FDA issues warning letter to TXP Innovations LLC dba Tex Peptides
WASHINGTON — Federal regulators have taken aim at yet another online vendor operating in the shadowy peptide marketplace, signaling no letup in their crackdown on businesses selling copycat weight-loss drugs and unapproved injectable compounds directly to consumers.
In a newly published warning letter, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration flagged online seller Felicia Romero, operator of texpeptide.com, over the unlawful distribution of several high-profile injectable drugs. The action marks the latest offensive in the agency’s widening campaign to rein in websites profiting from the booming demand for GLP-1 agonists and lifestyle peptides.
The letter, dated August 24 and made public following an agency review this summer, targets products marketed under shorthand names like “GLP-1 SEM” (semaglutide), “GLP-2 TRZ” (tirzepatide), and “GLP-3 RT” (retatrutide)—the next-generation triple agonist currently generating buzz across the pharmaceutical industry. Also cited were sales of elamipretide (SS-31), tesamorelin, and the libido peptide bremelanotide (PT-141).
None of the products sold on the site have undergone the rigorous clinical vetting or FDA approvals required by federal law, the agency stated.
Piercing the ‘Research Chemical’ Defense
Like dozens of online suppliers caught in regulatory crosshairs over the past few years, the site attempted to insulate itself behind common legal shields, labeling the vials as strictly “for research use only” and “not for human or veterinary use.”
The FDA dismissed the tactic entirely.
Investigators pulled directly from the website’s promotional text, showing that the company routinely touted the compounds’ medical benefits for human use—boasting about appetite suppression, obesity management, blood sugar control, and mitochondrial repair.
Regulators also pointed to a telltale signal commonly seen across the peptide gray market: the sale of bacteriostatic water. By selling reconstitution solvents alongside lyophilized vials, the FDA argued, the storefront was clearly equipping customers with the means to turn powdered research chemicals into injectable medications for personal use.
Growing Alarms Over Injectable Contamination
The enforcement action comes amid escalating warnings from public health officials about the hazards of black- and gray-market injectables. Because these substances are administered via syringe directly into muscle, fat, or the bloodstream, they bypass the digestive tract and the body’s front-line defenses against pathogens.
Any impurity, dosing error, or microbial contamination can quickly trigger severe, systemic, or life-threatening infections, regulators warned in the notice.
“These products are especially concerning from a public health perspective,” wrote Captain Tina Smith, director of the Office of Unapproved Drugs and Labeling Compliance at the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research.
The vendor was given 15 business days to notify the agency of the steps taken to bring the operation into compliance. If the site fails to rectify the violations, the FDA warned it could escalate to federal court actions, including product seizures or a formal injunction shutting down the business.