10mg Semaglutide: What the Dose Chart Actually Shows

Where does 10mg semaglutide actually come from?

A question our prescribers hear most weeks: someone has googled a dose, found what looks like a product, and wants to know if it's legitimate. The short answer is that 10mg semaglutide does not exist as a licensed UK weight-loss medicine. Wegovy's approved schedule, set out in its Summary of Product Characteristics on the Electronic Medicines Compendium, runs from 0.25mg up to 2.4mg as the standard maintenance dose, with a newer 7.2mg option approved by the MHRA in April 2026. That's the ceiling. Nothing at 10mg has been assessed, authorised or supplied through the UK licensed supply chain.

What sometimes creates the confusion is the parallel world of unlicensed peptide compounds. Compounded or raw semaglutide powders, sometimes described in milligram quantities that dwarf anything in a Wegovy pen, circulate through grey-market channels. These are not the same substance as the medicine your prescriber would assess you for. The MHRA has warned publicly about counterfeit and unlicensed weight-loss injectables sold online, and the risks range from inefficacy to serious harm. If you've seen a 10mg semaglutide injection listed on a website, that context matters enormously.

Pages covering the peptide research side of this topic (separate from licensed medicine) explain the distinction in more detail, including how 10mg semaglutide is typically mixed in compounding contexts, which is far removed from anything in a regulated UK supply chain. For anyone seeking weight management treatment through a regulated route, the licensed doses are the only ones that count.

What doses does Wegovy actually come in, and how does titration work?

Wegovy's five-step schedule is designed around tolerability as much as efficacy. The starting dose of 0.25mg isn't the active therapeutic level; its job is to let your digestive system adjust before anything more significant happens. From there, a prescriber typically moves patients through 0.5mg, 1.0mg and 1.7mg in roughly four-weekly steps, arriving at 2.4mg as the standard maintenance dose. The full Wegovy dose schedule covers each step and what to expect at each stage.

In April 2026, the MHRA approved a single-dose 7.2mg weekly pen, a higher-strength option for adults with a BMI of 30 or above. This pen uses a built-in auto-dosing mechanism and locks after use. It still starts from 0.25mg and works up through the same titration pathway; 7.2mg is where the ladder now ends, not where it begins. Whether a specific dose or pen format is available to you is confirmed at consultation, not assumed in advance.

NICE's recommendation for semaglutide (TA875) covers adults with a BMI of 35 or above plus at least one weight-related condition, within a specialist weight management service, for up to two years. Private prescribing follows the licensed eligibility criteria in the SmPC: BMI 30 or above, or 27 and above with a weight-related condition. Lower BMI thresholds apply for some ethnic backgrounds under UK clinical guidance. A prescriber assesses the full picture, BMI alone doesn't determine suitability.

What were the Wegovy clinical trials actually testing?

The STEP 1 trial, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, tested semaglutide at 2.4mg weekly over 68 weeks. Participants without diabetes saw an average body-weight reduction of around 15% at that dose. The newer 7.2mg data reported approximately 20.7% average weight loss over 72 weeks, closing the gap with tirzepatide results and making it the most effective semaglutide dose studied in this context.

These figures come from randomised controlled trials with defined populations, specific lifestyle support and careful monitoring. They don't transfer automatically to unlicensed compounded versions of the molecule, which haven't been through the same regulatory assessment. The 2.4mg dose page has more detail on the trial evidence and what those percentages mean in practice.

For anyone curious about how Wegovy compares with other licensed weight-loss medicines, the treatment overview sets out what's available and how they differ. The cost side of things is covered separately on the Wegovy cost page, including what a legitimate private prescription typically includes.

Is a 10mg semaglutide pen safe to use?

No licensed UK weight-loss medicine comes in a 10mg weekly dose. If a product is being sold with that description, it hasn't been through MHRA assessment for that strength, formulation or route, and it won't have a UK Patient Information Leaflet, a GPhC-registered pharmacy dispensing it, or a prescriber who has reviewed your medical history before supply. Those aren't bureaucratic niceties. They're the checks that catch contraindications, interactions and dosing errors before they reach you.

The MHRA's public guidance on Yellow Card includes a route to report suspect sellers of unlicensed medicines. Selling a prescription medicine without a valid prescription is illegal in the UK, and the MHRA has seized large quantities of counterfeit and unlicensed weight-loss injectables in recent enforcement operations. If something looks like Wegovy but arrived without a prescription, a prescriber's name or a GPhC-registered pharmacy on the label, it isn't the real thing. Worth checking before using anything.

If you'd like to explore whether licensed semaglutide treatment is right for you, our prescribers review consultations the same day they're submitted. You can start your free consultation and get a clinical assessment without a GP referral or a waiting list.