Is retatrutide legal in South Africa?

Retatrutide's status at a glance

Question	Answer	Source
Registered by SAHPRA?	No. No entries for "retatrutide" or "LY3437943"	SAHPRA register, 30 Sep 2026
Approved anywhere in the world?	No	SAHPRA via Mail & Guardian, Jul 2026
Can it be sold legally in South Africa?	No. Selling an unregistered medicine is an offence under Section 29 of the Medicines Act	SAHPRA statement, Nov 2024
Named by SAHPRA as unauthorised?	Yes. "Platinum Retatrutide", "Lira Retatrutide" and "Retatrutide iPharma"	SAHPRA statement, Nov 2024
Clinical trials in South Africa?	None listed on ClinicalTrials.gov	ClinicalTrials.gov, 30 Sep 2026
First planned regulatory filing	US FDA, first quarter of 2027	BioPharma Dive, 23 Jul 2026

Is retatrutide registered with SAHPRA?

No. We searched SAHPRA's database of registered health products on 30 September 2026 for "retatrutide" and for its development code, LY3437943. Both searches returned no results. By comparison, the same database lists tirzepatide (Mounjaro, registered in April 2024) and several semaglutide products, including Ozempic and Wegovy.

Without registration, a medicine cannot legally be sold in South Africa. We list every registered medicine in this class in our guide to SAHPRA-approved GLP-1 medicines.

How retatrutide compares with registered medicines

Retatrutide belongs to the same family as the GLP-1 medicines already registered here, but it acts on one more hormone receptor. That difference is also why it needs its own trials and its own registration.

Active ingredient	Receptors it targets	Registered brands in SA	SAHPRA status
Semaglutide	GLP-1	Ozempic, Wegovy, Rybelsus, Semagard	Registered (first in July 2020)
Tirzepatide	GIP and GLP-1	Mounjaro, Persovance	Registered (April 2024)
Retatrutide	GIP, GLP-1 and glucagon	None	Not registered

What SAHPRA has said about retatrutide

SAHPRA has addressed retatrutide directly more than once:

• November 2024. In a statement on compounded, substandard and falsified GLP-1 products, SAHPRA listed products sold as "Platinum Retatrutide", "Lira Retatrutide" and "Retatrutide iPharma" among unauthorised or falsified products. It said that selling a registrable medicine without registration is an offence under Section 29 of the Medicines and Related Substances Act, and that compounding a medicine from an ingredient that is not in any registered product is illegal.
• 2026. SAHPRA's public information page on peptide products warns about the growing sale of unregistered peptides through websites, social media and gyms, and notes that powder forms are not registered.
• July 2026. A SAHPRA compliance manager told the Mail & Guardian that retatrutide "is still under clinical investigation" and is not yet available in any market for routine sale, and that an investigational product may only be used within a clinical trial. The paper also reported that SAHPRA has stepped up online monitoring, seized peptide products and opened criminal cases.

SAHPRA has also acted against unregistered GLP-1 medicines more broadly. In May 2026 it and the South African Pharmacy Council inspected a Pretoria compounding pharmacy and ordered a recall of its GLP-1 products. That case involved semaglutide and tirzepatide, not retatrutide.

What about "research use only" products?

Most retatrutide sold online in South Africa carries a label such as "for research use only" or "not for human consumption". The label does not register the product or make its sale legal, and it says nothing about what is in the vial. SAHPRA's position is that a medicine must be evaluated and registered before it can be sold, whatever it is called. Its November 2024 statement shows that products carrying the retatrutide name have already been identified as unauthorised or falsified.

Is retatrutide approved anywhere else?

No. As of 30 September 2026, no regulator has approved retatrutide. Eli Lilly, which developed it, has filed lawsuits against several US businesses selling products labelled as retatrutide, according to industry press.

Where the trials stand

Lilly's phase 3 programme is called TRIUMPH. Four of its trials have finished, and Lilly released headline results between December 2025 and July 2026. The first full phase 3 paper, on TRIUMPH-2, was published in The Lancet on 29 September 2026. The main trials, as registered on ClinicalTrials.gov:

Trial	Registry number	Who took part	Participants	Status
TRIUMPH-1	NCT05929066	Obesity or overweight	2,335	Completed
TRIUMPH-2	NCT05929079	Obesity with type 2 diabetes	1,152	Completed
TRIUMPH-3	NCT05882045	Obesity with cardiovascular disease	1,946	Completed
TRIUMPH-4	NCT05931367	Obesity with knee osteoarthritis	445	Completed
TRIUMPH-5	NCT06662383	Compared with tirzepatide	800	Active, not recruiting
TRIUMPH-6	NCT06859268	Keeping weight off	643	Active, not recruiting
TRIUMPH-7	NCT07035093	Obesity with chronic kidney disease	586	Active, not recruiting
Outcomes trial	NCT06383390	Heart and kidney outcomes	about 10,000	Active, not recruiting

Participant numbers are enrolment figures from the registry, checked on 30 September 2026.

Are there retatrutide trials in South Africa?

We found none. On 30 September 2026, ClinicalTrials.gov listed 33 studies of retatrutide at sites in 38 countries. None of them had a site in South Africa. We have not been able to search the South African National Clinical Trials Register, so a local study not listed internationally can't be ruled out.

ClinicalTrials.gov also lists a pre-approval expanded access programme run by Lilly (NCT07629401). Access of this kind is arranged through doctors and the company, not bought online.

When could retatrutide be available in South Africa?

There is no date. Lilly has not announced a South African application. Its first planned filing is with the US FDA: BioPharma Dive reported on 23 July 2026 that the company now aims to submit in the first quarter of 2027, later than its earlier target. Retatrutide could only be sold here after SAHPRA had evaluated and registered it, and no such application has been made public.

Common questions

Can a doctor prescribe retatrutide in South Africa?

Not as a registered medicine, because it isn't one. The Medicines Act has a separate route, under Section 21, for SAHPRA to authorise the use of an unregistered medicine in specific cases. We found no public record of any such authorisation for retatrutide.

Is "GLP-3" the same thing?

"GLP-3" is not an official name for any medicine. Some online sellers use it for retatrutide. The name changes nothing about the product's status.

Is it legal to buy retatrutide for personal use?

We are not lawyers and can't advise on your situation. What is clear is that SAHPRA treats the sale of unregistered medicines as an offence and has described retatrutide as an investigational product that belongs only in clinical trials. If you have questions about a specific situation, ask a lawyer, and talk to a doctor before making any health decision.

For an overview of the compound, the research and the sellers offering it, see our retatrutide overview, and read our medical disclaimer.