405: An obesity drug deep-dive, and peptides move mainstream

405: An obesity drug deep-dive, and peptides move mainstream

From The Readout Loud by STAT

June 11, 2026 · 36 min

About this episode

This episode discusses new obesity medications, the rise of peptides, and recent biotech news.

Can any of the new obesity medications in development stand out from the pack? Which company just broke records with its IPO? And will the Food and Drug Administration allow greater access to experimental peptides? We discuss all that and more on this week’s episode of “The Readout LOUD,” STAT’s biotech podcast.[2:37 PM]Undark’s Sara Talpos joins the podcast to discuss her reporting on the peptide BPC-157, and how its jumped from a Croatian lab to bodybuilding forums on Reddit to the FDA. (STAT co-published Talpos articles; the second piece was was supported by the Pulitzer Center). We also discuss the latest news in the life sciences, including obesity data from the American Diabetes Association meeting and a record-breaking IPO.

People in this episode

Host: STAT

Guest: Sara Talpos

Topics covered

  • obesity medications
  • peptides
  • FDA regulations
  • biotech news
  • IPO
  • life sciences

Keywords

  • obesity
  • peptides
  • FDA
  • IPO
  • biotech
  • BPC-157
  • life sciences

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: STAT, American Diabetes Association, Pulitzer Center

Products: BPC-157

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