| The next big thing after GLP-1 weight loss shots? Peptides, if digital health companies get their wish. |
| Peptides are chains of amino acids. GLP-1s are peptides, as is insulin. But in recent years, a black market for other types of these injectable substances (many of which are banned for compounding by the FDA) has popped up. Across the internet, there are sellers hawking peptides for building muscle, improving the immune system, boosting energy — even getting tan. They've grown popular among longevity enthusiasts, bodybuilders and tech bros. |
| Companies like Noom and Hims & Hers want to move peptides into the mainstream. They’re betting that HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., will get the FDA to lift restrictions on certain peptides, and the FDA is reportedly poised to do so. |
| Noom is so sure of this outcome that it’s buying a compounding pharmacy to prepare. Hims acquired a peptide manufacturing facility last year. Superpower told Ngai that it’s considering its own compounding pharmacy purchase. |
| It looks to me like these companies are trying to find a new category that can match the fervor and, more importantly, revenue inspired by GLP-1s over the past few years. But it’s hard to believe that the peptide market will ever reach those heights. |
| Shots like Ozempic and Wegovy have tons of rigorous evidence behind them. Most peptides don’t. And because there’s no big drugmaker behind them, I don’t see a clinical trial on the horizon. Compounded weight loss shots also benefited from widespread ad campaigns by branded drugmakers. Peptides won’t have that level of awareness. |
| The effects of GLP-1s are also plain to see: Users lose lots of weight. But other peptides’ effects (assuming they do what sellers claim) are invisible. Will millions of people fork over hundreds of dollars for a shot based on an anecdote? |
| - Shelby |
