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Ongoing reports and analysis

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration will meet in July to discuss easing access to seven peptides, experimental drugs that Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) movement have promoted as cure-alls for everything from injuries to aging. But these peptides are made predominantly in China, putting Kennedy on a collision course with anti-Beijing hawks in the Republican Party.

Peptides are short chains of amino acids naturally found in the body and some food. Some more well-known peptides include insulin and FDA-approved GLP-1 weight-loss drugs such as Wegovy and Ozempic. Others, including most of those under FDA review in July, are unapproved compounds that have nonetheless amassed a cult following among so-called looksmaxxers, bodybuilders, wellness influencers, and Silicon Valley biohackers. These include substances such as BPC-157 and KPV.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration will meet in July to discuss easing access to seven peptides, experimental drugs that Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) movement have promoted as cure-alls for everything from injuries to aging. But these peptides are made predominantly in China, putting Kennedy on a collision course with anti-Beijing hawks in the Republican Party.

Peptides are short chains of amino acids naturally found in the body and some food. Some more well-known peptides include insulin and FDA-approved GLP-1 weight-loss drugs such as Wegovy and Ozempic. Others, including most of those under FDA review in July, are unapproved compounds that have nonetheless amassed a cult following among so-called looksmaxxers, bodybuilders, wellness influencers, and Silicon Valley biohackers. These include substances such as BPC-157 and KPV.

Kennedy and his MAHA allies claim that these peptides can help with concerns ranging from muscle gain to weight loss. But the FDA has previously warned that they pose safety risks and barred pharmacies from compounding many of them. In 2023 and 2024, the agency removed 19 peptides from a list of products that compounding pharmacies are allowed to produce, citing risks associated with ‌immunogenicity, ⁠toxicity, and impurity. Last year, two women were hospitalized in critical condition after being injected with peptides at a longevity conference in Las Vegas.

A smartphone is seen playing a video of a TikTok influencer hammering their cheekbone as part of the popular “looksmaxxing” trend in Los Angeles on April 11, 2025.Chris Delmas/AFP via Getty Images

Now, seven of the 19 banned peptides might be deemed safe to compound, if the FDA moves to ease restrictions in July. Kennedy has vowed that the “FDA’s war on........

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