{"id":810,"date":"2025-12-05T14:21:31","date_gmt":"2025-12-05T14:21:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/?p=810"},"modified":"2025-12-05T14:21:31","modified_gmt":"2025-12-05T14:21:31","slug":"not-approved-for-human-use-the-online-frenzy-for-injectable-peptides-sweeping-australia-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/?p=810","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Not approved for human use\u2019: the online frenzy for injectable peptides sweeping Australia | Health"},"content":{"rendered":"

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On TikTok<\/a>, a 21-year-old fitness influencer is spruiking a drug that hasn\u2019t even finished clinical trials.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis stuff is actually hard to come by in Australia, so I\u2019ll leave a reputable source in the description,\u201d the Sydneysider says. \u201cObviously, not approved for human use, so do with it as you will.\u201d<\/p>\n

He is talking about the supposed benefits of retatrutide, a peptide currently being tested for weight loss and yet to be approved by a regulator anywhere in the world.<\/p>\n

In another video titled \u201cHow to stop being pale for good\u201d, the influencer discusses the tanning effects of melanotan II \u2013 an unapproved synthetic peptide that increases melanin production in the skin, and which medical authorities have warned<\/a> can come with serious side effects.<\/p>\n

In a different clip he addresses the drug\u2019s potential skin cancer risks, concluding: \u201cUse at your own risk.\u201d<\/p>\n

When viewers ask where to get these products for themselves, he promotes a peptide retailer that he owns, business records show. (The influencer did not respond to a request for comment.)<\/p>\n

<\/svg><\/span>GLP-1 drugs such as Ozempic and Mounjaro are now among the best known peptides.<\/span> Photograph: Science Photo Library\/Alamy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

He is one operator riding the social media-driven boom for injectable peptides in Australia \u2013 a market of drugs purported to enhance aesthetic appearance and physical performance. Yet many are experimental and illegal to possess without a prescription.<\/p>\n

Advertising prescription-only or unapproved drugs<\/a> to the public, including on social media<\/a>, is also prohibited. But that hasn\u2019t stopped a range of influencers from providing dosing instructions and promoting them as the path to everything from fat loss to tanned skin.<\/p>\n

The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) declined to comment on specific websites or accounts, but said the agency had requested the removal of more than 13,700 online ads, many involving wellness and beauty therapeutic goods, in the 2024\u201325 financial year.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn general \u2026 prescription medicines and unapproved therapeutic goods cannot be advertised to the public, including via testimonials and endorsements,\u201d a spokesperson said.<\/p>\n

The peptide market in Australia has two broad entry points. One is direct sales from overseas or from an online retailer such as the one promoted by the influencer. The other is where drugs are obtained via prescription from doctors associated with wellness sites, which is legal in specific circumstances<\/a> provided \u201call other clinically appropriate options\u201d have been considered.<\/p>\n

What are peptides?<\/h2>\n

Peptides, the building blocks of proteins, occur naturally but can also be manufactured. They have varied functions in the body \u2013 insulin and endorphins being two examples. GLP-1 drugs such as Ozempic and Mounjaro are now among the best-known peptides.<\/p>\n

Yet there is limited evidence for the safety and efficacy in humans of some of the peptides most often mentioned on social media.<\/p>\n

Dr Ian Musgrave, a molecular pharmacologist at the University of Adelaide, says injecting many unapproved peptides amounts to \u201cjust punching holes in yourself and wasting money\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost of these have shown some form of activity in either in vitro models \u2013 tissue culture and so on \u2013 or animal models, but they haven\u2019t been confirmed in humans clinical trials,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Musgrave gives the example of AOD-9604, which is marketed as a fat burning drug and was injected by Essendon players in the 2013 AFL supplements scandal.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven though it\u2019s worked in animal models, it failed utterly in humans \u2013 it has no effect on weight loss in humans in clinical trials at all,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery time you inject yourself with a substance, there is a potential for harm. If you\u2019re injecting peptides then you have a risk of having an immune response to those peptides \u2026 which may be dangerous.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Laboratory use only\u2019<\/h2>\n

On forums dedicated to GLP-1 weight loss drugs, China-based vendors advertise shipping times to Australia. Price lists shared by Telegram sellers with Guardian Australia advertise 10 vials of retatrutide for $240, while human growth hormone \u2013 also a peptide \u2013 goes for much less.<\/p>\n

Guardian Australia has found almost two dozen websites claiming to sell these products to Australians for \u201cresearch purposes\u201d, yet many also offer individual dosing calculators<\/a> and display customer testimonials. In some cases, fitness influencers promote discount codes for suppliers that claim to supply laboratories.<\/p>\n

Business and website records show several of these sites appear to be owned by men in their early 20s based in suburban Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.<\/p>\n

One company, owned by a 23-year-old in Melbourne, advertises \u201cPremium. Pure. Reta\u201d and ships directly to consumers. Nevertheless, the website says the products are for \u201claboratory use only\u201d.<\/p>\n

The TGA spokesperson said medicines imported into and supplied in Australia generally must be included in the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods.<\/p>\n

Unapproved therapeutic goods can only be legally imported for clinical trials or for personal use with strict conditions<\/a>, and the TGA has issued fines<\/a> for alleged unlawful import of unapproved peptides.<\/p>\n

Many unapproved peptides are classified as \u201cpoisons for which possession without authority is illegal\u201d.<\/p>\n

<\/svg><\/span>Peter Magic estimates that this year the lab has completed almost 3,000 purity reports for the weight loss drug tirzepatide, better known as Mounjaro.<\/span> Photograph: Niall Carson\/PA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cYou cannot get around those regulations by providing \u2018for research purposes\u2019 only,\u201d says Prof Nial Wheate, a medicines researcher at Macquarie University. \u201cAnyone who accepts that compound must have a legal reason to have it, and for most people that means you must have a valid prescription.\u201d<\/p>\n

Retatrutide, a Lilly GLP-1 drug, is undergoing clinical trials<\/a> in Australia but is advertised for sale across \u201cresearch\u201d sites.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for Lilly said no one could legally sell it for human use. \u201cCounterfeit, black-market, and research-use only medicines are untested, unregulated and potentially dangerous,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n

Peter Magic has seen first-hand the remarkable boom in grey and black market peptides.<\/p>\n

His company Janoshik was one of the earliest labs to offer a purity testing service for anyone willing to pay and send a sample to the Czech Republic \u2013 Janoshik certificates are now displayed as markers of authenticity on the websites of both \u201cresearch peptide\u201d sellers and major manufacturers in China.<\/p>\n

Until about 2022, Magic says, anabolic steroids were the most common product sent to the lab for testing. Then GLP-1s \u201cexploded overnight\u201d.<\/p>\n

He estimates that this year the lab has completed almost 3,000 purity reports (which might include multiple vials) for the weight loss drug tirzepatide, better known as Mounjaro, 2,300 for retatrutide and more than 1,000 for BPC-157 and GHK-Cu.<\/p>\n

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