02/28/2026
Pressure is easing on peptides! With reclassification happening in 2 to 4 weeks. Below is the exact transcript between RFK and Joe Rogan where he explains that he wants to reclassify 14 peptides to Category 1 (okay to compound), while ones in litigation are unlikely to be changed at the moment.
4 peptides in litigation:
AOD-9604
CJC-1295
Ipamorelin acetate
Thymosin alpha-1 (Ta1)
Remaining 15 peptides:
BPC-157
Cathelicidin LL-37
Dihexa Acetate
Emideltide (DSIP)
Epitalon
GHK-Cu (for injectable routes of administration only)
Ibutamoren Mesylate
Kisspeptin-10
KPV
Melanotan II
Mechano Growth Factor, Pegylated (PEG-MGF)
MOTs-C
Selank
Semax (heptapeptide)
Thymosin Beta-4, Fragment (LKKTETQ)
RFK is planning on only one of the remaining 15 not being reclassified to category 1.
Rogan: "Which brings me to peptides. Where are we at right now on peptides and getting them regulated and making sure it’s not this weird gray area? Because we know they’re effective, but we also know there’s a lot of pushback on peptides."
RFK:
"Yeah. I mean, I’m a big fan of peptides. I’ve used them myself and used them with really good effect on a couple of injuries. What happened was there were 19 peptides that, just so people understand, there was a law written to allow compounding pharmacies to make compounds that were part of approved drugs — part of approved ingredients of approved drugs — to make them individually for patients who did not have access to the particular formulation that they needed, maybe if they had an allergy to the commercial brand or whatever. And compounding pharmacies and peptides were part of that group. There were 19 peptides that were widely formulated by compounding pharmacies. During the Biden administration, they illegally moved those to Category 2, which says 'do not formulate.' It was illegal because they’re not supposed to do that unless there’s a safety signal. And they didn’t have a safety signal. They’re not allowed to look at efficacy. They’re not allowed to say, 'Well, we don’t believe these are efficacious or whatever.' They can only look at safety. They moved those to Category 2, which means do not formulate.
What happened? There was huge demand for peptides, and so a black market came out. The black market is run by companies that say that they’re making the peptides for animal use or for research purposes. And that peptide now basically completely replaced the legal market. The legal market for peptides — the compounding pharmacies were getting those peptides from FDA-inspected facilities, some of them in India and China, but they were the same ones that the pharmaceutical industry is buying them from and we inspect those. You know, you’re getting a good product. You’re getting what you bought, what was advertised. With the gray market, you have no idea. And a lot of this stuff that we’ve looked at is just very, very substandard.
I’m very anxious to move — probably not all of those peptides, some of them are in litigation — but about 14 of them back to making them more accessible. And the FDA is in the middle of, I think within a couple of weeks we will have announced some kind of new action. And my hope is that they’re still looking at the science. My hope is that they’re going to get moved to a place where people have access from ethical suppliers. "
Rogan: "That’s ultimately the problem with all this black market stuff, right? A lot of people are getting bogus peptides and they don’t have any idea if they work, whether to test them. They just take a chance. They take a risk. They get a little flyer in their email or something and they hear from somebody else, 'I got it from this place.' They don’t even know and they try it. And you’re getting nonsense bogus peptides."
RFK:
"I mean, we created the black market, and it's a very dangerous black market."
1:31:20
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services, founder of the Waterkeeper Alliance and Children’s Health Defense, and an ...
