How to get Wegovy if you're not obese: what the UK licence actually says

The biggest myth: Wegovy is only for people classified as obese

A great many people searching this question have already been told (by a friend, a forum, or a GP's waiting-room leaflet) that weight-loss injections are only available if your BMI is 30 or above. That is not the full picture.

The UK marketing authorisation for Wegovy (semaglutide 2.4 mg, made by Novo Nordisk) covers adults with a BMI of 30 or higher, or a BMI of 27 to 29.9 when at least one weight-related comorbidity is present. The NHS medicines page for semaglutide sets this out clearly. Conditions that commonly satisfy that second criterion include type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, dyslipidaemia, obstructive sleep apnoea, and cardiovascular disease.

So if your BMI sits at, say, 28.5 and you have been diagnosed with hypertension, you may genuinely fall within the licensed population, subject to a prescriber's full clinical assessment. What a prescriber considers goes well beyond BMI: current medications, medical history, any contraindications, and your overall health picture all come into it. The BMI threshold is a starting point, not the whole answer. If you are uncertain where you stand, the NHS BMI calculator is a useful first check before your consultation.

The legal route: what a legitimate prescription pathway looks like

Because Wegovy is a prescription-only medicine under the Human Medicines Regulations 2012, there is only one lawful way to obtain it in the UK: a valid prescription, issued by a regulated prescriber, following a proper clinical assessment. No route exists that skips that step.

Online pharmacies can legitimately provide this route, but only those registered with the GPhC. You can verify any online pharmacy on the GPhC register before you share any medical details or payment information. Our GPhC premises registration number is 9012878; checking it takes about thirty seconds.

The MHRA has issued repeated public warnings about fake weight-loss pens sold through social media and unverified websites, without proper clinical assessment, no prescription, and sometimes containing entirely different substances. In October 2025 the first UK site manufacturing counterfeit tirzepatide pens was raided, and enforcement operations in 2025 alone seized roughly 20 million doses of illegally traded weight-loss medicines worth around £45 million. If a seller offers Wegovy at prices far below the market rate or without directing you to a prescriber, treat that as a clear warning sign. Suspect sellers can be reported at the MHRA's Yellow Card scheme.

For a fuller walkthrough of the process, the guide on how to get Wegovy in the UK covers each stage in detail.

How the process works at nume if you may qualify at a lower BMI

At nume, the process starts with a free online consultation. You describe your health history, current medications, weight background, and any relevant conditions. There are no trick questions, the goal is an accurate picture. That consultation is then read in full by a GPhC-registered Independent Prescriber, not processed by software.

If you have a BMI in the 27–29.9 range, the prescriber looks specifically at whether a qualifying weight-related condition is present and documented. Where something is borderline, they may ask follow-up questions. Transfer patients coming from another provider bring evidence of their current treatment; dose increases are reviewed against clinical criteria before being approved. Nothing is waved through.

For those whose BMI sits comfortably above 30, the eligibility picture is more straightforward, what a Wegovy prescription involves for adults with obesity explains that path. Patients already partway through treatment sometimes arrive asking about a specific maintenance dose; our prescribers review those requests individually, and the 2.4 mg maintenance dose pathway has its own clinical criteria.

Once approved, and if your order is placed before 12pm on a working day, your treatment is dispatched the same day from our pharmacy, tucked safely in its cold packaging, arriving with DPD the next working day in plain, unbranded packaging. Many patients keep the pen in the fridge door and find the weekly routine quickly becomes second nature.

If you are not eligible: honest next steps

Not everyone who searches this question will meet the criteria, and a responsible prescriber will say so plainly. A BMI below 27 without a qualifying comorbidity falls outside the licensed population for Wegovy, a prescriber cannot appropriately issue a prescription in that situation, and any pharmacy claiming otherwise should raise immediate concern.

If you are in that position, it is worth understanding the difference between the Wegovy injection and other options on the licensed landscape. It is also worth reading about the position for people who are not classified as overweight, the eligibility picture there is different again, and the honest answer matters.

For anyone uncertain about their situation, our frequently asked questions cover a range of eligibility queries, and our team is reachable through the contact page if you prefer to ask directly before starting a consultation. If you would like to understand how to get Wegovy through a legitimate clinical pathway, that guide walks through the requirements step by step. The weight-loss treatment overview sets out the full range of options we offer and may help you work out which path makes most sense for you, and if you are thinking ahead, our advice on how to come off Wegovy without regaining weight is worth reading before you reach that stage.