Editorial updates
Dated editorial updates on peptide regulation, research, and access. Each entry follows the same sourcing standard as our reference pages and links out to the peptide guides it references.
editorial, evidence-review, safety, glp-1, body-composition
Roughly a quarter to two-fifths of the weight lost on semaglutide or tirzepatide is fat-free mass, not fat. Here is what the trial DXA data really say, why the number is easy to misread, and what the 2025-2026 muscle-preservation trials — BELIEVE, EMBRAZE, and COURAGE — have and have not shown.
editorial, regulatory, safety, research-peptides
A dated editorial update on the July 23-24, 2026 Pharmacy Compounding Advisory Committee vote, which recommended six of seven research peptides for the 503A bulk substances list over the objections of the FDA's own review scientists. What the vote decided, and what it does not change.
editorial, research-peptides, regulatory, safety
BPC-157 is one of the most-discussed peptides on the internet and one of the least-tested in humans. Here is the entire published human evidence base, what the FDA actually did in April 2026, and why the July 23 PCAC review is the date to watch.
editorial, glp-1, obesity, regulatory, access
Retatrutide, Eli Lilly's GLP-1/GIP/glucagon triple agonist, just posted the largest weight-loss figures ever recorded for the drug class in Phase 3 — up to roughly 30%. It is also investigational in every country on earth, with no lawful way to buy it. Here is who makes it, where the only legal access exists, and how people are actually getting it.
editorial, science, market
The cultural conversation collapses three different things into one word. Pulling them apart is the most useful editorial work this site does — and it's the difference between a $1.4B FDA-approved drug and a substance with no human safety data.
international, regulatory, access
A wellness-travel category that didn't exist as a category five years ago has become a fixture of TikTok and a recurring story in mainstream press. The map of where it actually works — and where it carries real risk — is more constrained than the social posts suggest.
regulatory, compounding, safety
'Compounded' is not a single category. The safety question depends on whether the substance is on a 503A or 503B bulks list, on the pharmacy's track record, and on what the clinician documents — not on marketing language.
regulatory, compounding, shortage list, GLP-1
FDA declared the tirzepatide injection shortage resolved in December 2024. The compounded-tirzepatide landscape changed materially over the following year — but the regulatory geometry is more nuanced than 'compounding is now banned.'
regulatory, compounding, FDA
FDA's April 22, 2026 503A bulks-list update reshuffled the compounded-peptide landscape. Here's what moved, what stayed, and what each change actually means.
