Peptide News Digest

How HHS Chose Peptide Non-Enforcement, the Telehealth Peptide Rush, Awiqli for Kids, Wegovy Dropout in Israel

AP on how HHS chose peptide non-enforcement, telehealth's $199 peptide rush, Awiqli approved for kids, and two-thirds quit Wegovy within a year in Israel.

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

Editor's Note

Two days after HHS released its peptide policy, reporting shows how it came together and what it set off. AP says the department wanted a rule declaring the peptides safe and settled for non-enforcement because FDA scientists would not sign on, and Time found telehealth sites marketing them shortly afterward at $199 to $249 a month. Between the two sit pharmacy safeguards that a former FDA official says the agency has no legal power to enforce. On approved drugs, two large records studies point to the same problem from different countries: in Israel two-thirds of new Wegovy users stopped within a year, and among U.S. veterans with diabetes about a quarter did. A Swiss grocery study adds that better food choices early in treatment faded by 10 months. Outside obesity, the FDA extended a weekly insulin to children with type 2 diabetes, and a small Benin trial favored carbetocin over oxytocin after cesarean delivery.

Regulatory

AP: HHS Dropped a Plan to Declare Six Peptides Safe for Compounding After FDA Scientists Refused to Back It

Citing six people familiar with the policy, the Associated Press reported that HHS first wanted the FDA to write a rule adding BPC-157 and other peptides to the list of substances safe for compounding, then switched to a promise not to enforce after agency scientists would not support it. FDA staff did get some safeguards added: ingredients from FDA-registered factories, side-effect reporting, and purity checks. Former FDA official Peter Lurie said the agency lacks the legal authority to enforce those pharmacy requirements.

#bpc-157 #peptide-policy #fda #compounding #rfk-jr
Industry

Time: Telehealth Sites Began Marketing the Six Peptides at $199 to $249 a Month Soon After HHS's Notice

Time's Alana Semuels reported that telehealth sites were advertising BPC-157, TB-500, and the other four peptides for $199 to $249 a month shortly after HHS released its enforcement policy, and that Hims & Hers stock rose 5%. Analysts put the potential market at $3.3 billion. Time also noted two women who needed emergency treatment after receiving peptides at a Las Vegas festival, and quoted Fred Mills of Americans for Safe and Effective Medicines: "American consumers should not be treated like guinea pigs."

#telehealth #hims-hers #tb-500 #gray-market
Regulatory

FDA Approves Novo Nordisk's Once-Weekly Insulin Awiqli for Children 10 and Older With Type 2 Diabetes

The FDA cleared insulin icodec-abae 700 U/mL, approved for adults in March 2026, to improve blood sugar control in children aged 10 and older with type 2 diabetes. Healio reported the decision rested on the adult ONWARDS trials plus a single-dose study of how the drug moves through the body in children aged 10 to 17. The approval does not cover type 1 diabetes.

#awiqli #insulin-icodec #novo-nordisk #type-2-diabetes #pediatrics
Research

Two-Thirds of 34,309 Israeli Adults Who Started Wegovy in 2025 Stopped Within a Year, Clalit Records Show

Among Clalit Health Services members without diabetes who began Wegovy between January and May 2025, 36.5% had stopped by six months and 67.6% by one year, defined as a gap of more than 60 days. Members of the Arab population sector (HR 1.65), people with low socioeconomic status, and smokers were more likely to stop. Staying on the 0.25 mg starting dose at day 90 was also linked to stopping, though much less so after accounting for early refills. After Clalit added tirzepatide coverage in December 2025, 8.6% of eligible members started it.

#wegovy #semaglutide #discontinuation #real-world-evidence #israel
Research

Veterans Affairs Study: About 1 in 4 of 245,084 Veterans With Type 2 Diabetes Stopped Their GLP-1 Drug Within a Year

University of Iowa and VA researchers found 24.8% of veterans who started a GLP-1 drug between 2018 and 2023 stopped within a year. The 2,178 with irritable bowel syndrome stopped slightly less often (22.5% vs 25.9%), but the difference was not significant after adjustment (HR 0.93). BMI, other glucose-lowering drugs, depression, drug type, and start year were each tied to stopping.

#glp-1 #discontinuation #veterans #irritable-bowel-syndrome #type-2-diabetes
Research

Bern Loyalty-Card Study: GLP-1 Users Bought More Produce and Fiber at 5 Months, but Their Groceries Drifted Back by 10 Months

Inselspital Bern researchers matched household loyalty-card data from two major Swiss grocers for 56 adults with obesity and 92 normal-weight controls. After starting a GLP-1 drug, the obesity group's purchases shifted toward protein, fiber, fruit, vegetables, and unprocessed foods at 5 months, but by 10 months they no longer differed meaningfully from before treatment. The authors note the small sample and household-level data limit precision.

#glp-1 #grocery #food-purchasing #real-world-evidence
Research

IIT Bombay's Injectable Peptide Amyloid Gel Released Insulin for 90 Hours and Kept Diabetic Rats' Blood Sugar Normal for 60

Researchers at IIT Bombay and Mumbai's Institute of Chemical Technology built an injectable hydrogel from functional amyloid peptides that kept insulin stable and released it over 90 hours in lab tests. One injection under the skin brought diabetic rats' glucose to normal within 30 minutes and held it for 60 hours before it rose again at 66 hours, far longer than free insulin. Adding sodium alginate let the team tune the release rate.

#peptide-hydrogel #insulin #drug-delivery #preclinical
Research

Sichuan Team Isolates Xylarimides, Fungal Cyclic Depsipeptides That Trigger Lethal Autophagy in Kidney Cancer

Chemists isolated xylarimides A and B, two 21-membered cyclic depsipeptides with a previously undescribed chemical unit, from the fungus Xylaria striata. Xylarimide A slowed the growth of kidney cancer cell lines and 786-O tumors in mice. It binds the autophagy protein ATG7 and suppresses AKT-mTOR signaling, driving cancer cells into lethal autophagy.

#natural-products #kidney-cancer #autophagy #preclinical
Clinical Trials

Benin Trial of 60 Cesarean Patients: Carbetocin Firmed the Uterus Faster Than Oxytocin and Cut Rescue Drug Use

At the Lagune University Hospital for Mother and Child in Cotonou, 60 women having a cesarean were randomized to carbetocin or oxytocin to prevent postpartum hemorrhage. At 5 minutes, uterine tone was satisfactory in 93.3% on carbetocin versus 40.0% on oxytocin, and extra uterotonic drugs were needed in 20.0% versus 56.7%. Low blood pressure and nausea or vomiting were more common with oxytocin; the authors call for cost-effectiveness studies.

#oxytocin #carbetocin #postpartum-hemorrhage #maternal-health
Research

Japanese Rat Study: Switching On the Brain's Oxytocin Neurons Eased Arthritis Swelling and Pain

University of Occupational and Environmental Health researchers activated oxytocin-producing neurons in transgenic rats with adjuvant arthritis using a designer-receptor technique, and separately gave ordinary rats the oxytocin receptor agonist LIT-001. Both approaches reduced arthritis severity, ankle swelling, and pain-related behavior, and joints showed less inflammation and cartilage damage. The work was in male rats only.

#oxytocin #arthritis #preclinical

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