Managing the Uncertainty of Inventory, Staffing, and Formulary Planning Around Peptides?

Nate Hill, Co-Founder & CEO of Strive Pharmacy, describes how the company approaches uncertainty around peptide inventory, staffing, and formulary planning by drawing on its prior experience navigating similarly unsettled situations. He points to GLP-1 medications as a precedent, noting how Strive continued to see demand for unique, non-commercially available doses whether the drugs were on or off the national shortage list, and using that experience to shape how to approach peptides now.

Hill explains that Strive relies heavily on legal counsel to assess where regulatory movement stands and to gauge how much risk the company is willing to take on at any given point. He reiterates that Strive will not begin producing peptides until they are officially designated Category one, positioning the company deliberately in the middle of the market: not first to produce, but not last either, given the preparatory steps it is taking in the meantime.

Those preparatory steps include sourcing active pharmaceutical ingredients now and sending it out for testing ahead of approval, so that stability studies, extended beyond-use dates, and other quality benchmarks are ready to go once Category one status is granted. Hill notes the company is focusing this early testing on a limited set of SKUs it expects to see the highest demand for, with plans to expand into additional SKUs as demand becomes clearer.

Hill also references Strive's involvement in conversations with attorneys and with MAHA (Make America Healthy Again), which he says has been vocal about the benefits of peptides. He acknowledges that previous timelines floated for peptide approval have already passed, so the company treats projected dates with skepticism, even as it sees what it considers genuine progress, exemplified by the PCAC hearing itself. That combination of preparation and caution, Hill suggests, allows Strive to move quickly once approval is finalized without overcommitting resources beforehand.