7 min read Peptides are all anyone wants to talk about right now, and the conversation is about to get louder with HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr’s push to make more of them available from specialized pharmacies. On April 15, the FDA announced that an expert panel will meet in July to evaluate seven peptides for inclusion on the agency’s list of substances that can be dispensed by compounding pharmacies. The panel will evaluate another five peptides in 2027. What does that really mean? Peptides are short strands of amino acids that help cells communicate with each other. Some can be taken as drugs. Among the most famous are GLP-1s like Ozempic. But what’s getting the spotlight right now are more than a dozen unapproved peptide drugs that, back in September 2023, the FDA added to its Category 2 Bulk Substances list—that’s a list of substances that the FDA says pose “significant safety risks” and are not eligible for compounding without further research.…