President Donald Trump on Thursday nominated Erica Schwartz to serve as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, concluding a monthslong effort to choose a permanent leader of the embattled health agency. 

Schwartz, who will have to be confirmed by the Senate, would take over the role as Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. oversees a string of controversial health policy changes at the agency, including an overhaul of childhood vaccine recommendations.

Schwartz served as deputy surgeon general during the first Trump administration, where she played a major role in the U.S. response to the Covid-19 pandemic. She spent more than 20 year in uniform, including as rear admiral and chief medical officer of the Coast Guard.

Dr. Jay Bhattacharya had been acting director of the CDC — a title that expired last month under federal law. That law, called the Vacancies Act, limits the amount of time an acting officer can serve in place of a Senate-confirmed official to 210 days. 

Late last month marked 210 days since the most recent CDC director, Dr. Susan Monarez, was fired. 

She has so far been the only person to serve as a confirmed CDC director during Trump’s second term, holding the role for under a month last summer. In congressional testimony in September, Monarez said she was fired after refusing Kennedy’s demands to approve vaccine recommendations she believed lacked scientific support.

It is unclear how Schwartz’s views on vaccines or other key public health policies compare with Kennedy’s.

Also on Thursday, Trump said he chose Sean Slovenski as deputy CDC director and chief operating officer, and Jennifer Shuford as deputy CDC director and chief medical officer. Shuford, as head of the Texas Department of State Health Services, led the state’s response to a massive measles outbreak last year, and credited vaccination and testing in declaring it over.

Schwartz’s nomination comes after a tumultuous several months for the agency, which is reeling from the leadership upheaval, plummeting morale, significant staff turnover and controversial changes to U.S. vaccine policy. Ahead of leadership departures last year, staff members were shaken by a gunman’s attack on the CDC’s Atlanta headquarters on Aug. 8. 

Last month, a judge blocked a critical vaccine panel’s efforts to overhaul U.S. immunization policy. That includes an effort to reduce the number of recommended childhood shots from 17 to 11.

Trust in federal health agencies has plummeted during Kennedy’s tenure as Health and Human Services secretary, according to a February poll from health policy research group KFF, with declines across the political spectrum.

As its high-margin compounded GLP-1 business evolves, Hims & Hers Health may be finding a new opportunity in peptides.

Shares of the telehealth company jumped Thursday after HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced Wednesday that the FDA plans to convene a Pharmacy Compounding Advisory Committee meeting to review peptides for potential inclusion on the 503A bulk list, a designation that allows drugs to be compounded on an individual prescribed basis rather than mass producing.

For Hims, the bigger story is how expanding compounding for peptides could unlock new revenue streams as it directs members toward branded rather than more profitable compounded GLP-1 drugs. The telehealth company has been building toward a peptide business for years.

Peptides are short chains of amino acids — think of them as small building blocks of proteins — that are being explored for a wide range of health and wellness uses. They’re controversial because scientific evidence on their long-term safety and effectiveness is limited, and their production remains largely unregulated.

Hims & Hers made a significant move into the space in February 2025 when it acquired a California-based peptide facility. At the time, CEO Andrew Dudum called peptide demand “future-facing innovation.”

“Many use cases have yet to be launched,” said Dudum. “Peptide innovation is at the forefront of so many categories we’re excited to start offering.”

Following Kennedy’s announcement on Wednesday, Hims Chief Medical Officer Dr. Patrick Carroll applauded the news as a move away from the “gray market,” saying the goal is to bring peptide therapy into regulated, physician-led care.

“Our medical team believes certain peptide therapies hold meaningful potential in helping Americans live healthier lives, and we are actively exploring how to expand access in a way that will be aligned with FDA guidance,” Carroll said.

Leerink Partners called the news that the FDA will review peptides for the compounding list a positive outcome that could give Hims a clearer regulatory path to scale peptide therapies. Even so, the firm said it will take time for peptides to boost the company’s bottom line.

“This would not immediately translate into revenue, but would seemingly be a growth avenue that HIMS would push hard on,” said Leerink analyst Michael Cherny, who has a hold-equivalent rating on the stock and a $25 price target. It was trading around $26 a share Thursday.

For now the opportunity is still early, and clinical evidence supporting many peptide therapies is still limited.

Of the dozen peptides listed by Kennedy for consideration on the compounding bulk list, one — MK-677 — is often treated as an illegal drug when sold for human consumption. The growth hormone has also been banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency.

Other peptides on the list, such as GHK-Cu and Semax, which are used for cosmetic or cognitive enhancement, are generally viewed as less controversial, but still lack robust scientific backing.

Kennedy — who has supported many medical treatments and food options outside of those backed by mainstream science — was asked about his plans for expanding peptide therapies during a House Ways and Means Committee hearing Thursday.

“Peptides were not supposed to be regulated,” Kennedy said, arguing the Biden administration restricted the use of peptides due to safety concerns that he considers unfounded.

The FDA process is just beginning, and the July meeting will be advisory only, so change is not expected to be immediate.

Even so, investors are already focusing on what replaces GLP-1 driven growth for Hims, and peptides are emerging as one of the clearest candidates so far.