Peptide News Digest

ACOG's GLP-1 Pregnancy Advice, Acmopatide in Type 1 Diabetes, Semaglutide Panic Reports, BPC-157 in Orthopedics

ACOG advises stopping GLP-1s before pregnancy, acmopatide cuts weight in type 1 diabetes, and surgeons find little human evidence for BPC-157.

10 stories · Covering regulatory, clinical-trials, research, industry

Editor's Note

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists now tells doctors to suggest stopping GLP-1 drugs one to two months before trying to conceive and to avoid them during pregnancy. It leaves room for some breastfeeding patients to use them. Two drug-safety papers pointed in different directions. A Western University team found that panic attack reports for semaglutide in the FDA's reporting database rose about sixfold after a July 2023 regulatory announcement, and that the adjusted signal before then was not significant, a pattern that points to publicity more than the drug. A University of California records study of nearly 71,000 adults with type 2 diabetes tied GLP-1 drugs to fewer heart attacks and kidney problems but more osteoarthritis, stress fractures, and sleep problems. In type 1 diabetes, Genentech's daily injection acmopatide cut weight by up to 6.7% in 16 weeks with no cases of ketoacidosis. Outside GLP-1 drugs, orthopedic surgeons at NYU Langone and Baptist Health found that human evidence for BPC-157 in muscles and tendons comes down to one small case series, and Leipzig and Shanghai scientists mapped how neuropeptide Y docks onto its Y5 receptor.

Regulatory

ACOG Practice Advisory: Consider Stopping GLP-1 Drugs 1 to 2 Months Before Conception, Avoid Them in Pregnancy, Weigh Use While Breastfeeding

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists issued an October 2026 practice advisory, developed with D. Yvette LaCoursiere and reported by Healio on October 23, on GLP-1 receptor agonists around pregnancy. It says clinicians should explain that safety data in pregnancy are lacking, consider stopping the drugs 1 to 2 months before conception, and advise against use during pregnancy. For breastfeeding, patients and clinicians may decide together on a postpartum plan that includes a GLP-1 drug, with close checks of the baby's weight gain, but ACOG recommends against use when nursing preterm infants and newborns.

#glp-1 #pregnancy #breastfeeding #acog
Clinical Trials

Genentech's Acmopatide (CT-868) Cut Weight by Up to 6.7% in 16 Weeks in Adults With Type 1 Diabetes and Obesity, Without Ketoacidosis

Researchers from Genentech, Roche, UNC Chapel Hill, UC San Diego, and the Barbara Davis Center reported in Diabetes Care on October 28, 2026 a Phase 2 trial of acmopatide, a once-daily injected GLP-1/GIP receptor agonist built to favor certain signaling pathways, in 111 adults with type 1 diabetes and a BMI of 27 or more. Over 16 weeks, weight fell 3.3% to 6.7% across the 1.8, 4.1, and 6.6 mg doses versus a 0.3% gain on placebo. HbA1c improvement over placebo was small and nominally significant only at 4.1 mg (0.3 points); insulin doses fell, side effects were mostly gastrointestinal, and there was no diabetic ketoacidosis or severe hypoglycemia.

#acmopatide #type-1-diabetes #genentech #gip
Research

Western University Study Finds the Semaglutide Panic Attack Signal in FDA Reports Rose After a July 2023 Regulatory Announcement

Western University researchers in Ontario reported in Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety on October 27, 2026 an analysis of FDA Adverse Event Reporting System data from 2018 to 2024. Panic attacks appeared in 0.26% of 33,267 semaglutide reports versus 0.05% for dulaglutide and empagliflozin (adjusted reporting odds ratios 2.82 and 2.75), but the adjusted signal before July 1, 2023 was not significant, and panic reports per 10,000 semaglutide reports rose from 6.7 in 2018-2022 to 42.0 in 2023-2024. Across 12 trials and comparison studies, the team found no consistent rise in panic or anxiety, and says the pattern fits notoriety bias, where publicity drives reporting.

#semaglutide #mental-health #faers #side-effects
Research

University of California Study of 70,982 Adults Ties GLP-1 Drugs to Fewer Heart and Kidney Problems but More Osteoarthritis and Stress Fractures

Researchers across five University of California medical centers reported in the Journal of Diabetes Science and Technology on October 28, 2026 a target-trial emulation comparing adults with type 2 diabetes who started a GLP-1 drug with matched starters of sulfonylureas, SGLT2 inhibitors, or DPP-4 inhibitors, followed for up to five years. Of 181 outcomes screened, 118 associations held up in the authors' checks: 65 lower risks, including heart attack (hazard ratio 0.53) and kidney inflammation (0.73), and 53 higher risks, including osteoarthritis (1.48), stress fractures (1.68), diverticular disease, sleep-wake disorders, and menopausal disorders. The study uses health records and shows associations, not cause.

#glp-1 #type-2-diabetes #real-world-evidence
Research

Breast Cancer Survivors on GLP-1 Drugs Had About a Third the Rate of Coded Lymphedema After Mastectomy or Lymph Node Surgery

Researchers at Jefferson Einstein Philadelphia Hospital reported in Supportive Care in Cancer on October 27, 2026 a TriNetX study of 61,630 propensity-matched adults with breast cancer who had a mastectomy or underarm lymph node procedure. Coded postmastectomy lymphedema, arm swelling caused by damaged lymph drainage, was recorded in 0.88% of GLP-1 users versus 2.58% of nonusers over up to 650 days (hazard ratio 0.37), an absolute difference of 1.7 percentage points. The study relied on diagnosis codes and cannot show that the drugs prevented lymphedema.

#glp-1 #breast-cancer #lymphedema #real-world-evidence
Industry

PolyPeptide Shareholders Elect a Samsung Biologics Slate to the Board, Effective When Samsung's Tender Offer Settles

Shareholders of PolyPeptide Group, the Swiss contract maker of peptide drug ingredients, approved all board proposals at an extraordinary general meeting in Baar on October 27, 2026. They elected John Chongbo Rim as chair along with Seungho Ryu, Cheol Woo Ryu, Mihyun Yang, and Joonkyung Seong, effective when Samsung Peptide AG, a Samsung Biologics subsidiary, settles its public tender offer. Shareholders also voted to remove limits on share transfers and voting rights from the company's articles, subject to the offer's conditions.

#polypeptide #samsung-biologics #cdmo
Research

NYU Langone and Baptist Health Orthopedic Surgeons Find Human Evidence for BPC-157 in Muscles and Tendons Limited to One Small Case Series

Foot and ankle surgeons at NYU Langone Health and Baptist Health South Florida reviewed BPC-157, thymosin beta-4, and TB-500 in the Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons on October 27, 2026. BPC-157 has the most animal data for tendon, ligament, muscle, and bone, but human musculoskeletal evidence is one small retrospective case series with no control group; thymosin beta-4's musculoskeletal data come only from lab and rodent studies, and TB-500, a seven-amino-acid fragment, is often confused with the full protein. None has an FDA-approved musculoskeletal use, and the authors advise against routine use and urge surgeons to ask about peptide use and warn athletes about anti-doping rules.

#bpc-157 #tb-500 #sports-medicine
Research

Leipzig and Shanghai Scientists Solve the Cryo-EM Structure of Neuropeptide Y Bound to Its Y5 Receptor, a Target for Cachexia and Cancer

Researchers at Leipzig University and the Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica reported in Angewandte Chemie on October 28, 2026 the cryo-electron microscopy structure of the neuropeptide Y5 receptor bound to neuropeptide Y and its G protein. The structure shows features of the receptor's outer surface that help it recognize the peptide and how the tail end of neuropeptide Y binds, backed by mutation tests with neuropeptide Y and a selective Y5 agonist. The authors say the lack of structural data had slowed drug development for the Y5 receptor, which is studied as a target in cachexia and cancer.

#neuropeptide-y #cryo-em #peptide-discovery
Research

Scorpion Venom Peptide BmKDfsin3 Blocks SFTS Virus and Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1 in Cell Tests by Boosting Interferon Signaling

Researchers at Hubei University of Technology, Hubei University of Medicine, and partner institutions in China reported in Microbiology Spectrum on October 28, 2026 that BmKDfsin3, a scorpion venom peptide, reduced replication of severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus (an RNA virus) and herpes simplex virus type 1 (a DNA virus) in human lung cells, mainly after the viruses entered. The peptide blocked the viruses' activation of the p38 pathway and strengthened type I and III interferon responses. It showed low toxicity to cells, red blood cells, and mice; antiviral effects have not been tested in animals or people.

#venom-peptides #scorpion-venom #antiviral-peptides #preclinical
Research

Henan University Lipid Nanoparticle Carries HPV16 Peptide Antigens and a Manganese Adjuvant Together, Slowing Tumors in Mice

Researchers at Henan University and MAXVAX Bio-tech reported in ACS Applied Bio Materials on October 28, 2026 a lipid nanoparticle with phenolic groups that holds HPV16 E6/E7 peptide antigens by hydrogen bonding, regardless of their charge, and binds manganese ions that act as an immune booster. The particles helped immune cells take up the antigens, switched on the STING pathway, and reached nearby lymph nodes after injection into muscle. In the TC-1 mouse tumor model they increased tumor-killing CD8 T cells and slowed tumor growth without visible toxicity; the work has not been tested in people.

#peptide-vaccine #cancer-vaccine #hpv #preclinical

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