Retatrutide Brand Name (and Why "Reta," "GLP-3" and "Triple G" Exist)

There is no retatrutide brand name yet. As of October 2026, Eli Lilly still calls the drug retatrutide, its generic name, and its only other official name is the development code LY3437943. Lilly last said it plans to file with the FDA in the first quarter of 2027, and its recent brands, like Zepbound and Foundayo, were each announced in an approval release. Reta, GLP-3 and triple G are nicknames, and labels like R-10 or GLP-3 Reta belong to sellers of unapproved vials.

Why there's no retatrutide brand name yet

A drug picks up its names in layers: the company's code, then an official generic name, then a brand chosen for the market. Retatrutide has reached the second layer and stopped, because nothing has been approved to sell. Lilly's FAQ, updated in October 2026, says "Retatrutide is an investigational medicine that is not on the market." It adds that the drug "has not been reviewed or approved by the FDA or any regulatory agency in the world."

The registry shows both layers. Lilly's Phase 2 obesity trial (NCT04881760) is titled "A Study of LY3437943", with no generic name, while the Phase 3 TRIUMPH-1 record reads "Retatrutide (LY3437943)". That's why the 2022 Cell Metabolism discovery paper uses the code and later papers use the name.

Every name retatrutide goes by

These are the names we found as of October 2026, with a primary source for each where one exists.

None of these is a brand. A brand name is a trademark the maker registers and the FDA reviews, and Lilly hasn't announced one.

Is retatrutide the same as Zepbound or Mounjaro?

No. Mounjaro and Zepbound are both tirzepatide, Lilly's GIP and GLP-1 drug, sold under one name for type 2 diabetes and another for weight. Retatrutide is a separate molecule that adds a third target, the glucagon receptor. Foundayo is orforglipron, a pill. Our retatrutide vs Zepbound and retatrutide vs Mounjaro pages compare the trial results, and retatrutide vs tirzepatide compares the molecules.

What the name retatrutide means

The ending does the work. Under the World Health Organization's naming system, -tide marks a peptide, and the WHO's February 2026 list of candidate endings includes -trutide, for blood-sugar-lowering peptides that act on three receptors at once, GLP-1, glucagon and GIP. Retatrutide carries that ending, and tirzepatide, a two-receptor drug, doesn't.

The chemical name is long. The FDA's substance record spells out 39 amino acids, three of them non-standard, with a 20-carbon fatty acid chain attached at position 17. Our retatrutide structure page walks through it, and how to pronounce retatrutide covers saying it.

Where reta, GLP-3 and triple G come from

Reta is a clipped version of the name, the way people say "tirz" for tirzepatide. GLP-3 and triple G both count receptors: semaglutide works on one, tirzepatide on two and retatrutide on three.

None of those receptors is called GLP-3. Lilly's FAQ calls the nickname a scientifically inaccurate label used informally in the media, and prefers "triple agonist". Our GLP-3 guide has the full story, and how retatrutide works explains what the third receptor adds.

When will retatrutide get a brand name?

Nobody outside Lilly knows, but the FDA process and Lilly's launches narrow it down. Under FDA guidance from 2016, a company can ask the agency to review a proposed brand name no earlier than the end of Phase 2. The FDA then checks it for look-alike or sound-alike confusion with other drug names, a known cause of medication errors. The review goal is 90 days for a name sent in with a marketing application (an NDA or BLA), against 180 days for one sent earlier, while the drug is still in trials.

The filing route is in dispute, but the name clock doesn't depend on it. Lilly last said, on September 29, 2026, that it plans to submit retatrutide to the FDA in the first quarter of 2027 as a Biologics License Application (BLA). On October 2, 2026, the FDA decided that retatrutide is a drug, not a biological product, so an application would need to be filed under section 505 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. Lilly's appeal on that question is pending in the Seventh Circuit, and we found no ruling as of October 31, 2026. Our FDA approval and release date pages follow what happens next.

Dates are those of Lilly's approval releases. Tirzepatide's two brands came about 18 months apart; Lilly hasn't said whether retatrutide will split the same way.

Our read: if retatrutide follows those three launches, its brand name will go public with FDA approval, which can't come until after a filing and a full review. Until Lilly announces a name, any retatrutide "brand" on a vial or website is a seller's label.

Names on vials sold online

Lilly's October 28, 2026 release says retatrutide "cannot be legally sold or marketed for human use", so any name on a vial bought online is the seller's invention. In a September 14, 2026 safety alert, Australia's TGA said a vial sold as retatrutide contained no retatrutide at all. The TGA's lab found undeclared semaglutide at about 8 times the level in approved semaglutide products. If you're weighing what people list as retatrutide for sale, start from that fact rather than the label. Our legality guide covers the rules by country.

The only legal way to get real retatrutide is through Lilly's retatrutide program, meaning its trials or a narrow expanded access route. Our clinical trials guide covers how to find one, and searching "retatrutide" or "LY3437943" on ClinicalTrials.gov shows what's open.