Wegovy 0.75mg: where this dose fits in the licensed schedule

What the clinical trials actually established about Wegovy dosing

The titration schedule for Wegovy was not chosen at random. It emerged from Novo Nordisk's STEP programme, a series of large randomised controlled trials that tested semaglutide 2.4mg against placebo in adults with obesity or overweight alongside weight-related conditions. The STEP 1 trial, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, enrolled 1,961 adults without diabetes and followed them for 68 weeks. Those who reached the 2.4mg maintenance dose lost an average of roughly 15% of body weight, compared with around 2.4% for placebo.

To get participants safely to that maintenance dose, the trial used the same stepped approach now reflected in the UK licence: 0.25mg for four weeks, then 0.5mg, then 1.0mg, then 1.7mg, then 2.4mg. Each rung exists to let the body adjust gradually and reduce the likelihood of nausea, vomiting and other gastrointestinal effects that are more common when doses climb too quickly. The result is a schedule with no 0.75mg step, and if you have questions about what that dose level actually involves, our 0.75 Wegovy page explains why that figure sits between two licensed strengths and has no clinical basis in the approved semaglutide weight-management programme.

It is worth noting that 0.75mg does appear in a different context: Ozempic, the semaglutide injection licensed for type 2 diabetes rather than weight management, uses a titration that includes 0.5mg and 1mg doses, with some international markets describing interim steps differently. If you have seen 0.75mg mentioned alongside semaglutide, this may be the source of the confusion. The NHS medicines page for semaglutide covers both indications and is a reliable place to check what each licence covers.

Why the gap between 0.5mg and 1.0mg can feel significant

A question our prescribers hear most weeks is some version of: "I've just moved up to 1mg and the side effects are worse, can I go to something in between?" It is a completely reasonable thing to ask. The jump from 0.5mg to 1.0mg is the largest proportional increase in the Wegovy schedule, and for some people it coincides with a noticeable return of nausea or fatigue.

The honest answer is that there is no licensed 0.75mg step to move to. What is within a prescriber's discretion is to slow the schedule: staying at 0.5mg for longer than four weeks before advancing, or pausing a planned increase if side effects are making the current dose difficult to tolerate. Our Wegovy 1mg page goes into more detail about what patients can expect when they reach this point in the schedule, which is worth reading if you are weighing up whether to advance. This is one reason that clinical oversight throughout treatment matters rather than simply receiving a prescription and self-managing.

If you are finding a current dose hard going, the right route is to contact your prescribing service rather than search for an alternative dose. Our aftercare team is available seven days a week and can loop in a prescriber the same day where needed. Decisions about timing a dose change always rest with the prescriber and the guidance in your patient information leaflet.

How the licensed schedule connects to eligibility and results

Wegovy's UK licence covers adults with a BMI of 30 or above, or 27 to 29.9 where at least one weight-related condition is present, conditions such as high blood pressure, raised cholesterol or obstructive sleep apnoea. NICE's appraisal of semaglutide for weight management, TA875, recommends it within specialist weight management services for up to two years, with an expectation of at least 5% weight loss after six months at the maintenance dose.

None of this changes because a reader arrives looking for 0.75mg. What it underlines is that Wegovy is a carefully studied, licensed medicine whose dose increments were designed around specific tolerability and efficacy data. Deviating from that schedule (whether by sourcing a strength not found in the UK approved pathway or by adjusting timing without prescriber input) sits outside the evidence base.

For an overview of how the full titration from 0.25mg through to the newer 7.2mg ceiling fits together, the Wegovy treatment guide covers the complete licensed picture. If you are weighing up semaglutide against tirzepatide, the semaglutide information page sets out the key clinical differences in plain terms. And if you are thinking about what starting treatment would actually involve, including the consultation, the clinical review and how a prescription reaches you, our treatment page walks through that in full.

Cost is sometimes a factor in people's thinking about dose: staying at a lower strength for longer can seem appealing if it reduces outlay. The Wegovy 2.5mg page addresses some of the questions that come up around lower-dose periods and what they mean in practice. Worth reading before drawing conclusions.

Buying Wegovy safely: what to watch for

Searches for specific semaglutide doses, including ones that are not part of the licensed schedule, can lead people toward sellers who are not operating through the licensed UK supply chain. The MHRA has warned publicly and repeatedly about counterfeit and illegally traded weight-loss pens: in 2025 alone, around 20 million doses of illegally traded weight-loss medicines with an estimated street value of £45 million were seized, and the first UK site manufacturing fake tirzepatide pens was raided. Fake pens have in some cases contained insulin rather than the labelled medicine.

Any seller offering semaglutide in a strength not found in the licensed UK schedule (or offering Wegovy without a prescription from a regulated prescriber) is a red flag. Legitimate supply means a prescription issued after a genuine clinical assessment, dispensed by a pharmacy you can check on the GPhC register. The guide to buying Wegovy online safely covers exactly what to look for and what to avoid. If you want to understand what a legitimate, clinician-led private route actually looks like in practice, you can start a free consultation and have your suitability assessed the same day by a GPhC-registered prescriber.