Lilly drops two more retatrutide suits, both with prejudice

Eli Lilly has ended two of the six lawsuits it filed in August against sellers of its unapproved obesity drug retatrutide. On October 15, Lilly filed a notice of voluntary dismissal with prejudice in its case against Texas Peptides Inc. in federal court in San Antonio. On October 16 it filed an identical notice against Lone Star Peptide Co. LLC in Houston. Both notices are public in the CourtListener RECAP archive; we read them in full.

Each is a single paragraph signed by Lilly’s counsel at Kirkland & Ellis. Each cites Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(a)(1)(A)(i) and says the defendant “has not served an answer or motion for summary judgment,” so the dismissal took effect on filing without a court order. Neither notice gives a reason, and neither mentions a settlement, consent judgment or any promise by the seller to stop selling.

What “with prejudice” means here

A dismissal with prejudice means Lilly cannot bring the same claims against the same defendant again. That is a stronger exit than a dismissal without prejudice, which would leave Lilly free to refile. Companies sometimes dismiss with prejudice after a private agreement, and sometimes because a defendant has gone out of business or cannot pay. The court records do not say which applies, and we found no public statement from Lilly or either seller explaining the dismissals. Named companies can respond under our right-of-reply policy.

The pattern is not new. On September 11, Lilly filed the same kind of notice, also with prejudice and also before an answer, against Aesthetic Envy Cosmetic Centers in the Eastern District of California. The docket shows that case was closed by minute order on September 14.

Where the retatrutide cases stand

Lilly announced six suits on August 12, saying it had also referred “hundreds of bad actors to regulators and law enforcement worldwide.” Bloomberg Law reported five more complaints filed on October 8, against American Peptides, LiveWell Peptides, Cenexa Labs, Medrein Health & Aesthetics and MedShape Weight Loss Clinic. From the dockets as of October 19:

Case (court, number)	Filed	Status on the docket
Aesthetic Envy (E.D. Cal., 2:26-cv-02764)	Aug 12	Dismissed with prejudice Sept 11; closed Sept 14
Texas Peptides (W.D. Tex., 5:26-cv-05146)	Aug 12	Dismissed with prejudice Oct 15
Lone Star Peptide (S.D. Tex., 4:26-cv-06562)	Aug 12	Dismissed with prejudice Oct 16
Astra (W.D. Tex., 5:26-cv-05147)	Aug 12	Open. Amended complaint Aug 31 added an unidentified operator; notice of voluntary dismissal Sept 2; Lilly then asked on Sept 30 for pre-service discovery to identify the defendant
Legendary Peptides (E.D. Tex., 1:26-cv-00347)	Aug 12	Open. Defendant moved to dismiss on Oct 2 under Rules 12(b)(1) and 12(b)(6)
Striker Pharmacy (S.D. Tex., 4:26-cv-06563)	Aug 12	Open. Joint case-management plan filed; defendant sought more time to respond to the complaint
Five October suits (La., Tex., Ariz.)	Oct 8	Open. Summonses issued

The Astra entry needs a caution. The September 2 notice itself is not in the public archive, so we could not see whom it dismissed. The amended complaint names both Astra LLC and “Astra Peptides, an entity or person doing business under that assumed or common name whose true legal identity is presently unknown,” and Lilly’s later motion seeks discovery “to Determine Defendant’s Identity.” Read together, the docket indicates the case is continuing against whoever runs the Astra Peptides storefront. We have not seen a ruling on that motion.

No court has ruled on the merits of any of Lilly’s retatrutide claims.

Why it matters

Alongside the referrals to regulators it described in August, these suits are Lilly’s main public legal action against US retatrutide sellers. BioPharma Dive reported in August that several of the first-wave defendants were accused of selling the drug as “research use only” products, the labeling device most online peptide sellers rely on. Each dismissal with prejudice closes the door on a seller Lilly chose to sue first, without any public finding about what that seller did.

The dismissals land the same week Australian health officials published emergency-department data in which retatrutide was the most-named product (our report). Lilly’s chief medical officer said in the August release that what is sold on the black market “is not a medicine – it is entirely unverified, unapproved and not worth the risk.”

What to watch

Lilly’s response to Legendary Peptides’ motion to dismiss, which a September 10 order gives Lilly 44 days to file after service; any ruling on the Astra discovery motion; answers or defaults in the October cases; and any further dismissals. We check these dockets on each news run and will update this report when they move.