Weight Loss Injection Brand Names Licensed in the UK

What Mounjaro is, and what the SURMOUNT trials found

Mounjaro is the UK brand name for tirzepatide, a medicine that activates two gut-hormone receptors simultaneously: GIP and GLP-1. Slowing gastric emptying and amplifying the body's satiety signals through both pathways is what makes it the only dual-agonist weight-loss injection licensed in this country. It comes as a pre-filled KwikPen in six strengths (2.5 mg up to 15 mg), used once a week via injection into the abdomen, thigh or upper arm.

The pivotal SURMOUNT-1 trial, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, randomised 2,539 adults with obesity over 72 weeks. At the 15 mg dose, participants saw an average body-weight reduction of around 20–21%. Those results led directly to NICE recommending tirzepatide in Technology Appraisal TA1026 for adults with a BMI of 35 or above plus at least one weight-related condition, with lower thresholds applying for some ethnic backgrounds under UK guidance.

Treatment starts at 2.5 mg (a dose whose job is to let your body adjust to the medicine, not to produce weight loss) and is titrated upward by the prescriber, typically in four-week steps. Storage is refrigerated; the pen is discreet and designed for self-administration at home. If you want a fuller picture of the injection itself, our guide to the weight-loss injection covers the practical side in detail.

What Wegovy is, including the newer 7.2 mg pen

Wegovy is Novo Nordisk's brand name for semaglutide formulated specifically for weight management. It works on the GLP-1 receptor only, mimicking a gut hormone that signals fullness and slows digestion. The once-weekly injection is titrated from 0.25 mg through to a 2.4 mg maintenance dose, or (since the MHRA approved a dedicated single-dose 7.2 mg pen on 14 April 2026) up to 7.2 mg for eligible adults.

The STEP 1 trial (68 weeks, 2.4 mg dose) reported an average body-weight reduction of around 15%. At 7.2 mg, trials recorded approximately 20.7% average loss over 72 weeks, narrowing the gap with the highest Mounjaro dose. NICE's appraisal under TA875 recommends semaglutide for a maximum of two years, within a specialist weight management service, for adults meeting specific BMI and clinical criteria.

One thing worth being clear about: Ozempic is also semaglutide, but it carries a different UK licence, for type 2 diabetes, not weight loss. Presenting Ozempic as a weight-loss treatment, or seeking it for that purpose, sits outside what the MHRA has authorised. The brand names matter because the licence, the dose and the regulatory oversight are all tied to them. You can read more about the distinctions across the names used for weight-loss injections in the UK if you want a broader reference.

Brand names that do not apply in the UK, and why this matters for safety

A few names come up repeatedly in online searches that are worth addressing plainly. Zepbound is the US trade name for tirzepatide; it does not exist as a UK product. Anyone selling something called Zepbound in the UK is not selling a licensed medicine. If you are trying to work out what the names of weight loss injections actually are and which ones are legitimate in this country, that page sets out the full picture clearly. Similarly, some clinics discuss "off-brand" or compounded GLP-1 injections, our page on off-brand weight-loss injections covers what that means and why UK regulations treat them differently from licensed medicines.

The MHRA has issued repeated warnings about counterfeit pens bearing legitimate brand names, fake "Mounjaro" and "Ozempic" labelling has appeared on products that turned out to contain insulin or other substances entirely. Buying from a pharmacy you can verify on the GPhC register is the practical safeguard. Every registered pharmacy in the UK has a premises number you can look up at the GPhC pharmacy register, worth doing before any online purchase of a prescription medicine.

For context on how these medicines are priced privately, the weight-loss treatment overview sets out what a legitimate private prescription route includes beyond the pen itself.

Choosing between brand names is a clinical question, not a search one

The trial evidence, the NICE appraisals and the clinical profiles above are a starting point, not a prescription. Which brand suits a given person depends on their weight, health history, other medicines they take, and how they responded to any previous treatment. A prescriber working through a thorough consultation can weigh those factors; a search engine cannot.

At nume, a GPhC-registered Independent Prescriber reviews every consultation personally, the same day it is submitted. Your contraception method, any HRT you use, upcoming surgery, these are the kinds of detail that shape whether Mounjaro or Wegovy is the right starting point for you. Our guide to weight loss injections by name and brand is a useful companion if you want to understand exactly how each licensed product is positioned before you consult. The full list of licensed weight-loss injections and their distinctions is worth reading before you consult, so you arrive with the right questions. When you are ready, you can explore your options and start a free consultation with our prescribers, there is no commitment at that stage, and the review costs nothing.

One practical note: when a prescription is approved and dispatched before noon on a working day, it travels with DPD and arrives the next working day in plain, unbranded packaging. The pen is inside exactly as the manufacturer sealed it, cold-chain intact, batch traceable, GPhC-regulated from dispensary to doorstep.