Wegovy Uses

Wegovy helps with weight loss when taken along with a lower-calorie diet and increased physical activity. It can also reduce the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events such as heart attack, stroke, and death in overweight and obese individuals with cardiovascular disease. 

There may be other uses of Wegovy—your doctor or pharmacist can give you further drug information.

Wegovy Mechanism of Action

Wegovy (semaglutide) is almost identical to a natural hormone in the human body called glucagon-like-peptide-1 (GLP-1). GLP-1 helps to regulate appetite and food intake. Wegovy (semaglutide) binds to and activates GLP-1 receptors in the brain, slows movement of food through the stomach, suppresses appetite, and thereby leads to reduced caloric intake and weight loss. It is unclear how Wegovy lowers the risk of heart attack, stroke, and cardiovascular death in people with established cardiovascular disease.

Wegovy Doses

Wegovy comes in a single-dose, pre-filled, disposable pen for subcutaneous injection (under the skin of the upper arm, abdomen, or thigh) once a week. You should take a Wegovy injection on the same day of the week every week. You can take it at any time of the day without regard to meals. 

The dosage strengths of Wegovy pens are 0.25 mg/0.5 mL, 0.5 mg/0.5 mL, 1 mg/0.5 mL, 1.7 mg/0.75 mL, and 2.4 mg/0.75 mL. The dose of Wegovy is gradually increased as follows:

• Weeks 1 through 4: 0.25 mg once weekly
• Weeks 5 through 8: 0.5 mg once weekly
• Weeks 9 through 12: 1 mg once weekly
• Weeks 13 through 16: 1.7 mg once weekly
• Week 17 onwards: 1.7 mg or 2.4 mg once weekly (maintenance dose)