Know the product
Three kinds of offer can share one word
“Peptide” names a kind of substance: a small chain of the same building pieces that make up proteins. The word does not tell you what kind of care is on offer.
Guide, not a care service
Guide note
Approved products
Check three things: the exact product name, its form (a shot, a pill, or a spray), and the reason it is prescribed. Sharing an ingredient name with an approved medicine does not make a product approved.
As of September 2026, two peptide medicines with FDA approval are semaglutide, marketed as Ozempic and Wegovy, and tirzepatide, marketed as Mounjaro and Zepbound.
Source: FDA medicine recordsGuide note
Medicines made to order (compounded)
A compounded medicine is mixed or made to order by a pharmacist or doctor instead of arriving as a finished drug-company product.
Source: FDA compounding overviewAs of September 2026, the FDA has not approved compounded medicines, and a licensed pharmacy making one does not change that.
Source: FDA compounded-drug guideGuide note
Research-labelled chemicals
These are sold online as chemicals for laboratories, with a “research use only” label, not as medicine.
As of September 2026, many peptides sold online with a “research use only” label, such as BPC-157, ipamorelin, and MOTS-c, have no FDA-approved product in the United States.
Source: FDA medicine recordsA “research use only” label, as of September 2026, gives no legal cover for selling the item as a medicine for people, and the FDA has treated such products as unapproved drugs.
Source: FDA enforcement letter