There\u2019s a new weight-loss jab on the horizon, and it may mean bad news for the makers of Mounjaro and Ozempic. Retatrutide is not legally approved for sale in the UK \u2014 yet \u2014 but reta, as it\u2019s known, is shaping up to be the most powerful obesity treatment we have.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This week, after months of anticipation from the medical establishment and longevity industries alike, Eli Lilly and Company released the results of a phase-three clinical trial for its new wonder drug. They were even more exciting than anticipated.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Over a period of 80 weeks, doses of 4mg, 9mg, and 12mg were given to 2,339 obese and overweight adults with at least one weight-related illness excluding diabetes. In addition to shaving an average of 9.5 inches from their waistlines, participants lost between 19 and 28 per cent of their body weight. They also demonstrated lowered risk factors for cardiovascular disease, including reductions in blood fats, \u201cbad\u201d cholesterol, inflammation and blood pressure.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For the heaviest patients, the results were most dramatic and similar to what could previously be achieved only through gastric bypass surgery. Even those taking the lowest amount lost roughly 19 per cent of their weight. That\u2019s what Zepbound, another Eli Lilly drug, can achieve at its highest dose.\u00a0Some analysts have expressed concern\u00a0that users on the highest dose discontinue the drug due to side effects but also, presumably, having lost so much weight, because the drug just works too well.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Retatrutide, too, has its side effects \u2014 nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea and constipation \u2014 but they are often temporary and can be improved by adjusting dosage. And it seems to preserve muscle mass more effectively than GLP-1 drugs alone, which create such large calorie deficits that patients are advised to embark on weight-training regimes to preserve their body composition. Andrew Huberman, a Stanford University professor and podcaster,\u00a0suggested on a recent episode of The Goop Podcast\u00a0that retatrutide had been embraced by the biohacking community in part because it had \u201csome muscle-sparing effect\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Eli Lilly is expected to seek permission to sell retatrutide in the UK within the next few months, but in the meantime it\u2019s already being used and abused on the streets. The results from early-stage trials were so promising that it prompted some biohackers to try to buy knock-off versions \u2014 known colloquially as \u201cTriple G\u201d or \u201cGodzilla\u201d \u2014 over social media. The frenzy became so heightened that Eli Lilly issued a warning on its website and threatened legal action against those selling it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tom Davies, an online fitness coach, is among the retatrutide\u2019s earliest adopters.\u00a0\u201cI started taking peptides five or six months ago, when I was 20,\u201d Davies posted recently. \u201cAs you can see [from my before and after posts] there is a massive visible difference. Mainly from the retatrutide making my face a lot leaner and losing a bit of body fat.\u201d<\/p>\n
In October,\u00a0the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) discovered and shut down a facility in Northampton<\/a>\u00a0that made counterfeit versions of weight-loss drugs. They found more than 2,000 unlicensed retatrutide and tirzepatide pens, along with raw chemical ingredients and packaging materials. The street value of the products exceeded \u00a3250,000.\u00a0<\/p>\n