What is the highest dosage of Wegovy available in the UK?

What changed in April 2026 — and why does the highest dose now look different?

For most of Wegovy's time on the UK market, 2.4 mg was the maximum maintenance dose, delivered weekly via a pre-filled pen. That changed when the MHRA approved a higher 7.2 mg dose in January 2026, initially requiring three 2.4 mg pens administered in a single weekly session. The far more practical version (a purpose-built single-dose 7.2 mg pen with an auto-dosing mechanism, a covered needle and a lock that engages after use) received MHRA clearance on 14 April 2026. The MHRA's announcement on GOV.UK confirms both the approval date and the pen's design.

What this means for anyone asking what the highest dosage of semaglutide you can take actually is: the answer is now 7.2 mg, but only for adults with a BMI of 30 or above. The licence is explicit on this point, the 7.2 mg pen is not approved for patients sitting below that threshold, nor is it currently indicated for the cardiovascular risk-reduction use that 2.4 mg can carry. A prescriber decides whether pushing to the higher dose makes clinical sense for a given patient; it is not a straightforward upgrade.

For a fuller breakdown of how each individual dose step fits into the schedule, the Wegovy doses guide on this site covers the whole titration pathway in plain terms.

Does reaching the highest dose actually produce better results?

The short answer is yes, though with the usual caveats about individual variation. Trials of the 7.2 mg dose reported an average weight reduction of roughly 20.7% over 72 weeks, meaningfully more than the approximately 15% average seen in the STEP 1 trial of 2.4 mg, published in the New England Journal of Medicine. That narrows the gap with the highest dose of tirzepatide, which produced around 20–21% average reduction in SURMOUNT-1 participants.

These are population averages, not individual forecasts. Factors including starting weight, how long treatment has been running, lifestyle changes alongside the injection, and how well someone tolerates the medicine all influence the outcome. Prescribers tend to look at whether a patient is still losing meaningful weight at their current dose before considering an increase. Moving to the highest strength is a clinical call, not a routine next step.

Worth knowing: the gastrointestinal side effects that many people notice early in treatment (nausea, loose stools, indigestion) often ease after the first few weeks at each dose level. Moving up to 7.2 mg may bring a temporary recurrence of those symptoms while the body adjusts. Slow titration exists precisely to make that adjustment as manageable as possible. If you are weighing up the wider cost picture alongside clinical factors, the Wegovy price comparison page gives useful context on what UK private treatment typically costs at different stages.

Who can actually reach the highest Wegovy dose, and who decides?

Starting Wegovy does not mean you will automatically arrive at 7.2 mg. The titration schedule moves upward roughly every four weeks: 0.25 mg, then 0.5 mg, 1.0 mg, 1.7 mg, 2.4 mg, and now 7.2 mg as the ceiling. Each step requires your prescriber to be satisfied that the previous dose has been tolerated and that continuing to increase is in your interest. There is no self-adjusting the pen; the pen is pre-set at each specific strength, and the dose you take on any given week is the one your prescriber has prescribed.

Eligibility for the highest dose currently sits with adults whose BMI reaches 30 or above. Ethnic-background thresholds may be 2.5 kg/m² lower under UK clinical guidance, a detail worth raising at your consultation rather than trying to calculate alone. People who are pregnant, breastfeeding, or trying to conceive are not recommended to use Wegovy at any dose. The medicine is not licensed for under-18s. Anyone with a personal or family history of medullary thyroid carcinoma or a history of pancreatitis should discuss this carefully with their prescriber before starting, let alone before increasing to the highest available dose.

At nume (sorry, at nume) every dose increase goes through a fresh clinical review by a GPhC-registered Independent Prescriber before anything is dispensed. The pharmacist on our team puts it plainly: dose increases are reviewed on their own merits, each time. You can read more about our clinical team's approach on the prescriber profile page.

How does 7.2 mg fit into the broader picture of semaglutide doses?

Semaglutide appears in the UK under several brand names and licences, which can make the dose landscape confusing. Ozempic carries doses up to 2 mg but is licensed for type 2 diabetes, not weight management. Rybelsus is oral semaglutide for diabetes, with different strengths again. Wegovy, whether injection or the newly licensed daily tablet (Wegovy 25 mg oral), is the semaglutide formulation licensed specifically for weight management. The injectable Wegovy now tops out at 7.2 mg weekly; the highest dose of semaglutide overall depends entirely on which product and indication you are discussing.

If you are exploring which semaglutide route suits your situation, or wondering whether 2.4 mg is still the ceiling for you specifically, these are exactly the questions a prescriber consultation is designed to answer. The highest licensed dose is now 7.2 mg, but the right dose for any individual is the one a clinician determines is safe and appropriate. Speak to our prescribers through a free consultation if you would like that conversation to happen today.