Looking up semaglutide in a PDF? Here's what the official patient information covers

You've received your Wegovy pen and the PDF is sitting unopened in your email

Most people in this situation are looking for one of two things: either the Patient Information Leaflet (PIL) that came with the packaging, or the fuller Summary of Product Characteristics that prescribers and pharmacists use. Both are PDFs you can download. The PIL is written in everyday language and is required by law to accompany every dispensed medicine in the UK. The SmPC runs to more technical detail (pharmacokinetics, clinical trial summaries, full contraindication lists) and is the document that informs your prescriber's decisions.

The most reliable place to find either document is the electronic Medicines Compendium (eMC), which holds the current approved UK versions. The MHRA Products website also hosts them. If you're reading an older cached PDF from a third-party site, check the version date: the Wegovy documents have been updated since the 7.2 mg dose was approved in early 2026, so older versions won't reflect that.

One practical note: the leaflet that arrives inside your pen's box is always the most current version for that batch. If anything in an online PDF conflicts with what's physically in your packaging, the printed leaflet takes precedence, and if you're still uncertain, your prescriber is the right person to ask.

What the semaglutide SmPC says about how it works and who it's for

The SmPC describes semaglutide as a GLP-1 receptor agonist: it mimics a gut hormone that signals fullness, slows gastric emptying and reduces appetite. For a fuller explanation of the mechanism, our semaglutide overview covers this in accessible terms.

On eligibility, the licensed indication for Wegovy is adults with a BMI of 30 or above, or 27 to 29.9 with at least one weight-related condition such as high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol or obstructive sleep apnoea. Lower BMI thresholds apply for some ethnic backgrounds under UK clinical guidance. The SmPC is clear that Wegovy is intended alongside a reduced-calorie diet and increased physical activity, not as a standalone measure.

The document also flags who should not use it: people with a personal or family history of medullary thyroid carcinoma or Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia syndrome type 2, and anyone with a history of serious hypersensitivity to semaglutide. Pregnancy, breastfeeding and trying to conceive are listed as situations where semaglutide is not recommended. Under-18s are not a licensed population. None of this replaces a clinical assessment, the SmPC informs prescribers, not patients making their own decisions.

NICE's appraisal of Wegovy, published as TA875, recommended semaglutide for adults with a BMI of 35 or above and at least one weight-related comorbidity, within specialist weight management services and for a maximum of two years on the NHS. Private prescriptions operate under the licensed indication in the SmPC rather than the NICE commissioning criteria.

Side effects, storage and the sections people skip

The side-effects section of the semaglutide PIL is the part patients most often want a plain-English version of. The document lists nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, constipation, burping, abdominal discomfort and reflux as common. These tend to cluster around the first few weeks or after each dose step up, and for many people they settle as the body adjusts. Fatigue and headache also appear in the common category.

The PIL includes specific guidance on when to seek urgent medical attention: severe and persistent stomach pain that reaches into the back, with or without vomiting, can be a sign of pancreatitis and needs immediate assessment. The NHS semaglutide medicines page covers these warning signs in accessible language and is worth bookmarking alongside your leaflet.

Storage instructions are easy to overlook. The documents specify refrigeration at 2 to 8 degrees Celsius before first use; lots of people keep the pen in the fridge door. There is a limited window for room-temperature storage once in use, but the exact duration varies by product version, so the leaflet in your box is the right reference rather than anything you read online.

On what the PIL doesn't cover: it won't tell you whether semaglutide is right for your specific health picture, how to handle a missed dose beyond the general guidance, or what to do if you want to switch from another treatment. Those questions belong in a clinical conversation. If you're thinking about starting treatment, speaking to our prescribers is a straightforward first step, the consultation is free and reviewed the same day by a GPhC-registered prescriber.

Finding the right version of the document for Wegovy

A search for "semaglutide PDF" turns up documents for several different products: Ozempic (semaglutide for type 2 diabetes, not weight loss), Rybelsus (oral semaglutide for type 2 diabetes), and Wegovy (semaglutide for weight management). The licensed indications are different and the dosing schedules are different. If you're using Wegovy for weight management, you need the Wegovy SmPC and PIL specifically, the Ozempic documents describe a different dose range and a different clinical indication.

The dedicated Wegovy PDF page on this site goes into more detail on finding and reading the correct document. For context on the full Wegovy treatment picture, including the injectable and oral forms, our Wegovy overview is a good place to start. If you're already on a specific dose and want to know more about that stage of treatment, the 0.5 mg page covers what the documents say about that titration step, and similar pages exist for the 1 mg and 1.7 mg stages.

If you've read the leaflet and still have questions, our FAQ page covers the questions our prescribers hear most often, and our support team is available seven days a week.