Chinese Opioid Manufacturers Are Getting Creative

Chinese chemical manufacturers are reportedly using cryptocurrency to capitalize on growing American demand for peptides, a loosely regulated class of compounds commonly promoted for muscle growth, weight loss and recovery.

The Food and Drug Administration’s Pharmacy Compounding Advisory Committee is scheduled to meet Thursday and Friday to consider whether seven peptides should be added to the Section 503A Bulks List. That list determines which bulk drug substances certain medical professionals may use to prepare customized prescriptions for individual patients.

The meeting comes amid new concerns about the overseas companies supplying peptides to American consumers. According to blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis, some Chinese manufacturers previously linked to the production of fentanyl and other opioids have shifted into the online peptide market, Axios reported on July 7.

An HHS spokesperson told the Daily Caller News Foundation that the Trump administration is focused on ensuring that drugs sold in the United States meet federal safety requirements.

“Under the Trump Administration, HHS and the FDA are committed to protecting Americans by ensuring that drugs marketed in the United States meet the applicable standards for safety,” the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson added that the FDA is continuing to use warning letters, inspections, import restrictions, seizures, injunctions and cooperation with domestic and international law-enforcement agencies to address the sale of unapproved drugs, including peptides marketed for human use.

Cryptocurrency appears to be playing a major role in the trade. Because crypto transactions can be more difficult to trace than payments made through traditional financial institutions, Chinese-based peptide sellers reportedly collected about $27 million during the first quarter of 2026. Chainalysis said that represented a 150 percent increase from the previous quarter.

The rapid growth has been fueled in part by social media, where wellness influencers frequently promote supplements, experimental treatments and other health products. A Pew Research Center study published in May found that roughly half of American adults receive at least some health advice from wellness influencers.

Sara Graham, a senior intelligence analyst at Chainalysis, said the decision by some manufacturers to move from fentanyl-related products into peptides appeared to be driven by profit and reduced legal exposure.

“For these manufacturers that decided to pivot, it was really a business decision,” Graham told Axios. She said the companies left a market in which they faced the possibility of U.S. sanctions or criminal charges and entered a highly profitable industry with widespread consumer demand.

Federal regulators have already warned consumers about the risks of using unapproved peptide products. The FDA has raised particular concerns about unapproved versions of GLP-1 drugs, which are commonly marketed for weight loss. Counterfeit or improperly compounded products may not meet the same standards for quality, purity and safety as FDA-approved medications such as Ozempic and Trulicity.

Nora Khaldi, the CEO of Nuritas, told Axios that she was alarmed by the risks some consumers were willing to take. Nuritas develops peptides derived from natural sources.

Khaldi said even a promising compound can be dangerous when users do not know how it was manufactured, whether it is contaminated or whether the dosage is accurate.

The reported shift into peptide sales is especially notable because of China’s long-standing role in the fentanyl supply chain. A 2020 Drug Enforcement Administration report identified China as the leading source of fentanyl and fentanyl-related substances shipped through international mail and express delivery networks, as well as a major source of substances trafficked into the United States.

Fentanyl remains a major public-health threat. Synthetic opioid overdoses, most of them involving fentanyl, killed approximately 38,000 Americans in 2025, according to data published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in May.

The peptide market is not the same as the fentanyl trade, but the overlap in manufacturers, payment systems and overseas supply networks has drawn increasing attention from regulators. As demand continues to rise, federal officials face the challenge of separating legitimate medical uses from an expanding online market filled with products of uncertain origin, quality and safety.

The Western Journal