomas Millman, who runs OnTop Labs, a Florida-based business that sells peptides for research use. OnTop sells products like Melanotan II, nicknamed the “Barbie peptide” and “tan jab” for its ability to stimulate melanin production and darken skin pigment. While Melanotan II is also scheduled for an FDA reclassification discussion, that hearing isn’t happening until 2027.

The Skin Cancer Foundation recently issued a public warning about Melanotan II, citing multiple case reports that link the product to increased risk of melanoma. Even so, Millman promotes his research-use products on social media, primarily TikTok. The flood of new companies entering the research-grade peptide space has made it much harder to stand out from the crowd, he says. “There’s just so much more competition now.”

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Update: 7/22/2026, 3:58 PM EDT: WIRED updated this article to clarify that Melanotan II stimulates melanin production.