REX Shares last week filed for the REX Peptides ETF, a thematic fund tracking the VettaFi Peptides Index. It offers investors exposure beyond obesity drugmakers to the broader peptide ecosystem.

Unlike traditional healthcare ETFs, the fund will invest across the peptide value chain—including drug developers, manufacturing infrastructure providers, oral delivery specialists and cosmeceutical companies—with an 80% allocation to pure-play peptide firms.

The filing comes as GLP-1 adoption among U.S. adults has climbed from 3% in 2024 to 11% in 2026.

A recent U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory committee recommendation supporting legal compounding of certain wellness peptides could further broaden the industry’s addressable market if adopted, potentially moving parts of the sector from the gray market into regulated healthcare.

“Gray market” here means peptides sold for wellness or cosmetic use outside the FDA-approved drug system, often as “research chemicals,” without formal clinical testing or manufacturing oversight. If the FDA allows compounding of certain wellness peptides, that activity would shift into regulated healthcare, expanding the legitimate market.

As is, Morgan Stanley projects the global GLP-1 market will expand from $79 billion in 2025 to $190 billion by 2035.

QUICK CONTEXT: GLP-1 Fuels Peptide Investing

The REX Peptides ETF reflects how the investment case around GLP-1 drugs is expanding beyond pharmaceutical giants into the companies that enable peptide production, formulation and commercialization.

Instead of concentrating only on drug developers, the VettaFi Peptides Index captures firms across four segments: peptide therapeutics, manufacturing infrastructure, oral peptide delivery technologies and peptide-based consumer products. The methodology favors pure-play companies, allocating 80% of portfolio weight to businesses deriving at least half of their revenue or R&D activity from peptide-related operations, while limiting concentration through constituent caps.

The filing also comes as manufacturers race to expand peptide production capacity following persistent GLP-1 supply shortages. At the same time, regulators are beginning to address the fast-growing wellness peptide market. Although the FDA advisory committee’s July recommendation is non-binding, it signals a potential pathway toward broader commercialization of peptide-based therapies, creating new opportunities across the industry’s supply chain rather than only among blockbuster drug makers.

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