Retatrutide Upcoming Trials: Every Readout Still to Come (2026 to 2030)

As of October 2026, the retatrutide upcoming trials that matter most are TRIUMPH-5, the head-to-head against tirzepatide, and TRANSCEND-T2D-3, a kidney study in type 2 diabetes. ClinicalTrials.gov estimates both finished their main data collection in October or November 2026, and neither has a topline yet. Everything else reads out in 2027 or later.

Six Phase 3 trials have already reported, most recently TRANSCEND-T2D-2 on October 28, 2026, and the Phase 3 results page covers them. This page covers what's left. The dates below come from each trial's registry record, which the sponsor updates and which we checked on October 31, 2026. They are estimates, and some will move.

Retatrutide upcoming trials, in order of expected date

Every Lilly Phase 3 or 3b retatrutide trial that hasn't reported, plus the smaller studies with a dated finish, sorted by estimated primary completion. "Primary completion" is when the last person's data for the main question is collected. A topline release comes later.

One more date: the TRANSCEND-T2D-2 record (NCT06260722) lists study completion in February 2027 for a 24-week extension of about 650 people. That's follow-up on a trial that already reported, not a new result. All sizes are registry estimates, not final enrollment.

What the next two readouts will tell you

TRIUMPH-5 (NCT06662383) is the one most people are waiting for. It randomizes adults with obesity to retatrutide or tirzepatide, with percent change in body weight at week 80 as the primary endpoint. The record shows about 800 people and was last updated July 20, 2026. Our TRIUMPH-5 page has the design and what to watch for, so we won't repeat it here.

TRANSCEND-T2D-3 (NCT06297603) tests retatrutide against placebo in people with type 2 diabetes, moderate or severe kidney impairment and an A1C between 7.0% and 10.5% on basal insulin. The primary endpoint is A1C change at week 52. Nobody has published how retatrutide behaves in this group at Phase 3 scale. A separate Phase 2 kidney study (NCT05936151, 146 people) finished in October 2025 without posted results.

Lilly has given no date for either. Its gap from primary completion to topline has run from 27 to 98 days (our arithmetic from registry dates and release dates), which puts TRIUMPH-5 anywhere from late November 2026 to early March 2027. TRANSCEND-T2D-3 had an October primary completion estimate, so it could land earlier. Our read: expect TRANSCEND-T2D-3 first, then TRIUMPH-5, and treat any date posted by anyone but Lilly as a guess.

TRIUMPH-6 to TRIUMPH-9 and the back pain trial

These four ask practical questions the main trials left open.

TRIUMPH-7 (NCT07035093) enrolls people with obesity or overweight and chronic low back pain. It has two primary endpoints: pain on a numeric rating scale and percent weight change, both over up to 72 weeks. The estimated finish is September 2027. It follows TRIUMPH-4, which tested the same idea in knee osteoarthritis.

TRIUMPH-6 (NCT06859268) is the maintenance study. Everyone takes retatrutide dose 1 for an 80-week lead-in. Then 36 weeks of randomized treatment follows: stay on dose 1, move to dose 2, or switch to placebo. The primary endpoint is weight change from week 0 to week 116, and the estimated finish is April 2028. People with any type of diabetes are excluded. This is the trial that should show how much weight comes back when the drug stops, something the main trials couldn't separate cleanly.

TRIUMPH-8 (NCT07232719) is a placebo-controlled 56-week trial in about 250 people without diabetes, and TRIUMPH-9 (NCT07357415) compares three dose-escalation schemes over 104 weeks in about 600 people. TRIUMPH-9 matters for anyone who wondered whether slower or faster titration changes tolerability. No trial has answered that yet for retatrutide.

The long trials, TRIUMPH-Outcomes and SYNERGY-Outcomes

TRIUMPH-Outcomes (NCT06383390) is event-driven, so the finish date depends on how many heart or kidney events happen, not on a calendar. It enrolls adults 45 or older with a BMI of 27 or higher and established atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and/or chronic kidney disease, for about 248 weeks. The record lists 742 sites in 27 countries, was updated October 8, 2026, and estimates primary completion in February 2029. The question it answers, whether retatrutide prevents heart attacks, strokes and kidney failure, is one TRIUMPH-3 couldn't settle because too few events happened. The heart health page has those numbers.

SYNERGY-Outcomes (NCT07165028) is a master protocol with a retatrutide sub-study and a tirzepatide sub-study, each against placebo, in about 4,500 adults whose fatty liver disease puts them at risk of liver harm. The primary endpoint is time to the first major adverse liver outcome, such as cirrhosis, liver transplant or death. It runs about 224 weeks, and the registry shows primary completion in August 2030 and study completion in August 2032. It's the only Lilly retatrutide trial still recruiting: 563 sites in 34 countries or territories, 502 of them recruiting and 137 of those in the US, as of the October 8, 2026 record.

How the trials connect to approval

Lilly said on September 29, 2026 that it plans to submit retatrutide to the FDA in the first quarter of 2027. On October 2, 2026, the FDA decided retatrutide is a drug, not a biological product, so an application would go under section 505 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. Lilly's appeal is pending in the Seventh Circuit, and we found no ruling as of October 31, 2026.

Both outcomes trials finish after that window, so a first filing would rest on trials that have already reported and possibly on TRIUMPH-5 and TRANSCEND-T2D-3. Lilly hasn't said which. The release date page and the FDA approval page follow the filing itself.

The studies you can't read as news

Three records on ClinicalTrials.gov look like trials but belong in a different bucket. NCT07467447 is a Phase 2 study with one site in Shenzhen, China, whose lead sponsor is Hudson Biotech, not Lilly. NCT06982859 is a Phase 1 mechanism study of insulin secretion in about 95 people. NCT07629401 is Lilly's expanded access listing, status "available", for single-patient requests from a treating physician when someone has refractory obesity with a BMI of 35 or higher, can't join a trial and meets the other criteria on the record.

Be careful with anything sold under the retatrutide name while you wait. Lilly says the drug is legally available only to people in its trials, and the retatrutide for sale page covers what online sellers actually offer. To look for a site near you, use the clinical trials near me page, and for every study in one filterable list, see the trial tracker.

If TRIUMPH-5 reports, it will be the first head-to-head of retatrutide and tirzepatide.