If retatrutide hits $1,500/month like Zepbound, will better efficacy justify even higher costs?
So I’ve been watching the retatrutide trials closely and the weight loss numbers are honestly insane compared to what I got on Mounjaro. We’re talking potentially 24-26% total body weight loss vs the 15-20% range for tirz. But here’s what’s keeping me up at night – if Zepbound is already hitting $1,500/month at commercial pricing, what’s Eli Lilly gonna charge for reta when it comes out? Like are we talking $2,000/month? More?
I’m trying to do the math in my head. Is losing an extra 40-50 pounds worth potentially double the cost? For context I’m self-pay because my insurance is useless for weight loss meds. Already spent about $8k this year on tirz through various sources. My doctor mentioned reta probably won’t be available until late 2025 at earliest but I’m trying to plan financially.
Anyone else thinking about this? Will the better results justify what’s probably gonna be an even more insane price tag? Or are we just gonna end up in the same boat scrambling for compounded versions?
Honestly this is why I went straight to compound pharmacies and never looked back. I know the branded stuff has the fancy pens and quality control but I just can’t justify those prices when compounded tirz is like $300-400/month. When reta comes out I’ll probably wait for compounded versions too. My doctor said as long as you use a legit 503B pharmacy the quality is basically the same. The price gouging from pharma companies is out of control imo.
I see your point about the compound route but here’s my concern – we don’t actually know if reta will perform the same in real world vs trials. Remember sema looked amazing in trials too but plenty of people (including me) stalled out at 12-15% loss. I hit a wall at month 8 on Wegovy and switching to Mounjaro only got me another 6 pounds down. I’m 45F started at 218 now at 187 after 18 months total. If reta actually delivers that 24%+ consistently then yeah I’d probably pay $1800-2000/month for 6-9 months to get to goal vs spending years on cheaper options that might not get me there.
The thing nobody’s mentioning is that the trial data showed reta works on different pathways – GLP1, GIP AND glucagon. That third receptor is probably why the results are so much better. But it also means more potential side effects we haven’t seen long term yet. I read somewhere that the nausea rates were actually higher in the reta trials than tirz. Just something to consider before assuming it’s automatically worth more money. Maybe wait and see what the real world data looks like after launch?
MetabolicOptimizer makes a good point tbh. If you’re self pay anyway and reta could get you to goal in under a year vs 2-3 years on tirz, the total cost might actually be similar or less? Like if you spend $20k over 10 months on reta and hit goal vs $35k over 30 months on zepbound, that’s better financially AND you get your results faster. Obviously talk to your doctor about what makes sense but just thinking out loud here. The compound situation is gonna be interesting too because I doubt pharmacies will have access to reta right away like they did with the others.