The Next Ozempic Is Already Being Sold Underground

"Okay, so, technically, there is no such thing as a GLP-3 drug. But "GLP-3" is a name used on the underground market for retatrutide, an obesity drug still being studied by the pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly. As the nickname implies, retatrutide is like a GLP-1 drug-but more, more, more. It's more effective, has more modes of action, and induces more weight loss. It may in fact be the most powerful weight-loss drug ever created."

"When early retatrutide data were presented at a medical conference in 2023, a scientist who was there told me, the usually staid audience burst into spontaneous applause. Two weeks ago, the first of the highly anticipated Phase 3 clinical-trial results corroborated the jaw-dropping initial numbers: Patients lost on average 71 pounds, or 29 percent of their body weight-double what people lose on semaglutide, which is better known as Ozempic or Wegovy. Some trial participants stopped retatrutide early because they had lost too much weight; they stopped, in other words, because the drug was too effective."

Retatrutide is an investigational obesity drug developed by Eli Lilly and nicknamed "GLP-3" on the underground market. The drug resembles GLP-1 medications but combines additional mechanisms to drive larger weight losses. Phase 3 trial results showed participants lost an average of 71 pounds, or 29 percent of body weight, roughly double the typical losses from semaglutide (Ozempic/Wegovy). Some participants discontinued treatment early after losing excessive weight. Retatrutide has not completed FDA review, is not approved, and cannot be prescribed or purchased at pharmacies. Informal conversations spread awareness of the drug before its Phase 3 results were public.

Read at The Atlantic