Leerink sees a $2.2 billion peptide market, with Hims potentially capturing about 20%.
- An FDA advisory panel backed compounding access for BPC-157, KPV, TB-500 and MOTS-C.
- The recommendation is not FDA approval and still requires formal agency rulemaking.
- FDA scientists opposed the move over weak evidence, safety concerns and unclear product identities.
Shares of Hims & Hers Health, Inc. (HIMS) climbed 1% in overnight trading late Thursday after a divided Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory panel recommended easing restrictions on four popular peptides, potentially opening a sizable new market for telehealth firms.
HIMS stock jumped more than 3% to $32.74 on Thursday, but remains on track for a third consecutive weekly loss and its worst monthly run since February.
Hims Eyes $2.2B Peptide Market After FDA Vote
The FDA’s Pharmacy Compounding Advisory Committee narrowly voted to recommend adding BPC-157, KPV, TB-500 and MOTS-C to the 503A Bulks List, which would allow specialized pharmacies to compound them for individual patients. The vote is not an FDA approval, and the agency must still decide whether to advance the change through formal rulemaking.
Leerink Partners called the outcome a “positive catalyst” for Hims, noting that BPC-157 is “likely one of the more commercially viable” peptides under review. The brokerage has estimated that allowing all seven peptides being considered could create a $2.2 billion annual telehealth market, with Hims potentially capturing about 20%. Leerink, however, maintained a ‘Market-Perform’ rating and $25 price target, implying a 24% downside from current levels. The firm cited uncertainty around Hims’ ability to build and scale a new peptide platform.
Hims Chief Medical Officer Anant Vinjamoori, who addressed the committee, called the recommendation a “meaningful step” toward regulated access on X. “Millions of Americans are already accessing these treatments through the gray market,” Vinjamoori said, arguing that a supervised pathway is the best way to protect patients from dangerous products. “Peptides are simply our newest frontier,” he added.
Hims’ rival telehealth firm Noom also presented to the committee. Its Chief Medical Officer Jeffrey Egler said that allowing BPC-157 compounding would not create new demand but would give an existing market “a quality floor.”
FDA Peptide Vote Draws ‘Solid Science’ Concerns
The panel’s support came over strong objections from FDA career scientists, who cited limited clinical evidence, safety risks and uncertainty about the chemical identity of some products. “We’ve never faced a problem of, ‘What is it?’” FDA official Russell Wesdyk told the committee.
BPC-157, KPV and TB-500 each received eight yes votes, six no votes and one abstention. MOTS-C received seven yes votes, five no votes and two abstentions. Supporters argued that regulated compounding would be safer than leaving consumers to purchase “research use only” products online. “I’m concerned that we’re responding to a market-induced demand rather than a decision based in solid science,” panelist Elizabeth Rebello said. Brian Lee of USC’s Keck School of Medicine said that the recommendation could be harmful and argued that decisions “should be objective and based on facts, not subjective and based on opinion.”
Martin Shkreli Shorts HIMS
Former hedge-fund manager Martin Shkreli took the other side of the Hims rally. “Shorted $HIMS,” Shkreli said on X. “Peptides are fake medicine. We have come far in the last 70 years of medicine, let’s not go backwards please.”
Shkreli, widely known as “Pharma Bro,” became notorious after raising the price of the life-saving drug Daraprim from $13.50 to $750 per pill. He later served more than four years in prison for defrauding investors and has since returned as an online stock commentator known for provocative bearish calls.
How Do Retail Traders Feel About HIMS?
On Stocktwits, retail sentiment for HIMS flipped to ‘extremely bullish’ from ‘bearish’ levels a day ago amid a 408% surge in 24-hour message volumes.
One user said, “$HIMS BBC 157 and T5 100 healed my partially torn tendon in my elbow anyone who’s calling peptides fake medicine you’re just jealous”
View this Stocktwits post
Another user said, “$HIMS it means HIMS can start compounding peptides in the California peptide manufacturing plant that they bought speculatively. Which they will then sell. Back to $70 soon”
View this Stocktwits post
HIMS stock has declined 44% over the past year.
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