Fake ‘miracle’ weight loss drug Retatrutide flooding online market as experts warn of dangers 

A new weight loss drug generating huge attention online is still experimental and cannot legally be sold anywhere in the world.

Despite that, counterfeit versions are already being sold online, raising serious safety concerns among doctors and regulators.

WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Unapproved weight loss drug sparks black market concerns

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The drug, retatrutide, an investigational treatment is currently being studied in large clinical trials for obesity and type 2 diabetes. Early research has produced striking results.

Obesity medicine specialist Associate Professor Samantha Hocking from the University of Sydney says the medication could lead to greater weight loss than existing drugs.

“It appears to be more effective in terms of the absolute amount of weight loss achieved compared to the other two drugs that we now have on the market in Australia for weight management,” she told 7NEWS.

Obesity medicine specialist Associate Professor Samantha Hocking. Credit: 7NEWS

Clinical trials so far suggest people could lose up to 29 per cent of their body weight, approaching results seen with gastric sleeve surgery. The medication works by targeting three hormones involved in appetite and metabolism.

Hocking explains that retatrutide activates multiple biological pathways that regulate hunger and energy balance.

“Retatrutide is a medication that targets three hormones that regulate appetite suppression and so it should be highly effective for weight loss. So, these hormones are GLP 1, GIP and glucagon,” she said.

Like other obesity medications, weight loss includes both fat and lean tissue.

“When people lose weight we want to see more fat mass loss than lean mass loss. What we think we see is about 75 per cent fat mass loss and about 25 per cent fat free mass loss,” she said.

That balance has caught the attention of the fitness community. In gyms and bodybuilding circles, the drug is already being discussed widely.

Doctor and bodybuilder Dr Nathan Chalik says many athletes are experimenting with similar medications.

“If I had to put a number to it, in terms of how many bodybuilders are using it, I wouldn’t be surprised if fifty per cent of bodybuilders are using it, or coming in saying that they’re using it,” Chalik said.

Doctor and bodybuilder Dr Nathan Chalik Credit: 7NEWS

But the drug remains in phase three clinical trials and has not been approved by regulators anywhere in the world. Despite that, some people are already attempting to buy it online.

Chalik says that creates serious risks. “It’s a pretty unregulated space, pretty dangerous space when it comes to those medications…You don’t quite know what you’re using.”

Pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly, which is developing the drug, has issued a strong warning about the illegal products appearing online.

In a statement to 7NEWS, the company said: “Patient safety is Lilly’s highest priority. Retatrutide is an investigational medicine, available only in Lilly’s clinical trials, and has not been approved by any regulator anywhere in the world. No one can legally sell it for human use.

Counterfeit and black-market products are untested, unregulated and potentially dangerous, in some cases, deadly. These products may not be purified to pharmaceutical grade levels and often come from illicit, unregulated foreign suppliers. Patients deserve safe, effective and clinically tested medicines, not harmful products.

Pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly. Credit: 7NEWS

Lilly is committed to continue working with regulators, law enforcement and social media platforms to remove illegal products and content. Stronger, coordinated enforcement must be sustained if we are to protect Australian patients from unsafe fake products.”

Doctors say the excitement surrounding the drug is understandable, but approval could still take time and are warning people against using experimental medications outside proper medical supervision.

Chalik says the foundation of weight loss remains unchanged.

“Obviously the mainstay of all of this is just having a good exercise and diet program in place in the first place,” Chalik said.

For now, the only legitimate way to access retatrutide is through clinical trials, while researchers continue studying whether the promising results hold up in larger groups of patients.