INSIDE COMPLIANCE

There is a substance that looks like a drug, functions like a drug, and is marketed like a drug, yet it generally exists outside the United States Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) traditional regulatory framework. Peptide drugs are everywhere, but regulation is nowhere to be found. These synthetic chemicals manipulate a wide range of biological processes in the human body, making them increasingly attractive for therapeutic, cosmetic, and performance-enhancing functions. But leaving peptides largely outside the FDA’s traditional framework creates a regulatory gap that warrants immediate federal oversight.