The FDA has begun targeting illicit peptide sellers. Now it needs to address the supply chains that keep them in business.
Unlike FDA-approved peptide medicines, many compounds marketed online have never undergone rigorous clinical testing or regulatory review. That leaves fundamental questions about their safety and effectiveness unanswered.
The bigger challenge is the supply chain. Overseas manufacturers can profit from American demand while making it difficult for U.S. authorities to enforce the laws governing drug imports.
China is a major source of these products. According to an analysis of import recordsconducted by the Partnership for Safe Medicines, at least eight shipments of retatrutide entered the U.S. supply chain from Chinese manufacturers during the first quarter of 2026. Some contained several kilograms of the ingredient. As the Partnership noted, bulk imports of an experimental drug by third-party suppliers raise significant patient-safety concerns.
The money flowing through this market is substantial. Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis estimates that cryptocurrency transactions involving gray-market peptide vendors reached $32 million in the first quarter of 2026, up 159% from the previous quarter. That put the market on pace to exceed $100 million annually in cryptocurrency transactions alone.
Some suppliers have troubling histories. According to the Wall Street Journal, blockchain analytics firm TRM Labs has identified at least 50 companies selling peptides among more than 200 businesses it had tracked for selling fentanyl precursors. Some of those companies have been indicted in the United States for their alleged roles in the fentanyl trade.
Suppliers have also developed ways to make their products harder to track. Additional reporting from the Wall Street Journal found that Chinese shippers have concealed individual peptide orders inside larger packages falsely labeled as ordinary merchandise, such as snacks. Customs officers in Cincinnati have disrupted roughly 400 such smuggling attempts containing nearly 6,000 individual peptide orders.
Nothing contained in this blog is to be construed as necessarily reflecting the views of the Pacific Research Institute or as an attempt to thwart or aid the passage of any legislation.
The FDA Is Struggling To Police The Peptide Boom
Sally C. Pipes
The FDA has begun targeting illicit peptide sellers. Now it needs to address the supply chains that keep them in business.
Unlike FDA-approved peptide medicines, many compounds marketed online have never undergone rigorous clinical testing or regulatory review. That leaves fundamental questions about their safety and effectiveness unanswered.
The bigger challenge is the supply chain. Overseas manufacturers can profit from American demand while making it difficult for U.S. authorities to enforce the laws governing drug imports.
China is a major source of these products. According to an analysis of import recordsconducted by the Partnership for Safe Medicines, at least eight shipments of retatrutide entered the U.S. supply chain from Chinese manufacturers during the first quarter of 2026. Some contained several kilograms of the ingredient. As the Partnership noted, bulk imports of an experimental drug by third-party suppliers raise significant patient-safety concerns.
The money flowing through this market is substantial. Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis estimates that cryptocurrency transactions involving gray-market peptide vendors reached $32 million in the first quarter of 2026, up 159% from the previous quarter. That put the market on pace to exceed $100 million annually in cryptocurrency transactions alone.
Some suppliers have troubling histories. According to the Wall Street Journal, blockchain analytics firm TRM Labs has identified at least 50 companies selling peptides among more than 200 businesses it had tracked for selling fentanyl precursors. Some of those companies have been indicted in the United States for their alleged roles in the fentanyl trade.
Suppliers have also developed ways to make their products harder to track. Additional reporting from the Wall Street Journal found that Chinese shippers have concealed individual peptide orders inside larger packages falsely labeled as ordinary merchandise, such as snacks. Customs officers in Cincinnati have disrupted roughly 400 such smuggling attempts containing nearly 6,000 individual peptide orders.
Read the entire op-ed here.
Nothing contained in this blog is to be construed as necessarily reflecting the views of the Pacific Research Institute or as an attempt to thwart or aid the passage of any legislation.