Ever since it was discovered that GLP-1s can lead to such significant weight loss, the industry has been booming. From injectable semaglutide and tirzepatide to a pill GLP-1, drug companies have been innovating nonstop in recent years. At the same time, supplements claiming to offer similar effects have been popping up, as well as robust telehealth and gray market routes for getting the drugs.
Basically, the GLP-1 industry is booming—to varying degrees of success and safety. The latest GLP-1 innovation that you may have seen making headlines is retatrutide. Just like semaglutide and tirzepatide, this medication is being developed by drug companies as the newest iteration in the GLP-1 space, and it’s purportedly the strongest one yet.
But is that super strength a good thing? And is it as safe as its peers? Here’s everything you need to know about retatrutide, according to doctors.
Meet the experts: Holly Lofton, MD, is director of the medical weight management program at NYU Langone Health. Jennifer Manne-Goehler, MD, is an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and a technical consultant on GLP-1s to the World Health Organization. First, a quick refresher on GLP-1s: These medications mimic a hormone (called glucagon-like peptide-1, or GLP-1, for short) that is responsible for a bunch of things that have to do with regulating blood sugar and fullness, like triggering insulin secretion and signaling satiety to the brain.
Semaglutide (the generic name for meds like Ozempic and Wegovy) mimics just the GLP-1 hormone, while tirzepatide (the generic name for Mounjaro and Zepbound) targets an additional one called glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP). It’s thought that combining the two offers a more comprehensive approach to managing diabetes and obesity, but in terms of weight loss their effects seem to be about the same, with tirzepatide having a slight edge. Retatrutide adds a third hormone receptor agonist, glucagon, for an even more powerful approach to diabetes and obesity care.
Well, that’s the case when it comes to weight loss, says Jennifer Manne-Goehler, MD, an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and a technical consultant on GLP-1s to the World Health Organization. Despite being a triple G agonist, “reta,” as it’s called for short, seems to have the same effect on lowering glucose levels in people with type 2 diabetes as other GLP-1 medications. Where it really shines is weight loss, making it a potentially game-changing drug for those with clinical obesity, she says.
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