Wegovy pen dose: what each strength contains and when doses change

What does a Wegovy pen actually contain?

A Wegovy pen is a pre-filled, single-use injector made by Novo Nordisk. Each pen holds one dose of semaglutide at a set concentration, you dial nothing, measure nothing. You inject once a week into the abdomen, thigh, or upper arm, rotating the site each time. The pen is disposed of after use; a fresh one is used the following week.

When your treatment arrives (tracked by DPD, in a plain unbranded box) you will find each pen is labelled with its specific strength in milligrams, and you can read about how the different Wegovy pen doses are structured if you want a clearer picture before your consultation. That label matters: the pens for different dose levels are not interchangeable, and using the wrong strength at the wrong stage of treatment is exactly the kind of decision that belongs with your prescriber, not with a process of guesswork.

Storage is in the fridge at 2–8°C. The Patient Information Leaflet that comes with your medicine sets out the precise room-temperature window if you need to carry a pen with you; always follow that rather than any general guidance you read online. The Wegovy overview page has more on how the medicine works as a GLP-1 receptor agonist.

How does the dose change across the titration schedule?

The titration pathway exists for one reason: to let your body adapt to semaglutide gradually, reducing the gastrointestinal side effects that tend to be most noticeable in the early weeks. Treatment starts at 0.25 mg, a dose selected for tolerability rather than for its weight-management effect. After roughly four weeks, a prescriber reviews progress and, if the medicine is being tolerated well, moves the dose up to 0.5 mg. The same review-then-increase pattern continues through 1.0 mg and 1.7 mg before reaching the standard 2.4 mg maintenance dose.

That five-step journey typically takes around sixteen to twenty weeks before the maintenance level is reached, though the pace is always set by clinical assessment rather than a fixed calendar. If side effects are troublesome at a particular step, a prescriber may hold that strength for longer before any increase, and our page on the Wegovy 1 mg pen is a useful reference for understanding what that mid-titration stage involves in practice. The detail on individual Wegovy dose levels covers what that looks like in each phase.

The NICE appraisal of semaglutide for weight management (NICE TA875) notes that if a patient has not achieved at least five per cent weight loss after six months on the maintenance dose, continuing treatment should be reviewed. Your prescriber considers that alongside everything else when deciding whether to continue, adjust, or stop.

What changed when the 7.2 mg pen was approved?

In January 2026 the MHRA authorised a higher 7.2 mg maintenance dose, initially delivered as three 2.4 mg pens per week. On 14 April 2026, a dedicated single-dose 7.2 mg pen was approved, one pre-set weekly injection with an auto-dosing mechanism and a built-in covered needle that locks after use. This approval applies to adults with a BMI of 30 or above specifically for weight management; it is not cleared for BMI below 30 or for the cardiovascular risk indication.

Trial data for the 7.2 mg dose reported average weight reduction of around 20.7% over 72 weeks, closing the gap with the results seen in tirzepatide trials. If you want to understand how the two medicines compare on results, the weight-loss treatment overview sets out the evidence side by side.

The starting dose remains 0.25 mg regardless of which maintenance level is eventually targeted; the titration steps do not change. Whether 7.2 mg is appropriate for a given patient is a clinical question, and our page on the Wegovy 4 dose pen explains how that format works and what to expect from it. The NHS semaglutide medicines page also summarises the core prescribing information in plain language.

Who decides when a dose changes, and what should patients not do?

Every dose increase is a clinical decision. A prescriber looks at how well the current strength has been tolerated, whether any side effects are still settling, and whether the medicine appears to be working as expected before recommending a change. Patients should not self-titrate, moving to a higher-strength pen ahead of schedule, or dropping back to a lower one, without speaking to a clinician first carries real risks.

Common side effects across the schedule are gastrointestinal: nausea, loose stools, constipation, indigestion. These are generally most noticeable after a dose increase and tend to ease over the following one to two weeks. Staying well hydrated and eating smaller meals helps many people through the early days. Urgent medical attention is needed for severe abdominal pain that radiates to the back, this can be a sign of pancreatitis, which the MHRA identified in a January 2026 Drug Safety Update as a known, if infrequent, serious risk with GLP-1 medicines.

Questions about missed injections, what to do if a pen leaks, or how to handle a dose if surgery is planned should all go to your prescriber or the general FAQs, and ultimately to the Patient Information Leaflet. If you are ready to have a prescriber review your situation properly, starting a free consultation with our clinical team is the straightforward next step, a real GPhC-registered prescriber reads your answers, not software. You can also read more about how our clinical team is structured if that matters to your decision.