Published Today:

Illegal weight-loss drug retatrutide on the rise in the Netherlands | NL Times(opens in new tab)

First things first: what is retatrutide? Developed by Eli Lilly, it is a next-generation weight-loss and diabetes drug. While it is sometimes casually referred to as a "GLP-3," that is an inaccurate name. Instead, it is a triple-hormone receptor agonist that stimulates the GLP-1, glucagon, and GIP receptors to achieve greater weight loss than any other drug ever evaluated in human clinical trials. 

As a clinician participating in one of the clinical trials for this drug, I currently have six patients enrolled. One patient is down 105 pounds, another down 100 pounds, and two others are down over 60 pounds. While the trial is blinded and I do not know which patients are receiving the active drug versus the placebo, I am pretty confident these results aren't sugar pills. 

There is a large and rapidly growing body of published data on this drug, with multiple human trials completed and ongoing. So far, all of the published data has been fantastic. In fact, writing in the New England Journal of Medicine, the editors gave the Phase 2 trial results an unusually enthusiastic title: "Triple G Agonists — A Home Run for Obesity?" Triple G Agonists — A Home Run for Obesity? | New England Journal of Medicine(opens in new tab)

In my opinion, that title is spot on. In recent trials, retatrutide demonstrated up to 27.3% weight loss. Compare this to tirzepatide (Mounjaro) at around 20%, and semaglutide (Ozempic) at roughly 15%. Prior to retatrutide, the highest weight loss seen in any major drug trial was 23.7% for cargrilintide/semaglutide (CargiSema), Novo Nordisk’s next-generation therapy. 

The Gray Market Phenomenon

Despite these promising metrics, the core issue remains the soaring illicit use of gray-market peptides. Because retatrutide is still an investigational medication and not yet officially approved, the only alternative outside of a clinical trial is purchasing "Research Use Only" (RUO) peptides—compounds legally sold with the disclaimer that they are "not for human consumption." 

Many of the peptides I provide educational information about on my website fall under this RUO category due to limited human data. Retatrutide is an exception because it is heavily backed by robust FDA clinical trial data and is moving closer to full approval. However, while I do not condone the use of unapproved medications, I completely understand why the public enthusiasm is so high. From a clinical and personal standpoint, the results are unprecedented. 

If you want to learn more about this peptide or others, click on this link on my website: "Learn About Peptides"