The Trump administration’s proposal to loosen restrictions on peptide drugs was met with resistance from the majority of scientific staff at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, according to six people familiar with the policy’s development.
The plan, which would have given Americans easier access to peptide drugs that have not yet been proven safe or effective, was championed by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and intended to accelerate the availability of these experimental treatments.
Most FDA scientists opposed the initiative, but their input was limited when the policy was drafted. Insiders said the agency’s scientific workforce was not meaningfully consulted during the formulation of the proposal.
The six sources, who asked to remain anonymous, indicated that the lack of scientific involvement raised concerns within the agency about the potential risks of making untested peptide therapies more widely available.
Under normal procedures, the FDA evaluates new drugs for safety and efficacy before they can be marketed. Easing access to unproven peptide drugs would represent a departure from that standard review process, prompting the scientific staff’s objections.
<small>Source: PBS NewsHour — read the original story there.</small>
