The brand names for semaglutide used in the UK

What the clinical trial record tells us about semaglutide's weight-loss brands

The distinction between brand names matters because the evidence base was built brand by brand, indication by indication. For Wegovy specifically, the STEP 1 trial (published in the New England Journal of Medicine) ran for 68 weeks and found an average body-weight reduction of around 15% at the 2.4mg weekly maintenance dose, in adults with obesity or overweight and a weight-related condition. That trial underpinned both MHRA approval for weight management and NICE's technology appraisal TA875, which recommends semaglutide for use within specialist NHS weight-management services.

Ozempic's clinical development followed a different path entirely: the SUSTAIN trial programme studied semaglutide in people with type 2 diabetes, comparing blood-glucose control against other diabetes medicines. The dose range is lower (up to 1mg, or 2mg in later formulations), and the licence is clear, diabetes, not weight management. Body-weight reduction was observed in those trials as a secondary outcome, but that does not make Ozempic a weight-loss medicine under UK law.

The Wegovy tablet programme, known as OASIS 4, studied 307 adults across 64 weeks. Participants who stayed fully adherent to treatment lost around 17% of body weight on average; the overall trial average, regardless of adherence, was approximately 13.6% versus around 2.4% on placebo. Those figures relate to the 25mg daily maintenance dose, the new oral route for the same active compound, at meaningfully higher doses than any of the diabetes tablets.

How the brand names map to UK licences, and why confusing them is a clinical risk

A question our prescribers hear most weeks: "Can I just use Ozempic for weight loss? It's the same drug." The active molecule is indeed the same, but the licensed indication, the dose and the clinical monitoring are not. Ozempic is not approved by the MHRA for weight management. Prescribing it for that purpose would be off-label, which carries different responsibilities for the prescriber and different protections for the patient.

The dose difference is not trivial. Wegovy's maintenance dose for weight management is 2.4mg weekly, or up to 7.2mg following the MHRA's approval of a dedicated single-dose 7.2mg pen in April 2026. Ozempic's highest licensed dose for diabetes is 2mg. Rybelsus tablets run at 3mg, 7mg and 14mg, designed around diabetes glycaemic targets, not the appetite and weight-regulation pathways that Wegovy's higher doses address. Swapping brands is not a like-for-like substitution.

For an overview of how the Wegovy injection works and what it costs privately, the Wegovy treatment page sets out the full picture. If cost is the question, the Wegovy price guide covers what private prescriptions typically include and why the headline figure rarely tells the whole story.

The Wegovy tablet: the newest semaglutide brand name in the UK

On 11 June 2026 the MHRA approved Wegovy in tablet form, making the UK the first country in Europe to license an oral GLP-1 medicine for weight loss. The active ingredient is the same semaglutide, but it is formulated with an absorption enhancer called SNAC that allows enough of the drug to cross the gut wall when taken correctly. It is licensed for adults with a BMI of 30 or above, or 27 to 29.9 with at least one weight-related health condition.

Taking it correctly matters more than with the injection. The tablet must be taken first thing in the morning on an empty stomach with a small amount of plain water (roughly up to 120ml) and you then wait at least 30 minutes before eating, drinking anything else, or taking other oral medicines. Swallowed whole. No refrigeration is needed, which makes it genuinely travel-friendly in a way the injection is not.

The dose ladder runs 1.5mg, then 4mg, then 9mg, then up to a 25mg maintenance dose, with at least a month at each level. That schedule is specific to Wegovy tablets; the 3mg and 14mg figures you might see elsewhere belong to Rybelsus, the diabetes tablet. They are different products with different approved purposes, and if you are trying to understand which semaglutide brand applies to your situation, that page explains how each one is positioned. A full breakdown of semaglutide's branded products covers each one in more detail. The NHS does not currently fund the Wegovy tablet; a NICE appraisal would be needed first, so private prescription is the only current route in the UK.

A longer technical summary of the semaglutide molecule itself (how it acts on GLP-1 receptors, its half-life and its pharmacological profile) is available on the semaglutide prescribing information page for those who want the detail. For background on semaglutide as a treatment more broadly, that page covers eligibility and the clinical context.