What Is the Highest Wegovy Dose — and Is 7.2mg Right for You?

The misconception: that 2.4mg is still the highest Wegovy dose

For most of Wegovy's UK history, 2.4mg weekly was indeed the top of the ladder. That changed in January 2026, when the MHRA authorised a higher 7.2mg dose. Initially this was delivered as three 2.4mg pens used in the same week, an arrangement that worked but was fiddly in practice. Then, on 14 April 2026, the regulator approved a dedicated single-dose 7.2mg pen: one weekly injection, a built-in covered needle, and an auto-dosing mechanism that locks after use. The pen makes the process no more complicated than any other Wegovy step. If you read anything describing 2.4mg as the maximum, that information is now out of date. The overview of what Wegovy is and how it works covers the medicine's full background, including its mechanism as a GLP-1 receptor agonist that slows gastric emptying and reduces appetite signals.

One important boundary: the 7.2mg single-dose pen is licensed only for adults with a BMI of 30 or above, used for weight management alongside lifestyle changes. It does not apply to Wegovy's cardiovascular risk indication, and it is not for BMI below that threshold. If you want to understand what medicine Wegovy actually is and how it is classified, that page sets out the drug's composition and regulatory status in full. The MHRA's announcement of the 7.2mg pen approval sets out the full authorisation detail.

How the dose schedule actually works from 0.25mg to 7.2mg

Wegovy does not start at the highest dose. The titration schedule exists because semaglutide causes gastrointestinal side effects (nausea most commonly) that are far better tolerated when the dose rises gradually. The pathway runs: 0.25mg, then 0.5mg, then 1.0mg, then 1.7mg, then 2.4mg, with approximately four weeks at each level before moving up. Your prescriber decides whether and when to progress, based on how you are tolerating the current dose and how your weight is responding. The 7.2mg step comes after the 2.4mg maintenance dose and is, for those who reach it, the maximum, and you can read more about what reaching the highest level of Wegovy involves on that dedicated page. You can read more about how the steps fit together on the Wegovy dose guide.

Side effects at each step tend to be most noticeable in the first week or two after an increase, then settle for most people. Common ones include nausea, loose stools, constipation, burping and fatigue. Starting the lowest dose and working upward is what keeps those effects manageable. The pen itself is stored in the fridge, many people keep it in the door, alongside everyday items, so it becomes part of a routine rather than something easy to forget.

What the trial evidence says about the highest dose

The efficacy case for 7.2mg rests on clinical trial data that Novo Nordisk submitted to the MHRA. Across 72 weeks, participants on 7.2mg weekly semaglutide achieved around 20.7% average weight loss on average. For context, the STEP 1 trial (the pivotal study for the 2.4mg dose published in the New England Journal of Medicine) showed around 15% average weight loss at 68 weeks. The gap between 15% and roughly 21% is meaningful. It also narrows the distance between Wegovy and tirzepatide (Mounjaro), which produced approximately 20–22% average weight loss in the SURMOUNT-1 trial at its highest dose, and there is a dedicated page covering the relationship between NAION and Wegovy for anyone researching the medicine's safety profile in more depth. The detailed look at how high Wegovy goes walks through how these figures compare across doses.

Figures from trials represent averages across populations. Individual results depend on many factors, starting weight, adherence to lifestyle changes, how well the medicine is tolerated, and whether a person reaches and stays on the highest dose. No result is guaranteed. The question of whether 7.2mg is appropriate for a specific person is one for a prescriber who knows the full clinical picture.

NHS access versus private prescription at the highest dose

On the NHS, access to Wegovy follows the criteria in NICE technology appraisal TA875, which requires use within a specialist weight management service for a maximum of two years, and sets BMI and comorbidity thresholds. The NICE guidance predates the 7.2mg approval; NHS availability of that specific dose through specialist services depends on how services update their protocols. Waiting times through NHS pathways are commonly long.

Private prescriptions offer a different route. Through a regulated online pharmacy such as nume, a GPhC-registered Independent Prescriber reviews your consultation the same day, a real clinician reads your information, not software. Whether any specific dose is confirmed as available for you happens at that consultation stage; no website can commit to a particular pen format in advance of a clinical review. If you are weighing up your options, the weight loss treatment overview explains how the private route works alongside the NHS one. Worth knowing.