Why the CEO of Wegovy maker Novo Nordisk isn't yet sold on the peptide craze

Listen and subscribe to Power Players with Brian Sozzi on Apple Podcasts , Amazon Music , Spotify , YouTube , or wherever you find your favorite podcasts.

Novo Nordisk ( NVO ) CEO Mike Doustdar is all in on selling as much as possible of the drug giant's Wegovy weight-loss peptide.

But he is far less enthusiastic about what's happening in the underground market in the peptide world, where untested injections are being bought up by influencers looking to improve their skin complexion or weekend gym warriors aiming to shred pounds.

"There are so many of these peptides out there that, unlike the Wegovy pill, unlike our insulin, are not tested," Doustdar said in a new episode of the Power Players With Brian Sozzi podcast (video above; listen in below). "They have not gone through clinical trials, at best. Maybe there are some animal studies, and people have seen how they have behaved in a rat or a mouse, but not in a human. It's really good that our industry is regulated because medicines can have severe side effects. Medicine, you know, can kill if misused. So this is not like going and buying a fake Gucci bag. It has serious consequences."

Doustdar thinks the FDA should be regulating these types of peptides.

"They have not been tested, so the answer from my side is I have no clue [if they are safe], and for sure I don't want to take the risk on myself," Doustdar said. "Maybe they have benefits, maybe they have risks, maybe they don't. But why would you take such a big gamble and bet with your body, with your health?"

"Now, will I think that sometime in the future some of these molecules and some of these peptides should be tested properly by companies and go through FDA and regulations that we are obliged to deliver to? Absolutely," Doustdar added. "That's fine. If there's a market for them and if there's a need, let's test them. Let's put the safe version of them out there, but let's not gamble with our safety."

Driven by social media trends and the popularity of weight-loss drugs, the market for biohacking and wellness peptides — such as BPC-157 and TB-500 — has boomed among consumers seeking anti-aging, injury recovery, and muscle growth benefits.

Because the Food and Drug Administration previously placed many of these unapproved compounds on a restricted list prohibiting pharmacy compounding, millions of users migrated toward black and gray markets where regulations are nonexistent.

In response, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr., a self-described "big fan" of peptides who admits to using them himself, initiated a major policy pivot to roll back FDA restrictions on roughly 14 popular peptides.