FDA scientists warn on peptides as agency convenes industry-tied panel
As Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. pushes to loosen restrictions on a handful of trendy peptide therapies, career FDA scientists are recommending the opposite , pointing to a lack of evidence behind the compounds’ use. Kennedy has said he uses some peptides himself and wants compounding pharmacies allowed to offer them again.
The advisory panel the FDA assembled to review the evidence breaks with past practice. Where earlier panels drew on academics and researchers, this group includes more than half a dozen members who run clinics, online businesses or pharmacies selling injectable peptides — among them an operator of a chain of men’s-health clinics that markets peptide, testosterone and weight-loss injections. The panel is set to weigh seven peptides at a two-day meeting on July 23–24 and to take up others in February.
The split is a concrete example of a recurring tension inside the department: the secretary’s personal enthusiasm for unproven treatments runs against the agency’s own scientists, and stacking an advisory committee with people who profit from the products raises conflict-of-interest questions about how independent its recommendations will be.