In a landmark move for UK patients with obesity, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has approved the maximum 7.2mg dose of Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy (semaglutide) for chronic weight management purposes.
Following its MHRA go-ahead, Wegovy will be available to adults with obesity and a body mass index (BMI) of 30kg/m² or higher at a dose of 7.2mg, which should be administered as three consecutive 2.4mg doses. Wegovy’s use is not permitted in patients whose BMI lies under this value, or to those using the medication to lower their risk of cardiovascular disease.
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This approval was based on the results of the STEP UP Phase IIIb trial (NCT05646706), which demonstrated that a 7.2mg dose of Wegovy has a comparable safety and tolerability profile to the standard 2.4mg dose, while proving superior at reducing body weight.
While the 7.2mg dose now has the UK regulatory greenlight, it will still need to pass the cost-efficiency review by health watchdog, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), to be widely implemented across the National Health Service (NHS).
The UK approval of high-dose Wegovy comes hot on the heels of Novo Nordisk’s US oral Wegovy approval, which saw the company make history by becoming the first to commercialise a GLP-1RA pill. At the recent 2026 J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, Novo Nordisk’s CEO, Maziar Mark Doustdar, noted that oral GLP-1RAs could hold over a third of the market share in obesity by 2030.
UK becomes first nation to greenlight 7.2mg Wegovy
In another first, the MHRA’s call to approve the 7.2mg dose of Wegovy makes it the first regulator to do so – with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) still mulling over its decision after Novo Nordisk applied for a Wegovy label expansion back in November 2025.
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By GlobalDataThis follows a tumultuous time for the UK life sciences sector, which has struggled with souring pharma sentiments due to disputes around Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing, Access and Growth (VPAG) repayments. This has also led to a drop-off in investor UK life sciences interest, which threatens to curtail the nation’s competitiveness within the sector.
In a bid to win back pharma sentiments, the UK has slashed its 2026 drug rebate rate to 14.5% from 22.9%, which will have a mixed impact on the nation’s competitiveness, experts previously told Pharmaceutical Technology.
The MHRA has also pledged to streamline the approval process for drugs looking to enter the UK market – an initiative which falls under the UK government’s 10-Year Health Plan. According to the agency, this could see patients in England receive medicines three-to-six months earlier than previously.
