Retatrutide and tirzepatide: pharmacy, pills, drops

In short: retatrutide (LY3437943, Eli Lilly) is a drug candidate in phase 3 trials. No regulator has approved it yet, so no pharmacy anywhere in the world has an approved retatrutide medicine. Tirzepatide (LY3298176, also Eli Lilly) has been a registered medicine in the US and the European Union since 2022, but it is not authorised in Moldova. Neither molecule exists as a medicine in pill or drop form. We supply retatrutide 20 mg and tirzepatide 30 mg vials for in-vitro laboratory research only: they hold a lyophilised powder, not a medicine.

Why they are researched

Retatrutide is being studied in obesity, type 2 diabetes, knee osteoarthritis pain and obstructive sleep apnea, in which breathing repeatedly stops during sleep. Further trials cover cardiovascular disease, chronic low back pain and fatty liver disease. Results from randomised phase 3 trials in people, as the authors reported them:

• TRIUMPH-1 (NEJM, 2026): 2,339 adults with obesity and no diabetes, 80 weeks. Body weight changed by −17.6%, −23.7% and −25.0% in the groups with rising exposure, against −3.9% on placebo. In participants with sleep apnea, the number of breathing pauses and shallow-breathing episodes per hour of sleep fell by 22.9–34.3 against 9.9; in those with knee osteoarthritis, the WOMAC pain score fell by 3.2–3.6 against 1.9.
• TRIUMPH-2 (The Lancet, 2026): 1,152 adults with obesity and type 2 diabetes, 80 weeks. Body weight: −11.9% to −18.8% against −5.1% on placebo. Diarrhoea occurred in 27–34% against 13%, nausea in 14–28% against 8%.
• TRANSCEND-T2D-1 (The Lancet, 2026): 537 adults with type 2 diabetes, 40 weeks. HbA1c, a measure of average blood sugar over the past few months, fell by 1.69–1.94 percentage points against 0.81 on placebo.

Tolerability: a 2026 review in Pharmaceutics notes that gastrointestinal adverse events, skin sensitivity disorders, heart-rate changes and the consequences of lean-mass loss require further evaluation. Heart and kidney outcomes are being studied in a trial that runs until 2029.

Tirzepatide is approved for four indications in the US and for the first two in the EU:

• Type 2 diabetes: FDA (US) and EU, 2022; later also for children aged 10 and over. In SURPASS-1 (The Lancet, 2021), HbA1c in 478 adults fell by 1.87–2.07 percentage points over 40 weeks, against a rise of 0.04 on placebo.
• Weight management in obesity, or in overweight with a weight-related condition: FDA, 2023; in the EU, the EMA committee recommended this indication the same year. In SURMOUNT-1 (NEJM, 2022), body weight in 2,539 adults without diabetes changed by −15.0%, −19.5% and −20.9% over 72 weeks, against −3.1% on placebo.
• Sleep apnea, moderate to severe, in adults with obesity: FDA, 2024; in the EU, apnea falls under the weight indication. In the two SURMOUNT-OSA trials (NEJM, 2024), the same apnea measure fell over 52 weeks by 25.3 and 29.3 against 5.3 and 5.5 on placebo.
• Lowering the risk of heart attack, stroke and cardiovascular death in adults with type 2 diabetes at high risk of such events: FDA, 2026. In SURPASS-CVOT (NEJM, 2025; 13,299 patients with diabetes and cardiovascular disease), such events occurred in 12.2% on tirzepatide against 13.1% on dulaglutide, a drug already shown to reduce such events: tirzepatide proved no worse than it.

In the placebo-controlled trials, the most common adverse events were gastrointestinal. These are clinical-trial results and regulators' decisions about medicines. They do not describe our reagent and are not a recommendation.

Are they sold in pharmacies?

No pharmacy anywhere in the world has an approved retatrutide medicine. On 12 August 2026 Eli Lilly stated that no regulator has yet approved retatrutide.

Tirzepatide is sold in pharmacies, but not in Moldova. In the US and the EU it is dispensed on prescription under Eli Lilly's brand names: Mounjaro, and in the US also Zepbound. In Moldova it is not authorised: in February 2026 the Medicines and Medical Devices Agency (AMDM) named Mounjaro among unauthorised medicines, and on 4 November 2026 the State Nomenclature of Medicines listed no tirzepatide product. The Moldovan status is set out on a separate page in Romanian and Russian; the brand names are listed in our article on semaglutide, tirzepatide and retatrutide.

Are they approved?

Retatrutide: not yet. By 28 October 2026 Eli Lilly had reported positive results from six phase 3 trials. Results from three of them are already published in peer-reviewed journals, and those of the other three (TRIUMPH-3, TRIUMPH-4 and TRANSCEND-T2D-2) in company statements. The company plans to file with the FDA in the first quarter of 2027.

Tirzepatide: yes, in the US and the EU since 2022. In Moldova, no.

Compound	Status	Pharmaceutical form	Our vial
Retatrutide	Phase 3 trials, not yet approved anywhere	None: no medicine exists	20 mg, lyophilised powder for in-vitro research
Tirzepatide	Medicine in the US and EU since 2022; not authorised in Moldova	Solution in a prefilled pen or a vial, on prescription	30 mg, lyophilised powder for in-vitro research

Do they come as pills or drops?

No. As a medicine, tirzepatide is made only as a solution in a prefilled pen or a vial: no tirzepatide pills or drops are registered anywhere. Retatrutide has no such forms even in trials: none of its 34 studies on ClinicalTrials.gov uses pills or drops.

Pills do exist in this class, but they contain other substances. Semaglutide tablets (Novo Nordisk) have been approved in the US since 2019 for type 2 diabetes, and since December 2025 for weight management as well. Orforglipron is Eli Lilly's own molecule: the FDA approved it on 1 April 2026 for weight management, and on 16 October EMA recommended it for authorisation in the EU. Neither tablet is registered in Moldova, and we do not supply either.

So anything sold as "tirzepatide pills", "retatrutide drops" or "Mounjaro drops" matches no registered form of these molecules.

Why peptides are rarely pills

Retatrutide and tirzepatide are chains of 39 amino acids weighing about 4,700–4,800 daltons. In the stomach and gut, digestive enzymes break peptides down, and peptides cross the wall of the digestive tract poorly (Science Translational Medicine, 2018). Semaglutide could be made into a tablet only together with an absorption enhancer, SNAC, and even under the best conditions only about 0.4–1% of it reaches the blood (Pharmaceutical Research, 2026). Orforglipron is not a peptide but a small molecule of about 880 daltons, and EMA links its tablet form directly to that.

A vial and a pharmacy medicine are not the same thing

A pharmacy medicine is a registered pharmaceutical form with a patient leaflet, made to the regulator's requirements and dispensed on prescription. Our vial is something else: a lyophilisate, that is, a freeze-dried powder, for in-vitro laboratory experiments. It is not a medicine and not a replacement for one, and we do not claim it is the same product. The molecules themselves are covered in our articles on retatrutide and on tirzepatide.

Frequently asked questions

Is retatrutide approved?

Not yet. As of 4 November 2026, no regulator has approved it for any indication.

When will retatrutide reach pharmacies?

There is no date yet: Eli Lilly plans to file with the FDA in the first quarter of 2027. In Moldova, any medicine is authorised separately.

Does tirzepatide come as pills or drops?

Not as a medicine: only as a solution in a prefilled pen or a vial. The pills in this class are other molecules: semaglutide and orforglipron.

Can I buy retatrutide at a pharmacy in Moldova?

No: it is not registered in any country. Our retatrutide is a reagent for in-vitro laboratory research, not a pharmacy medicine.

Do you advise on use?

No. Retatrutide and tirzepatide are reagents for in-vitro laboratory research only, and we do not advise on use.

How to order

Prices and availability are on the retatrutide and tirzepatide pages and in the block below this article. You can order on the site or through the Telegram bot. We deliver within Moldova in 1 business day, you pay the courier on delivery, and delivery is free from 1000 lei. Before delivery we call you to confirm the order. Bacteriostatic water comes free with peptides: one bottle per 1–3 vials.

Sources

• TRIUMPH-1: Jastreboff et al. N Engl J Med, 2026. PMID 42814954
• TRIUMPH-2: Bellido et al. Lancet, 2026. PMID 42810372
• TRANSCEND-T2D-1: Bajaj et al. Lancet, 2026. PMID 42250575
• Review: Mateescu et al. Pharmaceutics, 2026. PMID 42942810
• SURPASS-1: Rosenstock et al. Lancet, 2021. PMID 34186022
• SURMOUNT-1: Jastreboff et al. N Engl J Med, 2022. PMID 35658024
• SURMOUNT-OSA: Malhotra et al. N Engl J Med, 2024. PMID 38912654
• SURPASS-CVOT: Nicholls et al. N Engl J Med, 2025. PMID 41406444
• The semaglutide tablet: Buckley et al. Sci Transl Med, 2018. PMID 30429357; Vahora et al. Pharm Res, 2026. PMID 42687069
• FDA: tirzepatide — 2022, 2023, 2024, Mounjaro prescribing information (08/2026); orforglipron — 2026. EMA: tirzepatide, orforglipron.
• Eli Lilly, company statements of 23 July, 12 August and 28 October 2026. ClinicalTrials.gov, retatrutide studies (checked on 4 November 2026).
• AMDM, notice of 11 February 2026; State Nomenclature of Medicines (checked on 4 November 2026).