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Compounding Pharmacies Vs Online Peptide Suppliers

By Josh Whalen
February 22, 2022

The Hormone Replacement and Prescription Peptide Space has Grown.


As the hormone replacement and prescription peptide space grows, I’ve become increasingly frustrated with “bad actors.” Namely, the black-market suppliers that don’t go through the correct regulatory process, don’t write prescriptions and have no medical oversight.

While I would rather be spending my time and energy elsewhere, I feel a strong obligation to protect patients and ensure the entire industry doesn’t get a bad rap. When we allow bad actors to become a part of any vacuum in healthcare, we all suffer. The best-case scenario may be that a product doesn’t offer any relief and the patient simply wasted their money, but it gets worse fast when a good product gets restricted and maybe only allowed through big-pharma or worse yet, banned from use entirely. In many cases, life-changing treatments then become unaffordable or inaccessible with these criteria decided by large insurance companies. Currently, we are seeing bad actors fail third-party product testing with lack of purity, infections, improper dosing guidelines, and short-term or long-term health risks.

From ortho and neuro spine devices to pain management, and regenerative medicine; I’ve seen this same story play out time and time again in my fourteen-year career in healthcare. I worry that this industry is on the same disruptive cusp for prescription peptide therapy and hormone replacement. I will not waiver on my belief that all hormone replacement and peptide therapies should be under medical supervision and come from legitimate and reliable sources. I outline the important differences below.

Peptides that are compounded through compounding pharmacies must follow USP <795> and USP <797> guidelines. These guidelines help maintain quality healthcare standards and processes. These standards help protect the patient from receiving harmful or improperly made compounded preparations. Compounding Pharmacies are also under the supervision of the Board of Pharmacy specific to their state. Between USP guidelines and the Board of Pharmacy regulations, stringent requirements are placed on compounding pharmacies to protect the end-user patient on receiving quality medication. To provide a peptide to a patient through a pharmacy a receipt of valid prescriptions by a licensed physician is required.

ONLINE PEPTIDE SUPPLIERS
Conversely, you can purchase peptides online. Peptide suppliers online:

  • Must be licensed in the state they are operating/selling peptides in
  • Are not required to provide or perform any testing on their products through licensed analytical labs
  • Label products for “research and development purposes” or “not for human use” to bypass any testing requirements of their products


There are very few requirements for online suppliers to sell peptides or other supplements online. There is no regulatory body in place to assure the safety, composition, ingredients, and dosage form of the peptides being purchased. There is no requirement for a doctor’s prescription in order for individuals to legally purchase peptides online. There is no regulation or requirement in place to verify the suppliers are using pharmaceutical-grade ingredients.

Many online suppliers also:

  • Use fillers and/or byproducts in their peptides
  • Include additives that might be harsh or harmful to consumers
  • Add unnecessary ingredients to the peptides, diluting their efficiency/effectiveness
  • Use counterfeit, illegal, and unauthorized drugs which are sold online (black markets)
  • Do not perform any testing to confirm the sterility, potency, or endotoxin of sterile supplement


Another concern with online suppliers is the fact that they may be located and operate outside the United States. Therefore, the FDA and other governing bodies can’t regulate the production of peptides or other supplements sold online through these black markets.

Our Approach at BLOKES.CO Men's Health, and CHOOSEJOI.CO Women's Health Online... Why it's Better

Purchasing through a licensed, US-based compounding pharmacy, with medical supervision is the superior alternative for various reasons:

  • No fear of Black-Market drugs
  • Pharmacies are monitored and regulated by the State Board of Pharmacy
  • Licensed Compounding Pharmacies follow the necessary laws and regulations in place to ensure your safety
  • A prescription is required to purchase compounded peptides or medication online
  • Ingredients are pharmaceutical grade
  • Compounding of these peptides is being performed under the supervision of a licensed pharmacist
  • Purchase of raw materials is from FDA registered facilities which ensure that we are buying a quality ingredient from an FDA inspected facility
  • A certified lab and clean room which is compliant with both USP <795> and USP <797> standards are being used to compound your medications
  • Compounded sterile preparations are being tested through a third-party analytical lab for potency, sterility, and endotoxin
  • Compounded Preparations are quarantined and not dispensed until all testing is received back from the third-party analytical labs

For these reasons, compounding pharmacies under medical supervision are a better and safer choice. Additionally, compounding pharmacies can customize ingredients or dosage forms, in a way that online suppliers can’t. It is also important to be familiar with what regulations are in place that keeps patient safety in mind. If given a choice, compounding pharmacies are the superior avenue. They are a little higher priced than online suppliers but the quality of the ingredients being used, regulations followed, medical supervision to accompany, and testing performed to produce a quality preparation offsets the increased cost.

Thank you to all who contributed to this article as we continue to
ensure the safety of our patients and the longevity of this amazing field.

If you are thinking about online peptide therapy, we have answers. Visit our How it Works page for more information about getting started with Blokes.Co, and see what our Men's Medical Advisory Board and Specialists can do for you. 

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