1.7mg of Wegovy Compared to Mounjaro: What Does This Dose Actually Mean?

Where does 1.7mg sit in Wegovy's dose schedule, and why does it matter for the comparison?

Wegovy (semaglutide) follows a gradual titration: 0.25mg, then 0.5mg, then 1.0mg, then 1.7mg, and finally 2.4mg as the standard maintenance dose. The 1.7mg step is a bridge, most patients pass through it for roughly four weeks before their prescriber moves them to 2.4mg, assuming it's tolerated well. The full Wegovy dose range compared to Mounjaro covers this schedule in more detail, but the short version is that 1.7mg is rarely a long-term landing point; it's a checkpoint.

Mounjaro (tirzepatide) has its own separate scale: 2.5mg, 5mg, 7.5mg, 10mg, 12.5mg and 15mg. Its 2.5mg starting dose exists purely to let your system adjust, the therapeutic work begins at higher doses as your prescriber titrates upward. The two medicines' numeric doses do not correspond to each other in any direct sense; comparing 1.7mg semaglutide to, say, 7.5mg tirzepatide is not a case of one being larger. They measure different molecular quantities via different receptor pathways.

The clinical distinction matters too. Wegovy is a GLP-1 receptor agonist. Mounjaro activates both GIP and GLP-1 receptors (the only dual-agonist weight-management medicine currently licensed in the UK) which is one reason its trial results differed from semaglutide's. If you want to read a detailed breakdown of how these two medicines stack up, you can find 1mg Wegovy compared to Mounjaro a useful starting point for understanding how the comparison shifts across the dose schedule. The Wegovy vs Mounjaro overview goes deeper on that mechanism difference if you want the full picture.

What do the trial numbers actually tell us when comparing results at these doses?

The honest answer is that there is no published trial comparing 1.7mg semaglutide specifically to any Mounjaro dose. The evidence we have comes from separate programmes. STEP 1 (a 68-week phase 3 trial published in the New England Journal of Medicine) tested 2.4mg semaglutide against placebo and found an average body-weight reduction of around 15%. The 1.7mg step was not the endpoint studied; participants passed through it on the way to maintenance.

For tirzepatide, the SURMOUNT-1 trial found average weight reductions of around 20–21% at the 15mg dose over 72 weeks, with lower average losses at the lower therapeutic doses. NICE's appraisal of tirzepatide noted that indirect comparisons favour it over semaglutide 2.4mg, and the SURMOUNT-5 head-to-head trial (published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2025) confirmed greater average weight reduction with tirzepatide than with semaglutide 2.4mg over 72 weeks in adults with obesity and without diabetes. You can read NICE's tirzepatide appraisal (TA1026) for how those comparisons were assessed in the UK regulatory context.

What this means for you at 1.7mg is that you're not yet at the dose the trial data describes. A comparison between 1.7mg Wegovy and Mounjaro is therefore best framed as a conversation between you and a prescriber, not a table of numbers. Our page on Wegovy 2.4mg versus Mounjaro gives the closest like-for-like evidence that actually exists.

How do the two medicines compare on tolerability and practical use at this stage of treatment?

Both medicines share a broadly similar side-effect profile, dominated by gastrointestinal symptoms. Nausea tends to be most noticeable around dose increases, including the step up to 1.7mg, and for most people it settles within one to two weeks. Diarrhoea, constipation, indigestion and fatigue can also occur with either medicine. The NHS semaglutide page covers the full list for Wegovy, and the NHS tirzepatide equivalent does the same for Mounjaro.

Practically, both are once-weekly subcutaneous injections. Mounjaro comes as a KwikPen with four weekly doses per pen; Wegovy uses a pre-filled pen at each dose. Storage for both requires refrigeration at 2–8°C, with a limited window at room temperature, check the Patient Information Leaflet for the precise figures rather than relying on a number in an article. If you have recently moved up from the previous titration step, our page on how 1mg Wegovy compares to Mounjaro may also be useful context for understanding how the picture shifts as the dose increases, and our dedicated 1.7mg Wegovy versus Mounjaro page looks specifically at where you are now.

One practical note worth raising: women using oral contraceptives on tirzepatide are advised to add a non-oral method for the first four weeks of treatment and for four weeks after each dose increase, because tirzepatide may reduce how much of the pill is absorbed. There is no equivalent MHRA guidance for semaglutide. It's one of those details that rarely makes it into comparison tables but can matter in practice.

Side-by-side summary

Which suits your situation is a clinical decision our prescribers make with you) after reviewing your history, your current progress and what you're hoping to achieve. Speak to our prescribers through a free consultation if you'd like that conversation.