Washington DC - A key medical panel on Thursday defied expert advice by recommending the loosening of restrictions on peptides and endorsing proposals that pharmacies be allowed to produce such substances.

The vote came as part of a two-day meeting of the panel tasked with considering whether seven peptides should be added to the approved compounding list, which allows facilities to create custom drugs and make them more publicly accessible.

By the end of the marathon meeting, the panel had green lit recommendations that bespoke pharmacies be allowed to produce four peptides: BPC-157, KPV, TB-500 and MOT-c. They will consider three more substances on Friday.

The panel recommendations are not binding, but the Food and Drug Administration has historically given them significant weight.

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Peptides are short chains of amino acids, which are the building blocks of proteins. They occur naturally in the body, but synthetic peptides are increasingly buzzy in the mostly-unregulated wellness industry.

Proponents offer sweeping claims about their benefits, ranging from glowing skin and muscle growth to brain health and wound healing. There's scant to no clinical evidence supporting such promises.

Their approval by a key panel comes as a rebuke of scientists at the FDA who urged maintaining restrictions on peptides due to a general lack of data and growing safety concerns.

Experts have accused Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. of packing the FDA advisory committee with people who have strong ties to the peptide industry, given his personal interest in and use of the products.

Proponents of legal access to peptides, including the health secretary, argue that restricting them only drives Americans deeper into the gray market.

Panel member Elizabeth Rebello, a pharmacist and anesthesiologist, told the committee she voted no on BPC-157 "because of the lack of efficacy data" and "safety concerns."