As athletes gather for ‘steroid Olympics’ the real stars are the drugs

{"text":[[{"start":10.8,"text":"As athletes gather in Las Vegas this weekend for the inaugural “steroid Olympics” backed by Peter Thiel and Donald Trump Jr, drugmakers are scrambling to promote a new generation of performance-enhancing drugs for everything from health to vanity."}],[{"start":27.6,"text":"Featuring 42 global athletes competing in swimming, track and weightlifting, the Enhanced Games were conceived by Enhanced Group, a start-up backed by a host of Maga conservatives such as Trump Jr’s venture capital firm 1789. Enhanced has marketed itself as an entertainment company like World Wrestling Entertainment, but it is also in the drug distribution business hoping to compete against telehealth company Hims."}],[{"start":54.05,"text":"With its pro-Maga twist, Enhanced has jumped into a competition with hundreds of start-up health businesses racing to sell peptides, which are unregulated and untested for their purported benefits. The company’s co-founder, Christian Angermayer, said Enhanced is using the Las Vegas competitions for a clinical trial to secure intellectual property rights for peptides, which have not been patented by major pharmaceutical firms."}],[{"start":79.05,"text":"“These peptides are just overlooked,” Angermayer told the FT. He described peptides as part of a growing “vanity market”."}],[{"start":null,"text":"

"}],[{"start":86.05,"text":"Consumers have flocked to off-label peptides since the success of weight-loss drugs such as semaglutide, a peptide that mimics the body’s natural production of the GLP-1 hormone."}],[{"start":97.39999999999999,"text":"“There are hundreds of these websites,” said Edgar Asebey, partner at law firm Frier Levitt in Florida. Some companies were transparent in advertising that they are selling unregulated products, but “others don’t even think about it and they are all out there right now”, he said. “It is still the Wild West.”"}],[{"start":113.3,"text":"Peptides are ordinary amino-acid chains that have been mixed — or compounded — into a variety of drugs."}],[{"start":120.8,"text":"Thanks to a social media buzz, peptides have been swept up in the craze for “looksmaxxing” and “life hacking”. Health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr has promoted peptides and in April announced the US drugs regulator would start to restore regulated access to them."}],[{"start":137.1,"text":"For now, peptides are legally approved for certain treatments and for research purposes, legal loopholes that have allowed them to become widely accessible in the US. Most of the peptide ingredients are imported from China, partly because restricted peptides cannot be produced in the US."}],[{"start":152.79999999999998,"text":"Despite Kennedy’s promotions, concerns have surrounded their sale in the US. In April, the US attorney in Utah announced an indictment of a 39-year-old osteopath who allegedly sold mislabelled peptides from China to more than 200 patients. A jury trial is scheduled for June. "}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":171.6,"text":"Enhanced, which went public earlier this month via a special purpose acquisition company, has seen its share price drop by nearly 50 per cent. The company is selling peptides on its website, acknowledging the drugs are not approved by the Food and Drug Administration. "}],[{"start":186.54999999999998,"text":"Adam Cohen, professor of clinical pharmacology at Leiden University, said more research was needed on performance-enhancing drugs, including peptides. “It would be great to do it properly — to see how strong the effects are, and then to look at combinations.”"}],[{"start":200.89999999999998,"text":"Previous research conducted by Cohen and researcher Jules Heuberger suggested there were limited signs that substances that had been banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency had improved performance."}],[{"start":212.74999999999997,"text":"Angermayer told the FT that early results were promising for athlete recovery. He said Enhanced was hoping to use results from an unblinded clinical trial approved by the Abu Dhabi Department of Health to secure intellectual property rights for previously unpatented performance-enhancing drugs."}],[{"start":230.04999999999998,"text":"Performance-enhancing drugs have been linked to athlete deaths in the past. Steroids and other stimulants can lead to intense stress on the cardiovascular system. Sporting regulators have criticised the Las Vegas event and the commercialisation of performance-enhancing drugs. A spokesperson from the US Anti-Doping Agency said it poses a “massive risk, not just for athletes, but for consumers of all ages”."}],[{"start":253.7,"text":"“Social media and the internet have made it far too easy for black market or other sellers to bring powerful and illicit drugs to consumers without a proper diagnosis, supervision, or even assurance of what’s in the products being consumed and injected,” the USADA said."}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":267.59999999999997,"text":"In its financial prospectus, Enhanced disclosed litigation risks from athletes who might bring claims related to the “uncertain long-term effects” of performance-enhancing drugs."}],[{"start":278.59999999999997,"text":"Still, Angermayer is confident that the games can serve as a customer acquisition pipeline for telehealth patients. He has compared the company to San Francisco-based Hims, which has dominated the market for younger consumers looking for medications such as weight-loss jabs, erectile dysfunction pills and hair loss treatment."}],[{"start":298.15,"text":"Hims’ shares have fallen 28 per cent so far this year amid a fight with Novo Nordisk over compounded weight-loss drugs. It is also the most shorted company in the US healthcare sector, according to S3 Partners.  "}],[{"start":312.04999999999995,"text":"While Hims does not yet sell peptides, it applauded Kennedy’s April announcement. “Our medical team believes certain peptide therapies hold meaningful potential in helping Americans live healthier lives,” the company said in a statement."}],[{"start":326.04999999999995,"text":"Hims did not respond to requests for comment."}],[{"start":329.49999999999994,"text":"If peptides are deregulated by the FDA, Hims could start generating revenue from these drugs in the second half of 2027, said Ryan MacDonald, an analyst at Needham. Enhanced could become a competitor to Hims, but Hims has strong relationships with pharmaceutical companies that have relied on the telehealth company as a distributor."}],[{"start":349.6499999999999,"text":"“A lot of these companies have their eyes on the peptide prize,” MacDonald said. “It is a pretty big market opportunity.”"}],[{"start":356.94999999999993,"text":"Angermayer played down competition between the two companies. “ We are actually pushing the idea of enhancement to a much broader audience. And I think the entire sector of enhancements will profit from what we’re doing.”"}],[{"start":377.8999999999999,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1779448522_2549.mp3"}