Last week, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), under the direction of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, announced a draft policy to ease regulations on the manufacturing and distribution of six popular peptides. To some, it will look like another step forward in his Wild West approach to medicine, loosening the safeguards of unregulated drugs. But the reality is more complex: as peptides and other novel medicines enter the mainstream, they demand a far nimbler response than the current regulatory apparatus can muster.

At the moment, many peptides (referring to a molecule made up of a short chain of amino acids) are still fringe treatments. Some, most notably insulin, have a long history within mainstream medical care, while others — such as GLP weight loss medications — are novel blockbuster drugs developed by major pharmaceutical companies. In online vernacular, however, peptides usually refer to gray-market products that are purchased from shady overseas sellers and self-administered with guidance from Reddit or TikTok rather than a medical professional.

The new guidance from HHS has not legalized peptides, but it has listed six specific molecules that it will allow domestic manufacturers to make without fear of prosecution. Although advocates, including the online influencer Clavicular, tout peptides for their supposed skin-enhancing and muscle-building properties, the six covered by the order are comparatively unremarkable. They are intended to promote wound healing, improve cognitive function, regulate blood sugar and enhance sleep. The HHS has concluded that the risks associated with contamination, poor manufacturing standards and unsupervised administration may outweigh those posed by the substances themselves.

As an HHS spokesperson explained to CNN, Kennedy’s decision does not reclassify the molecules as officially approved treatments, but instead aims to create a safer, more transparent system for their use. This includes rules about ingredient purity and traceability, as well as the involvement of a prescribing doctor.

The department is taking the right approach here. Though peptides are a niche product sold to a sliver of the populace, they are a foreshock of a seismic shift in drug development, which will require a new regulatory approach. The bloated, sclerotic system by which the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) usually classifies drugs attempts to balance safety, efficacy and individual choice. Historically, however, it has prioritized safety above all else, making the approval process both lengthy and expensive.

This approach is feasible so long as drug development remains something that only specialized companies can undertake. But as discovery accelerates, and the efficacy and cost of not just peptides but all classes of drugs improve, the existing regulatory framework will struggle to keep pace. Both Anthropic and OpenAI are making aggressive moves into drug development, and the result will be a glut of promising new molecules, far more than the current system can handle. The biggest labs may keep their findings embargoed, but enterprising individuals with a more cavalier attitude toward risk could use AI models to develop similar compounds and make them available for purchase.

And if many of these new drugs do work — as is likely to be the case — the public will demand a system that does not take years to grind out each individual approval. The regulatory system will have to allow physicians to prescribe novel treatments backed by provisional evidence, while still working to identify those that prove to be truly dangerous. With this future in view, Secretary Kennedy’s move to update the regulation of peptides looks entirely reasonable. By moving them from the world of DIY medicine to within the medical system, he is setting a template applicable not only to peptides but to the innumerable bespoke drugs that will soon become commonplace.