Wegovy vs Mounjaro Doses: How the Two Schedules Actually Work

Step 1, How each medicine starts and why the starting dose is lower than you expect

Both medicines open at a dose whose job is settling your system, not producing the bulk of your weight loss. For Mounjaro, that first step is 2.5 mg weekly; for Wegovy, it is 0.25 mg weekly. Neither figure is your long-term therapeutic dose. The whole point of beginning low is to reduce the nausea and digestive discomfort that can hit when GLP-1 pathways are first activated. Most people spend four weeks at the starter dose before their prescriber moves them up.

It is worth understanding why the two sets of numbers look so different. Tirzepatide (Mounjaro) acts on both GIP and GLP-1 receptors, a dual mechanism that is unique among weight-loss medicines currently licensed in the UK. Semaglutide (Wegovy) targets GLP-1 receptors alone. Different receptors, different molecular structure, different potency per milligram: comparing the raw milligram figures is a bit like comparing miles and kilometres and wondering why one number is bigger. How Mounjaro and Wegovy dose steps are structured goes into this in more detail if you want the full picture.

As the NHS tirzepatide page notes, treatment is titrated gradually and the prescriber decides when to move you up based on how your body is responding, not purely on a calendar.

Step 2, The full ladders compared

Below is a factual side-by-side of the two licensed schedules. Numbers are drawn from the approved Summary of Product Characteristics for each medicine.

A few things stand out. Mounjaro has six incremental steps to its ceiling; Wegovy's standard pathway reaches maintenance at step five. The 7.2 mg Wegovy pathway adds a further rung that the MHRA approved in April 2026, initially via three 2.4 mg pens and now via a dedicated single-dose pen. If you are curious about the reasoning behind the gap between Wegovy's standard and higher-dose options, why Wegovy's dose looks lower than Mounjaro's addresses that directly.

Each step typically takes around four weeks, though your prescriber may extend that window if your body needs longer to adjust. Titration timing is always a clinical decision. The NICE appraisal of tirzepatide (TA1026) and the corresponding NICE appraisal of semaglutide (TA875) both note that treatment continues only where it is producing clinically meaningful results at the highest tolerated dose.

Step 3 (What the trial evidence shows at each medicine's ceiling dose

If you are reading this, you are probably trying to work out which medicine is more effective) and honestly, that is a fair question to be asking. Here is what the data actually say.

In SURMOUNT-1, participants taking tirzepatide 15 mg lost around 20 to 21% of body weight on average over 72 weeks. The STEP 1 trial, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, reported roughly 15% average weight loss at semaglutide 2.4 mg over 68 weeks. The SURMOUNT-5 head-to-head trial, also published in the NEJM in 2025, compared tirzepatide directly against semaglutide 2.4 mg in adults with obesity and no diabetes, tirzepatide produced greater average weight reduction over 72 weeks. At the 7.2 mg Wegovy ceiling, trial data reported around 20.7% average weight loss, which narrows the gap considerably. If you want to see how each individual step on both schedules compares, our Wegovy doses chart versus Mounjaro lays the full picture out visually alongside this page. For a structured look at what equivalent dose steps might mean when switching between them, the Mounjaro to Wegovy dose-equivalence guide is worth reading alongside this page.

These are group averages from clinical trials. Individual results vary, and the dose that works best for you depends on your health profile, how you tolerate each medicine, and factors your prescriber is best placed to weigh up. If you want to understand how a specific Wegovy dose lines up against its Mounjaro counterpart, our Wegovy dose versus Mounjaro guide breaks this down step by step. Our team covers the broader Wegovy vs Mounjaro picture for anyone who wants to look beyond dosing alone.

Step 4, Getting the right dose through a prescriber, not a guess

There is no self-prescribed route to either of these medicines in the UK. Both are prescription-only, which means a clinician assesses your suitability, your medical history and any other medicines you are taking before deciding where to start and when to step up. At nume, that review happens on the same day you submit your consultation, a named prescriber reads it, not software. You can see how our clinical team approaches these decisions on our clinical team page.

The question of which medicine to prescribe, and at which dose, is not one we can answer here in general terms. What we can say is that if you meet the licensed eligibility criteria (broadly, a BMI of 30 or above, or 27 or above with a weight-related health condition) both medicines are candidates, and your prescriber will talk through which makes clinical sense for you. Our weight-loss treatment overview sets out what to expect from the consultation process. If you are ready to take that step, checking your eligibility takes a few minutes and costs nothing.