Peptides have spent years in a legal gray zone, sold through a booming underground market to biohackers, longevity enthusiasts, and gym rats chasing faster recovery. That is starting to change, and a cluster of companies that make these compounds are positioning themselves to turn a shadowy trade estimated at around 3 billion dollars into a legitimate and lucrative business.
The pivotal moment came in late July, when an advisory panel to the Food and Drug Administration convened in Maryland to weigh whether to permit the production of seven peptides, with five more set for review in 2027. The agency's own technical staff had recommended against wider access, and even a favorable panel vote would only start a process that could take anywhere from months to more than a year. Yet for the compounding pharmacies that stand to profit, the meeting was an event not to be missed.
The companies waiting for a green light
At the front of the pack is Empower Pharmacy, a Houston operation founded by former mechanical engineer Shaun Noorian that runs 212,000 square feet of facilities and could reap several hundred million dollars in revenue if the rules loosen. I wouldn't miss it for the world, Noorian said of the FDA gathering. The who's who of the peptide space will be there. He is blunt about who he thinks should supply the market. No one can say these medications should be made by traditional pharma companies, he said.
He is far from alone. Strive Pharmacy, based in Utah, bought a 275,000 square foot facility in Florida in November 2025 and broke ground in December on a 350,000 square foot headquarters in Mesa, Arizona, due to open in early 2027. We'd love to make them, said cofounder and president Mike Walker. We are just waiting for the green light from the FDA. Others circling the opportunity include the telehealth firms Wheel and OpenLoop, along with ReviveRx, Hallandale, and the private equity backed Revelation Pharma.
Big money is already in
The most prominent name in the mix is Hims and Hers, the consumer health company valued at about 7.6 billion dollars, which bought a compounding pharmacy back in September 2024 and has leaned hard into longevity through executives like its Harvard trained chief medical officer, Dr. Anant Vinjamoori. The interest reflects how far peptides have traveled from the fringes, propelled by Silicon Valley founders, wellness influencers pushing so called peptide stacks for sleep and recovery, and even the health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has called himself a big fan.
The peptides at the center of the debate are already famous in fitness circles. BPC-157 is prized for its reputed ability to heal tendons, ligaments, and muscles, while TB-500 is believed to tame inflammation and speed wound healing, claims that have fueled demand well ahead of rigorous proof.
A gold rush with skeptics
Not everyone sees a clean, orderly market emerging. It will be a circus, said Scott Brunner, chief executive of the Alliance for Pharmacy Compounding. Everybody and their brother is coming. He suggested the category could dwarf the blockbuster weight loss drugs, saying the sheer number of peptides has the potential to make the GLP-1 experience look small by comparison. Michelle Davey, the founder of Wheel, put it in plainer terms, calling the situation akin to the supplement industry, the Wild West for the first six months at least.
The optimism carries real risk. Peter Kolchinsky, a managing partner at the investment firm RA Capital Management, framed the choice facing regulators as a test of credibility. Is the FDA going to stand on science, he asked, or permit snake oil readily available. That tension, between an industry eager to cash in and a scientific establishment wary of unproven treatments flooding the market, will define what happens next. For the pharmacies that have already poured hundreds of thousands of square feet and millions of dollars into getting ready, the bet is that legitimacy, and the profits that come with it, are only a matter of time.
