Retatutride: How the hunger for a new weight loss drug is feeding an industry of fakes
Lisa King has been taking a fake version of retatrutide since July and at one stage, while she was also going to the gym and eating healthily, she was losing 3kg (6lb) a week.
It’s also, she believes, helping her manage some of the symptoms of polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome (PMOS). GLP-1s help regulate blood sugar, and some studies suggest these weight-loss drugs can help with some of the problems caused by PMOS, which can bring about extreme tiredness, kidney problems and high blood pressure.
“I’m not sure if it’s due to reta,” Lisa says, “but my sugar cravings have gone down, my periods have regulated and I’ve got a lot more energy.”
But retatrutide is still in trials. Does this bother her?
“No,” she says, “not at all. There are many things that have not been approved.
“If I start to experience any negative side effects I’ll just come straight off it.”
Other users taking counterfeit versions of retatrutide have reported a range of issues including brain fog, nausea, diarrhoea, a loss of libido and no longer being able to feel any happiness or joy.
Doctors are becoming increasingly worried about the side effects they are seeing amongst users of these counterfeit weight-loss drugs.
Dr Sahira Dar, a GP and chair of the British Islamic Medical Association, says healthcare professionals should ask about black market products “without judgement”, so patients feel able to “disclose what they have taken”.
Eli Lilly has been developing retatrutide for nearly 10 years. It is now fighting to protect its product and curb the illegal sales which are taking place across the world.
It’s taking action against peptide companies, influencers, compound pharmacies which manufacture the fake medication, and wellness clinics. It has reported more than 14,000 websites, advertisements and social media posts it says are illegally marketing the medication.
Eli Lilly says it “continues to work with law enforcement and regulatory authorities to combat black market drugs”.
A spokesperson told the BBC: “Any retatrutide available online is unapproved, unverified and simply not worth the risk.”
The UK’s Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has carried out raids and made several seizures of “products claiming to contain retatrutide” over the past year.
It says there are a number of different routes these products enter the UK and it is working to “disrupt illegal importation and distribution”.
But the sales continue.
Prof O’Shea says while we need to “shine a light on the dangers of such black market drugs”, we should not “trash this family of medications”.
“GLP-1s are a major advance in managing obesity, a major advance in our insight into how the brain regulates cravings and appetite.
“That,” he says, “is huge”.
For now, there is still a long way to go before retatrutide gets approval anywhere.
Eli Lilly plans to submit its application for US FDA approval early next year. It can take up to a year to carry out a review, so retatrutide would not be legally available in the US until the end of 2027 at the earliest.
In the UK, depending on the approval of the MHRA, it could be on the market by 2028.
