What other weight loss injections are there in the UK?

Which injectable medicines are actually licensed for weight loss in the UK?

The two medicines with a current UK licence for weight management are tirzepatide, sold as Mounjaro, and semaglutide, sold as Wegovy. Both belong to a class that works by mimicking gut hormones released after eating, they slow how quickly the stomach empties, reduce appetite, and help regulate blood sugar. Wegovy acts on a single receptor (GLP-1); Mounjaro acts on two (GLP-1 and GIP), making it the only dual-agonist weight-loss medicine licensed in the UK. You can read more about how these two medicines compare in terms of mechanism and licensing.

A third injectable, Saxenda (liraglutide by Novo Nordisk), is also licensed for weight management in UK adults and is worth knowing about, particularly for people who have been on treatment for some years. Liraglutide is a daily injection rather than weekly, and average weight loss in clinical trials was lower than that seen with the newer agents. It is not dispensed by nume, but it remains a licensed option some specialist services offer.

The NHS's overview of obesity treatment explains the broader landscape of weight-management medicines in straightforward terms if you want a starting point outside any commercial context.

What about Ozempic, isn't that a weight loss injection too?

It is a question our prescribers hear most weeks. Ozempic contains semaglutide, the same active ingredient as Wegovy, but it holds a UK licence for type 2 diabetes management, not for weight loss. The doses are lower, the pen is different, and using it off-label for weight management sits outside its licensed indication. The MHRA is clear on this distinction, and it matters practically: a prescriber who supplies Ozempic to someone without diabetes for the purpose of weight loss is working outside the product's licensed use, which has implications for clinical accountability and, potentially, your safety.

If you are researching this because you have seen Ozempic offered online at a lower price than Wegovy, that price difference is itself a reason to pause. Medicines sold without a proper clinical assessment, or through channels outside the licensed UK supply chain, carry real risks. The MHRA has warned publicly about counterfeit weight-loss pens seized in the UK, some of which contained insulin rather than the stated ingredient. You can report any suspect seller via the Yellow Card scheme.

Rybelsus is another semaglutide product (an oral tablet) but again licensed for type 2 diabetes, not weight loss. The oral weight-loss tablet is Wegovy in tablet form, which received MHRA approval in June 2026; that is a separate product with a separate dose schedule.

Are there any other injectables people sometimes ask about?

A few names come up regularly in online discussions. Bydureon (exenatide) and Byetta are GLP-1 medicines licensed for type 2 diabetes; neither holds a UK licence for weight management. Victoza (liraglutide 1.2mg or 1.8mg) is the diabetes-dose version of the same active ingredient in Saxenda, licensed for diabetes, not weight loss, at those doses.

Some people ask about older injectable treatments such as HCG (human chorionic gonadotropin) injections, which were marketed for weight loss in the past. There is no credible clinical evidence supporting their use for this purpose, and they have no relevant UK licence for weight management.

If you are weighing up the licensed options available to you, understanding what types of weight loss injections are available in the UK sets out the practical differences in schedule, mechanism and trial evidence. For questions about switching between licensed treatments (for instance if you have been on one medicine and your prescriber thinks another may suit you better) changing weight loss injections covers what that process involves. You can also browse other weight loss injections that sit outside the two main licensed options, which is useful if a specialist has mentioned a different injectable or you want to understand what else exists in this space.

Does the choice between injections matter clinically, or is one much the same as another?

The evidence suggests the choice does matter. In the SURMOUNT-5 trial, published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2025, tirzepatide produced greater average weight reduction than semaglutide 2.4mg over 72 weeks in adults with obesity and no diabetes, a direct head-to-head comparison rather than cross-trial inference. The NICE appraisal of tirzepatide (TA1026) also noted, in its committee discussion, that indirect comparisons favoured tirzepatide over semaglutide. That said, individual response varies, tolerability differs between people, and the highest dose of Wegovy (7.2mg, approved by the MHRA in January 2026 and available as a dedicated single-dose pen from April 2026) narrows the gap considerably at a population level.

Which medicine is appropriate for you depends on your BMI, health history, any other medicines you take, and what your prescriber concludes after a proper clinical review. Comparing treatments on price alone (you can find a breakdown of what the cheapest weight loss injections actually cost and what those prices typically include or exclude) misses the more important question of clinical fit. A free consultation with our prescribers is a reasonable next step if you want a personalised view rather than a general one. One of our team will look at your case that same working day, no algorithm, a real clinician reading your answers before the school run if you submit by noon.