When will retatrutide and orforglipron be available in Poland, and why shouldn't you buy peptides online?

Neither orforglipron nor retatrutide can currently be bought in Polish pharmacies (as of 6 November 2026). Orforglipron is an obesity medicine in tablet form, sold in the United States as Foundayo. On 15 October 2026, the expert committee of the European Medicines Agency (CHMP) recommended approving it in the European Union. The final decision is made by the European Commission, usually 67 days after the committee's opinion (1, 2). Retatrutide, given as a once-weekly injection, has already completed its pivotal phase III trials, but no regulator has authorised it (3). Its manufacturer, Eli Lilly, intends to submit its first application for approval in the United States in the first quarter of 2027 (4).

Vials labelled retatrutide, with a note that the product is for research use only, can be bought online. Such products are not authorised medicines, and nobody checks what the vial contains or in what amount. Poland's Chief Pharmaceutical Inspector (GIF) and Chief Sanitary Inspector (GIS) warn that selling synthetic peptides in this way is illegal in Poland and can lead to criminal liability (5). The obesity medicines a doctor can already prescribe are available on prescription in Polish pharmacies.

In brief

• Orforglipron received a positive CHMP opinion on 15 October 2026. The European Commission usually issues its decision 67 days after the CHMP opinion, so in this case it can be expected around 21 December 2026. Authorisation in the EU does not mean the medicine will go straight into Polish pharmacies: it is not known when it will appear there or how much it will cost.
• Retatrutide is not approved in any country. The manufacturer plans to submit its first application for approval in the United States in the first quarter of 2027. Retatrutide was not on the list of applications the European Medicines Agency was evaluating in October 2026.
• In the TRIUMPH-1 trial, which included people with obesity but without diabetes, average weight loss after 80 weeks was 25.0% in the retatrutide 12 mg group and 3.9% in the placebo group. This figure also includes people who stopped taking the medicine. The often-quoted 28.3% is an estimate that assumes all participants took the medicine until the end of the trial. In the ATTAIN-1 trial, average weight loss after 72 weeks was 11.2% in the group on the highest dose of orforglipron and 2.1% in the placebo group.
• Vials sold online as research products may contain a different substance, or a different amount of it, than stated on the label. Researchers who bought semaglutide vials from illegal online pharmacies found that semaglutide made up only 7.7-14.4% of the powder, and all the samples contained contaminants of bacterial origin. Anyone already injecting such a product should not take any more doses and, if they feel unwell, should contact a doctor straight away.

When could orforglipron and retatrutide reach Polish pharmacies?

Orforglipron may be authorised throughout the European Union at the end of 2026, but it is not yet known when it will appear in Polish pharmacies. Retatrutide is at an earlier stage: the manufacturer says it will not submit its first application for approval until early 2027 (4).

What has to happen before orforglipron reaches Polish pharmacies?

The European Medicines Agency began evaluating the manufacturer's application on 22 January 2026 (6). Almost 9 months later, the CHMP issued a positive opinion. It recommended authorising orforglipron for treating obesity, alongside a healthy diet and physical activity, in adults with a BMI of 30 or more and in adults with a BMI of 27 to less than 30 who have a weight-related condition, such as prediabetes, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure or sleep apnoea. The second indication is type 2 diabetes (2). The CHMP opinion is only a recommendation, and the medicine may be sold in EU countries only after the European Commission's decision (2). On 6 November 2026, orforglipron was still not listed in the EU register of authorised medicines (7). In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved orforglipron for treating obesity on 1 April 2026 (8). The UK regulator, the MHRA, approved it on 10 August 2026 (9).

A European Commission authorisation is valid in all EU countries, but the medicine does not go into pharmacies straight away. Each country sets the price and decides on any reimbursement separately (1). For semaglutide tablets (Wegovy), the Commission issued its decision on 14 July 2026, and the tablets appeared in Polish pharmacies at the beginning of November 2026, almost 4 months later (10, 11). As of 6 November 2026, it is not yet known when orforglipron will reach Polish pharmacies or how much it will cost. The NFZ (Poland's National Health Fund) currently does not reimburse any medicine used to treat obesity. The prices of medicines already in pharmacies are listed on our page about obesity treatment.

When could retatrutide be approved in the European Union?

In August 2026, the manufacturer said it now had all the data needed to seek approval of retatrutide for treating obesity, obstructive sleep apnoea and knee osteoarthritis pain. It plans to submit the application to the FDA in the United States in the first quarter of 2027 (4). Retatrutide was not on the list of applications the European Medicines Agency was evaluating in October 2026 (6).

The manufacturer has not said when it will apply in the EU. If it applied in the EU at the same time as in the United States, if the evaluation took as long as it did for orforglipron (about 9 months), and if the European Commission then needed about 2 more months to decide, retatrutide could be authorised in the EU around late 2027 or early 2028. This calculation is only an estimate. After the Commission's decision, it would still take some time for the medicine to reach Polish pharmacies.

How is orforglipron different from semaglutide tablets?

Orforglipron activates the same GLP-1 receptor as semaglutide, but unlike a semaglutide tablet, it can be taken at any time of day, with or without food (1). You take a semaglutide tablet on an empty stomach with a small amount of water, then wait at least 30 minutes before eating, drinking or taking any other oral medicines (12).

GLP-1 is a hormone released in the gut that regulates appetite and how much we eat (12). Semaglutide is a peptide, a molecule made of amino acids that digestive enzymes break down easily. This is why a semaglutide tablet has to be taken according to strict rules, which we describe in our article on how a semaglutide tablet differs from the injection. Orforglipron is not a peptide but a small-molecule drug (1). As with semaglutide, treatment with orforglipron starts at a low dose, which the doctor increases gradually depending on the effect and on how well the patient tolerates the medicine (1).

Orforglipron trial results in people with obesity

The ATTAIN-1 trial included 3,127 adults with obesity but without diabetes. For 72 weeks, they took orforglipron once a day at a dose of 6 mg, 12 mg or 36 mg, or placebo. All participants were also given advice on a healthy diet and physical activity. Body weight fell by an average of 7.5%, 8.4% and 11.2%, depending on the dose, and by 2.1% in the placebo group. On the 36 mg dose, more than half of the participants (54.6%) lost at least 10% of their body weight, compared with 12.9% of participants in the placebo group (13).

In the ATTAIN-2 trial of 1,613 adults with overweight or obesity and type 2 diabetes, body weight fell by 5.1-9.6%, depending on the dose, and by 2.5% in the placebo group (14).

Semaglutide tablets were tested in a different trial, with different participants and over a different length of time, so setting the results of the two trials side by side does not show which tablet works better.

The most common side effects were gastrointestinal symptoms, mostly mild or moderate. In ATTAIN-1, 5.3-10.3% of people taking orforglipron and 2.7% of those on placebo stopped treatment because of side effects (13). In ATTAIN-2, the figures were 6.1-9.9% compared with 4.1% (14).

Why are the orforglipron doses in the trials different from the tablet doses?

In the trials, orforglipron was given as capsules, whereas the tablets approved by the FDA and recommended for authorisation by the CHMP contain 0.8 mg to 17.2 mg of the medicine (2, 8). Capsule doses do not convert one to one into tablet doses: the 6 mg, 12 mg and 36 mg doses used in the trials correspond to 5.5 mg, 9 mg and 17.2 mg tablets (15).

How does retatrutide work, and what did the trials show?

Retatrutide activates the receptors of three hormones: two gut hormones, GIP and GLP-1, and glucagon, a hormone made by the pancreas (16). In the TRIUMPH-1 trial, which included people with obesity but without diabetes, average weight loss after 80 weeks was 25.0% in the group on retatrutide 12 mg once a week and 3.9% in the placebo group. The analysis also included participants who stopped taking the medicine (16).

Semaglutide activates only the GLP-1 receptor, and tirzepatide the GIP and GLP-1 receptors (12, 17). TRIUMPH-1 included 2,339 adults who received retatrutide once a week at a dose of 4 mg, 9 mg or 12 mg, or placebo. Body weight fell by an average of 17.6%, 23.7% and 25.0%, depending on the dose (16). The trial was also run at 12 sites in Poland (18). In 574 participants with knee osteoarthritis, retatrutide reduced knee pain more than placebo did. In 243 participants with obstructive sleep apnoea, with the 9 mg and 12 mg doses, the number of breathing pauses and episodes of shallow breathing fell by an average of 31.7-34.3 episodes per hour of sleep, compared with 9.9 in the placebo group (16).

The TRIUMPH-2 trial included 1,152 adults with overweight or obesity and type 2 diabetes. After 80 weeks, people on retatrutide had lost an average of 11.9-18.8% of their body weight, depending on the dose, and people in the placebo group 5.1% (19).

Why are there different weight loss figures for retatrutide?

The 25.0% figure and the 28.3% figure come from the same TRIUMPH-1 trial, but from two different analyses. The 25.0% figure published in a scientific journal was calculated for all participants, including those who stopped taking the medicine. In a press release in May 2026, the manufacturer also gave the result of a second analysis: assuming that all participants took the medicine until the end of the trial, the estimated weight loss was 28.3% on the 12 mg dose and 2.2% in the placebo group (16, 20). It is usually this second, higher figure that appears in the media.

Side effects of retatrutide in the trials

As with semaglutide and tirzepatide, the most common side effects of retatrutide were nausea, diarrhoea, constipation and vomiting. In TRIUMPH-1, people on retatrutide also had abnormal skin sensations (dysaesthesia) more often than people in the placebo group. These are unpleasant feelings such as tingling, burning or skin that is oversensitive to touch (20).

The figures in the table come from the manufacturer's press release (20). In TRIUMPH-2, in people with type 2 diabetes, abnormal skin sensations occurred in 4-7% of people on retatrutide and 1% of those on placebo, and low blood pressure (hypotension) in 1-6% of people on retatrutide and less than 1% of those on placebo (19). Retatrutide does not yet have a summary of product characteristics (SmPC), the regulator-approved document that sets out dosing, contraindications and warnings. Until such a document exists, there is also no official list of situations in which the medicine must not be used.

What are "research peptides" sold online?

Research peptides are substances sold online as chemical reagents or as material for laboratory research only, even though the way they are sold indicates that they are intended for human use. Products sold in this way are not authorised medicines and have not been through clinical trials confirming that they are safe and effective (5).

In a warning issued in August 2025, GIF and GIS described how to recognise such listings. The peptides are sold in packaging that looks like medicine packaging, such as ampoules, vials and prefilled pens. The listings include dose calculators or instructions on how to use the product in humans. They are promoted on social media by people who present themselves as being linked to the fitness industry and who hand out discount codes. The seller promises to explain how to use the product in a private message (5). In a warning letter to one seller, the US FDA pointed out that the seller offered water for injection together with retatrutide. According to the agency, this proves that the products were meant to be injected (21).

Is it legal to buy retatrutide online in Poland?

Retatrutide cannot be bought legally, because it is not authorised in any country. Anyone taking retatrutide outside a clinical trial has obtained it on the black market (3). According to the pharmaceutical and sanitary inspectorates, selling synthetic peptides as research products when the products are marketed for human use breaches Poland's Pharmaceutical Law Act and can lead to criminal liability. The warning closes with the message "Don't buy. Don't use. Don't take the risk" (5).

Regulators in other countries take a similar view of these products. In March 2026, the US FDA concluded that retatrutide and tirzepatide products labelled "for research use only" were in fact unapproved medicines for human use, because the seller's website described their effect on body weight and appetite (21). In the United States, pharmacies are also not allowed to compound retatrutide (22). In September 2025, the European Medicines Agency and the heads of national medicines agencies warned of a growing number of illegal GLP-1 medicines sold on fake websites and advertised on social media. A legal online pharmacy in the EU displays the common EU logo on its website, and clicking on the logo takes you to the national register of such pharmacies (23).

What can be in a vial of weight-loss medicine bought online?

An illegal product sold as a GLP-1 medicine may not contain the declared substance at all, or may contain harmful amounts of other substances. Anyone using it risks the treatment not working, unexpected serious health problems or dangerous interactions with other medicines (23).

The authors of a study published in 2024 ordered semaglutide from six illegal online pharmacies that sold it without a prescription. Three vials arrived, and the three pens they had ordered never came. The vials contained 29-39% more semaglutide than stated on the label, so anyone dosing according to the label would have taken more of the medicine than they intended. At the same time, semaglutide itself made up only 7.7-14.4% of the powder, even though the labels claimed 99% purity. Endotoxins, which are contaminants of bacterial origin, were found in all the vials (24).

In Italy, a 31-year-old woman injected herself with a product bought online as semaglutide and was admitted to hospital in a coma caused by low blood sugar. Toxicology testing showed that the vial contained insulin (25).

New Zealand's medicines regulator, Medsafe, says that reports from various countries link black-market retatrutide to fatal overdoses, contaminated products, severe neurological symptoms and hair loss (3).

Why are injections without medical supervision risky, even if the vial contains the real medicine?

Treatment with GLP-1 medicines starts at a low dose, which the doctor increases every few weeks if the patient tolerates the medicine well (1, 12). When patients measure out a dose themselves with a syringe from a vial, mistakes are easy to make. The FDA has received many reports of side effects that may have resulted from such mistakes, and some patients needed hospital treatment (22). Without a doctor, nobody checks what conditions the patient has or what other medicines they take. A person with diabetes who takes insulin or a sulfonylurea may develop low blood sugar once a GLP-1 medicine is added, which is why the doctor may then reduce the dose of those other medicines (12).

What should you do if you are using weight-loss injections from an illegal source?

If you are using a product from an illegal source, do not take any more doses. If you feel unwell after an injection, contact a doctor straight away (3). Tell the doctor what product you are taking, at what dose, how long you have been taking it and where you got it. If you have the vial or the packaging, take it with you.

Which symptoms after an injection from an illegal source need urgent help?

Get urgent medical help if you have:

• severe, long-lasting abdominal pain, which may also spread to the back and can be a symptom of acute pancreatitis (12)
• symptoms of low blood sugar: cold sweats, cool pale skin, headache, a fast heartbeat, shaking, anxiety, confusion or difficulty concentrating (12); a product from an illegal source may contain insulin instead of the declared substance (25)
• difficulty breathing, sudden swelling of the face, throat, arms or legs, dizziness and loss of consciousness, which may mean a severe allergic reaction and need immediate medical help (12)
• persistent vomiting or diarrhoea that makes it impossible to drink enough fluids, because dehydration can impair kidney function (12)

Which obesity medicines can a doctor prescribe in Poland now?

Five obesity medicines are licensed in Poland: semaglutide as injections and as tablets (the tablets have been in pharmacies since November 2026), tirzepatide and liraglutide as injections, and naltrexone/bupropion tablets and orlistat capsules. All of them are prescription-only, except that orlistat at a lower dose can be bought without a prescription. How these medicines differ and what they cost is described on our page about obesity treatment. The criteria a doctor uses to decide whether you are eligible for treatment are explained in our article on eligibility for obesity medication, and ways to ease nausea and constipation in our article on side effects of obesity medication.

Medicines in the Nasz Gabinet obesity treatment programme

In the obesity treatment programme, the doctor chooses a medicine from those available in Polish pharmacies, including semaglutide as an injection or a tablet (the injection is the first choice) and tirzepatide. We do not prescribe orforglipron or retatrutide, because they are not available in Poland. Before treatment starts, our questionnaire asks whether the patient is using weight-loss injections bought outside a pharmacy. If the answer is yes, the doctor first reviews the patient's situation personally and only then decides on an e-prescription. The patient buys the medicine at a pharmacy and pays for it separately, outside the programme.

Frequently asked questions

Is retatrutide stronger than tirzepatide (Mounjaro)?

This is not yet known. A trial comparing the two is under way, in which about 800 adults with obesity were randomly assigned to treatment with retatrutide or tirzepatide. According to the clinical trial registry, data collection for the main analysis is scheduled for November 2026 (26). Tirzepatide activates the GIP and GLP-1 receptors, and retatrutide also activates the glucagon receptor (16, 17).

Will orforglipron be reimbursed in Poland?

That is not yet known. Each country decides separately on the price and reimbursement of a medicine authorised in the EU, and only after the European Commission's decision (1). The NFZ currently does not reimburse any obesity medicine, including semaglutide and tirzepatide.

Can you take retatrutide legally before it is approved?

Until it is approved, the only legal way to take retatrutide is as a participant in a clinical trial (3). Patients from 12 Polish sites also took part in TRIUMPH-1 (18). Information about clinical trials run in Poland is published in trial registries, such as ClinicalTrials.gov.

How much does retatrutide cost?

Retatrutide has no price in any country, because it is not authorised for sale anywhere (3). The prices you can find online are for illegally traded products of unknown composition and unknown strength (5, 24).

Sources

1. European Medicines Agency. New oral GLP-1 medicine for weight management and type 2 diabetes. Press release, 16.10.2026. ema.europa.eu
2. European Medicines Agency. Foundayo (orforglipron) - CHMP summary of positive opinion, EMA/CHMP/229918/2026, 15.10.2026. ema.europa.eu
3. Medsafe (New Zealand Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Authority). Consumer advisory: Unapproved peptide products health warning. 21.05.2026. medsafe.govt.nz
4. Eli Lilly and Company. Second-quarter 2026 financial results (Form 8-K), 5.08.2026: complete data for the registration of retatrutide and plan to submit the application to the FDA in the first quarter of 2027. sec.gov
5. Główny Inspektor Sanitarny i Główny Inspektor Farmaceutyczny. Ostrzeżenie publiczne. Nielegalny obrót syntetycznymi peptydami oferowanymi jako odczynniki chemiczne lub do badań (Public warning: illegal trade in synthetic peptides offered as chemical reagents or for research). 7.08.2025. gov.pl
6. European Medicines Agency. Applications for new human medicines under evaluation by the CHMP, October 2026 (orforglipron: evaluation started 22.01.2026; retatrutide not listed). ema.europa.eu
7. European Commission. Union Register of medicinal products for human use, updated 6.11.2026. ec.europa.eu
8. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. FDA Approves First New Molecular Entity Under National Priority Voucher Program. Press release, 1.04.2026. fda.gov
9. Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency. UK first in Europe to authorise orforglipron for weight management and type 2 diabetes. Press release, 10.08.2026. gov.uk
10. European Medicines Agency. Wegovy - procedural steps taken and scientific information after authorisation, procedure EMA/X/0000296344 (tablets): European Commission decision 14.07.2026. ema.europa.eu
11. Alert Medyczny. Wegovy w tabletkach już w Polsce. Ile pacjenci zapłacą za poszczególne dawki? (Wegovy tablets now in Poland: how much will patients pay for each dose?) 4.11.2026. alertmedyczny.pl
12. European Medicines Agency. Wegovy (semaglutyd) - charakterystyka produktu leczniczego i ulotka dla pacjenta (summary of product characteristics and patient leaflet). ema.europa.eu
13. Wharton S, Aronne LJ, Stefanski A et al. Orforglipron, an Oral Small-Molecule GLP-1 Receptor Agonist for Obesity Treatment. N Engl J Med. 2025;393(18):1796-1806. PMID 40960239, DOI
14. Horn DB et al. Orforglipron, an oral small-molecule GLP-1 receptor agonist, for the treatment of obesity in people with type 2 diabetes (ATTAIN-2): a phase 3, double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled trial. Lancet. 2026;406(10522):2927-2944. PMID 41275875, DOI
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17. European Medicines Agency. Mounjaro (tirzepatyd) - charakterystyka produktu leczniczego (summary of product characteristics). ema.europa.eu
18. ClinicalTrials.gov. A Study of Retatrutide (LY3437943) in Participants Who Have Obesity or Overweight (TRIUMPH-1), NCT05929066 - list of sites. clinicaltrials.gov
19. Bellido V et al. Retatrutide in adults with obesity and type 2 diabetes (TRIUMPH-2): a double-blind, parallel-group, randomised, placebo-controlled, phase 3 trial. Lancet. 2026;408(10563):1455-1472. PMID 42810372, DOI
20. Eli Lilly and Company. Lilly's triple agonist, retatrutide, delivered powerful weight loss in pivotal Phase 3 obesity trial. Press release, 21.05.2026. biospace.com
21. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Warning Letter: Gram Peptides, MARCS-CMS 721806. 31.03.2026. fda.gov
22. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. FDA's concerns with unapproved GLP-1 drugs used for weight loss. Updated 1.10.2026. fda.gov
23. European Medicines Agency, Heads of Medicines Agencies. Warning about sharp rise in illegal medicines sold in the EU. 4.09.2025. ema.europa.eu
24. Ashraf AR, Mackey TK, Vida RG et al. Multifactor Quality and Safety Analysis of Semaglutide Products Sold by Online Sellers Without a Prescription: Market Surveillance, Content Analysis, and Product Purchase Evaluation Study. J Med Internet Res. 2024;26:e65440. PMID 39509151, DOI
25. Antonacci G, Bortignon E, Bolognesi M et al. Hypoglycaemic coma induced by a falsified semaglutide product: a case report. Eur J Hosp Pharm. 2026;33(5):486-489. PMID 41125326, DOI
26. ClinicalTrials.gov. A Phase 3, Randomized, Double-Blind Study to Evaluate the Efficacy and Safety of Retatrutide Compared to Tirzepatide in Adults Who Have Obesity, NCT06662383. clinicaltrials.gov