Is 7.5mg Mounjaro Equivalent to Wegovy? What the Evidence Shows

Where 7.5mg sits on Mounjaro's titration ladder, and its semaglutide context

Mounjaro is titrated in 2.5mg increments, typically every four weeks. The 2.5mg starting dose is a tolerability step; 5mg follows, then 7.5mg, continuing up to 15mg if needed and tolerated. So 7.5mg is the third rung of a six-rung ladder, above the starter phase but well short of the maximum. Most people reach it after roughly eight weeks on treatment.

Wegovy's schedule runs from 0.25mg through 0.5mg, 1.0mg and 1.7mg to the standard 2.4mg maintenance dose, with a higher 7.2mg dose now also approved by the MHRA following a dedicated single-dose pen approval in April 2026. On paper the absolute milligram numbers look wildly different (7.5mg versus 2.4mg) but that comparison is meaningless without understanding that the two molecules are structurally distinct, dosed at different concentrations, and bind to different receptors. A dose conversion table of the kind used for, say, switching between opioids simply does not exist for these two medicines.

What practitioners and researchers do instead is compare the medicines at their respective maintenance doses. That is the fairest reading of the question of what is equivalent to 7.5mg Mounjaro in the Wegovy world: you are comparing a mid-titration dose of one medicine against a titration phase of another. For a fuller look at how the dose conversion picture works across all strengths, that page covers the detail. If you are specifically asking about how 7.5mg compares to Wegovy's starting doses, the 0.5mg Wegovy comparison page is worth reading alongside this one.

What the clinical trial data actually tells us at each stage

The most relevant evidence is SURMOUNT-5, the first direct head-to-head trial comparing tirzepatide (up to 15mg) and semaglutide (up to 2.4mg) in adults with obesity but without type 2 diabetes. Over 72 weeks, tirzepatide produced greater average weight reduction than semaglutide 2.4mg, a finding reflected in NICE's appraisal of tirzepatide (TA1026), which notes that indirect comparisons favour tirzepatide. The STEP 1 trial, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, reported around 15% average weight loss at semaglutide 2.4mg over 68 weeks.

It is important to be clear about what these figures represent: they are averages across thousands of trial participants, at full maintenance doses, over more than a year. They do not predict what will happen to any individual at 7.5mg Mounjaro specifically. Individual response at any given dose varies, and prescribers assess progress at each clinical review before deciding whether to titrate further.

The table below summarises where 7.5mg Mounjaro sits relative to key Wegovy dose stages factually, without implying direct equivalence.

For more detail on how the highest doses compare, the 15mg Mounjaro and Wegovy comparison covers the full-maintenance picture, and the Wegovy vs Mounjaro overview sets out the broader side-by-side evidence.

The decision factors that actually matter when choosing between them

Most people asking this question are at a fork: they have been offered one medicine, or they are considering switching, or they want to know whether what they are currently taking is broadly in the same ballpark as what a friend or family member uses. That is a reasonable thing to want to know. The practical factors that shape the clinical decision are worth laying out plainly.

First, the mechanism. Mounjaro activates both the GIP and GLP-1 receptors; Wegovy works on GLP-1 alone. Whether that dual action is meaningful for a specific patient depends on their metabolic profile, something a prescriber reviews. Second, titration pace. If you are currently on 7.5mg Mounjaro and tolerating it well, your prescriber will consider whether moving toward 10mg or 12.5mg is appropriate, the 7.5mg dose is not typically a permanent stopping point. Third, eligibility under NICE guidance differs slightly between the two medicines: tirzepatide is recommended by NICE (TA1026) for adults with BMI ≥35 plus at least one weight-related comorbidity on the NHS, while semaglutide (TA875) carries a maximum two-year duration within a specialist weight management service. These criteria apply to NHS prescribing; private eligibility follows the licensed thresholds in the SmPC. For a close look at cost differences between the two, the tirzepatide versus semaglutide cost comparison is worth a read.

A question our prescribers hear regularly is whether switching mid-titration is straightforward. It is not automatic, there are clinical considerations around washout, tolerability history and weight trajectory. The 5mg Mounjaro comparison page covers some of the switching context at an earlier dose stage. The dedicated page on what Wegovy dose corresponds to 7.5mg Mounjaro also works through the question from the prescriber's perspective. Which medicine suits you is a clinical decision made with our prescribers, not something a comparison table resolves on its own.