Peptide News Digest

Hims to Sell BPC-157 and TB-500, Merck's Efinopegdutide Clears MASH Test, Stopping GLP-1s Tied to Heart Events

Hims & Hers plans to sell unapproved peptides, Merck's efinopegdutide resolves MASH in up to 63%, and an Italian study links stopping GLP-1s to heart events.

10 stories · Covering industry, clinical-trials, research

Editor's Note

Hims & Hers says it will sell BPC-157 and TB-500 under HHS's new enforcement discretion, and other reporting today shows who already uses these peptides and how poor the information they find online can be. A Colorado cyclist told Escape Collective he injected the pair after shoulder surgery on a friend's protocol, and a Columbia University study of 300 Google results found that medical practice and single-surgeon websites scored lowest on basic quality criteria. On the GLP-1 side, an Italian study of 80,302 people with type 2 diabetes found that about 4 in 100 who stopped treatment had a heart attack, stroke or death, compared with about 2 in 100 who kept going, though outside experts told ABC Australia that people who stop may already be sicker. A French poll suggests demand will keep outrunning prescriptions: more than 40% of adults interested in the drugs said they would consider getting them without one. Merck's efinopegdutide, which adds glucagon to GLP-1, resolved liver inflammation in more than half of patients with MASH in a 52-week Phase 2b trial, and a Pittsburgh trial will test whether semaglutide helps people recovering from alcohol or opioid addiction.

Industry

Hims & Hers Will Sell BPC-157 and TB-500 After HHS Eased Compounding Curbs, Starting With Sermorelin and Glutathione

Hims & Hers said on November 9 that it will begin selling glutathione, sermorelin, and NAD+ in November and will later offer BPC-157 and TB-500, the injury-recovery pair known as the "Wolverine stack," after HHS said last month that it would not take enforcement action against licensed pharmacies that compound them under certain conditions, Reuters reported. CEO Andrew Dudum said Hims would manufacture BPC-157 and TB-500 in the U.S.; Reuters noted that, like glutathione, the two have not been assessed by the FDA for safety or efficacy. CFO Yemi Okupe said revenue from the products is expected to be immaterial this year.

#hims-hers #bpc-157 #tb-500 #compounding #peptide-regulation
Clinical Trials

Merck's Efinopegdutide Resolved MASH in 56% to 63% of Patients vs. 13% on Placebo in a 52-Week Phase 2b Trial

In the MK-6024-013 trial of 386 adults with biopsy-confirmed MASH and stage F2 or F3 liver fibrosis, once-weekly efinopegdutide, a GLP-1/glucagon receptor co-agonist licensed from Hanmi Pharmaceutical, resolved MASH without worsening fibrosis in 56%, 63%, and 61% of patients on 4, 7, and 10 mg vs. 13% on placebo, Merck said on November 9; fibrosis improved by at least one stage in 43%, 52%, and 34% vs. 21%. Nausea affected 29% to 44% of efinopegdutide patients vs. 39% on an open-label semaglutide 2.4 mg reference arm and 11% on placebo, and 11% on the 10 mg dose stopped because of side effects. The results were presented at The Liver Meeting in Denver and published in The Lancet.

#efinopegdutide #merck #mash #hanmi-pharmaceutical #glucagon
Research

Italian Study of 80,302 Adults With Type 2 Diabetes Links Stopping GLP-1 Drugs to More Heart Attacks, Strokes, and Deaths

About 4 in 100 people who stopped a GLP-1 drug had a heart attack, stroke, or died, compared with about 2 in 100 who kept taking one, in a study of Italians with type 2 diabetes and no prior cardiovascular disease followed from 2004 to 2024, ABC Australia reported on November 10; about 60% stopped, and most participants used liraglutide or dulaglutide. Lead author Antonio Ceriello of IRCCS MultiMedica said only modest rises in weight, blood pressure, and blood sugar followed stopping. Clara Chow of the University of Sydney, who was not involved, said the conclusion "might be misleading" because the study did not record why people stopped and those who did may have been sicker. The paper appears in The Lancet Regional Health – Europe.

#glp-1 #type-2-diabetes #discontinuation #cardiovascular
Research

Columbia Study of 300 Google Results on Orthopedic Peptides Finds Most Questions Ask How BPC-157 Works and What Its Risks Are

Orthopedic surgeons at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia ran three Google searches on peptide therapy in orthopedics, mainly BPC-157, and analyzed 300 "People also ask" questions and their linked websites. Structure and function (31.7%) and risks and complications (20.7%) were the top question topics, and websites averaged 2.0 of 4 on the JAMA benchmark criteria for source quality, with government sites (mostly PubMed articles) scoring 3.6 and medical practice and single-surgeon sites 0.7, the paper in Arthroscopy, Sports Medicine, and Rehabilitation reports. The authors advise doctors to discuss evidence quality when talking about peptides.

#bpc-157 #orthopaedic-peptide #health-information
Industry

Escape Collective: Cyclists Are Injecting the BPC-157 and TB-500 "Wolverine Stack" for Injury Recovery

Durango, Colorado, cyclist Mark Gouge told Escape Collective he injected BPC-157 and TB-500 on a protocol from a riding friend after a second shoulder surgery this year and was back on his bike within six weeks, which he credits to the peptides. The cycling outlet reported on November 10 that such use is spreading through influencer promotion and gray-market sales, even though most popular peptides have not been approved for human use, have little rigorous human testing, and are banned in competitive sport.

#bpc-157 #tb-500 #cycling #athletic-performance #gray-market
Industry

Former Eli Lilly Sales Rep Sues, Saying She Was Fired After Complaining About Mounjaro Weight-Loss Promotion

Jennifer Mansion, hired four years ago as a senior territory manager in Dallas, alleges in a federal lawsuit in Texas that other Lilly sales reps promoted the diabetes drug Mounjaro for weight loss before it had FDA approval for that use and that a physician did the same at a Lilly-sponsored luncheon, STAT reported on November 10. Drugmakers may not market a drug for unapproved uses. Lilly denies wrongdoing and says the claim should be dismissed.

#eli-lilly #mounjaro #off-label-marketing #lawsuit
Research

Ifop Poll: 18% of French Adults Are Interested in Weight-Loss Drugs; Over 40% of Them Would Consider Skipping a Prescription

In an online Ifop survey of 3,004 French adults conducted in May for the news site Darwin Nutrition, 18% said they would be interested in drugs such as Wegovy and Mounjaro, while only 4% had ever taken one, compared with 15% in the U.S., The Connexion reported on November 10. More than 40% of those interested, and 55% of interested 18- to 34-year-olds, said they would consider getting the drugs without a prescription, such as by ordering from abroad or through friends; the drugs are prescription-only in France and partly reimbursed in some cases since June 2026.

#france #wegovy #mounjaro #gray-market
Clinical Trials

Pittsburgh Trial Will Test Weekly Semaglutide in Up to 1,200 Adults With Alcohol or Opioid Use Disorder

The Center for Addiction Science, Policy and Research (CASPR) and Pennsylvania's Allegheny County Department of Human Services plan a randomized trial, expected to start in early 2027, in which half of up to 1,200 adults with alcohol use disorder, opioid use disorder, or both will receive weekly semaglutide for 52 weeks on top of standard addiction treatment, The Pharmacist reported on November 10. Researchers will use county records to track rearrest, housing, employment, and health care costs; UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital will be the lead clinical site.

#semaglutide #opioid-use-disorder #alcohol
Research

UT Health San Antonio Study of 72,521 GLP-1 Users Finds Higher Odds of Carpal and Cubital Tunnel Syndrome

In a retrospective TriNetX cohort matching 72,521 patients on GLP-1 receptor agonists with controls, GLP-1 users were more likely to be diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome (odds ratio 1.33) and cubital tunnel syndrome (OR 1.34), and those diagnosed were more likely to get steroid injections or surgery. Outcomes after nerve-release surgery did not differ, the paper in HAND reports. Diabetes and obesity are themselves risk factors for both conditions, and the authors say the mechanism is unclear.

#glp-1 #carpal-tunnel #side-effects
Industry

Cork Startup ArrayPatch Raises €1.6 Million More to Take a Dissolving GLP-1 Microneedle Patch Toward Human Studies

ArrayPatch, a University College Cork spin-out, closed a second seed round of €1.6 million, bringing its total to €3.2 million, with WakeUp Capital co-leading, the Irish Examiner reported on November 10. The company says the microneedles in its DerMap patch are made entirely of the drug being delivered, with no polymer, and it will use the money to move its lead GLP-DerMap program for obesity and diabetes toward first-in-human studies.

#drug-delivery #microneedle-patch #glp-1 #funding

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