Wegovy Cost, Uses, Dose and Side Effects
Wegovy cost on 3 October 2026: $1,349.02 list price, $149 to $399 a month self-pay, $25 with covering insurance, $50 on Medicare's Bridge. Label dose, side effects.
The short version
Wegovy is Novo Nordisk's brand of semaglutide for weight management. The weekly injection is approved for weight management in adults and children 12 and older with obesity, and in adults with overweight and a weight-related condition. It is also approved to lower cardiovascular risk in adults with cardiovascular disease and obesity or overweight, and to treat a form of fatty-liver disease (MASH) with liver scarring. The daily tablet covers the weight and cardiovascular uses in adults. As of 3 October 2026 the list price is $1,349.02 a month. Novo Nordisk sells it to cash payers for $149 to $399 a month. It is the same molecule as Ozempic and Rybelsus.
- Self-pay from Novo Nordisk (3 October 2026): $349 a month for the pen up to 2.4 mg, $399 for 7.2 mg, $149 to $299 for the pill.
- Commercial insurance that covers it can bring the cost to $25 a month; eligible Medicare Part D members pay $50 through the GLP-1 Bridge.
- Wegovy is semaglutide, the same molecule as Ozempic and Rybelsus, approved for weight management rather than diabetes.
- The injection builds up over 16 weeks to a usual 2.4 mg weekly, or up to 7.2 mg for adults. The tablet builds up over 90 days to 25 mg daily.
- In its main 68-week trial, weight fell 14.9% on 2.4 mg against 2.4% on placebo; across its trials, nausea affected 44% against 16%.
As of 3 October 2026, Wegovy’s list price is $1,349.02 a month. Paying cash, Novo Nordisk charges $349 a month for the pen up to 2.4 mg and $399 for Wegovy HD 7.2 mg. The daily pill costs $149 to $299. Commercial insurance that covers it can bring the cost to $25 a month, and eligible Medicare Part D members pay $50 a month.
Wegovy is Novo Nordisk’s brand name for semaglutide for weight management. The once-weekly injection is approved, alongside a reduced-calorie diet and more physical activity:
- to reduce and keep off excess weight;
- to lower the risk of heart attack, stroke and cardiovascular death in adults with established cardiovascular disease and obesity or overweight;
- to treat MASH with moderate to advanced liver fibrosis.
The once-daily Wegovy tablet is approved for the weight and cardiovascular uses in adults.
How much does Wegovy cost?
These prices come from the pages of Novo Nordisk, TrumpRx, Costco and Medicare, checked on 3 October 2026. Novo counts one box of 4 pens, or one bottle of 30 tablets, as a month.
| How you pay | Price | Conditions |
|---|---|---|
| List price, before insurance | $1,349.02 a month | Pen, HD pen or pill; most insured people don’t pay it |
| Self-pay, new patients, pen 0.25 or 0.5 mg | $199 a month | First 2 monthly fills only, through 31 December 2026 |
| Self-pay, pen 0.25 to 2.4 mg | $349 a month | After the 2 new-patient fills |
| Self-pay, Wegovy HD pen 7.2 mg | $399 a month | Adults only |
| Self-pay, pill 1.5, 4, 9 or 25 mg | $149, $199, $299 or $299 a month | 1.5 mg is the 30-day starting dose |
| Savings offer, plan covers Wegovy | As little as $25 a month | Up to $100 off a month; government beneficiaries excluded |
| Medicare GLP-1 Bridge | $50 a month | Every pen and pill strength, if you meet the criteria; runs to 31 December 2027 |
Wegovy cost without insurance
NovoCare Pharmacy sells at these prices, with home delivery or pickup at a local pharmacy. TrumpRx.gov lists the same prices as a coupon, which it says retail pharmacies widely accept. Costco Pharmacy’s member prices also matched, though its page shows $199 for the 0.25 and 0.5 mg pens without the 2-fill limit in Novo’s terms.
With commercial insurance
The savings offer needs a prescription and commercial insurance that covers Wegovy. It takes at most $100 a month off, so a copay above $125 leaves you paying the copay minus $100.
With Medicare
The Medicare GLP-1 Bridge runs from 1 July 2026 to 31 December 2027 and covers Wegovy for weight management at $50 a month. You need Part D, must be 18 or older, and need one of these:
- a BMI of 35 or more;
- a BMI of 30 or more with certain heart failure, hard-to-control blood pressure, or stage 3a or worse kidney disease;
- a BMI of 27 or more with prediabetes, a past heart attack or stroke, or blocked arteries in the legs or arms with symptoms.
The Bridge excludes people with type 2 diabetes, moderate-to-severe sleep apnoea or fatty liver disease. It also excludes people who already get a GLP-1 covered through their Part D plan. The $50 does not count toward the Part D deductible or the yearly out-of-pocket limit.
What changes in 2027
Novo announced on 24 February 2026 that the list price of the 2.4 mg injection and the 25 mg tablet will fall to $675 from 1 January 2027. It says self-pay prices are not affected. The $199 new-patient offer ends on 31 December 2026.
Wegovy vs Ozempic on price
Ozempic has the lower list price, at $1,027.51. At the self-pay prices, the pills cost the same at each dose tier and both pens start at $199, then $349. At the top doses Wegovy costs less: $349 at 2.4 mg and $399 at 7.2 mg, against $499 for Ozempic 2 mg. Compounded semaglutide is priced separately and is not Wegovy: compounded GLP-1 pricing. The legal ways to get it online, with prices: semaglutide online.
What is Wegovy?
| Form | Strengths | Approved for |
|---|---|---|
| Once-weekly injection | Single-dose pens of 0.25, 0.5, 1, 1.7, 2.4 and 7.2 mg (the 7.2 mg pen is Wegovy HD); single-dose syringes up to 2.4 mg; a 4-dose FlexTouch pen delivering 2.4 mg | Weight reduction and maintenance in adults and children 12 and older with obesity, and adults with overweight plus at least one weight-related condition; cardiovascular risk reduction in adults; noncirrhotic MASH with moderate to advanced fibrosis in adults (accelerated approval) |
| Once-daily tablet | 1.5, 4, 9 and 25 mg | The same weight and cardiovascular uses, in adults only |
The MASH approval is accelerated, based on improvement in liver inflammation and fibrosis, and depends on a confirmatory trial. The molecule across its three brands: semaglutide guide.
Wegovy structure
- Molecular formula
- C187H291N45O59
- Molecular weight
- 4114 g/mol
- Length
- 31 amino acids
- Sequence
- HXEGTFTSDVSSYLEGQAAKEFIAWLVRGRG
- Modifications
- X at position 2 = Aib; Lys20 (Lys26 in GLP-1 numbering) carries a C18 fatty diacid via a gamma-Glu-2xOEG linker; Arg at 28 (Arg34 in GLP-1 numbering).
- PubChem CID
- 56843331
Rybelsus tablets use the sodium salt; the diagram is semaglutide itself.
Identity checked against KEGG DRUG.
Wegovy vs Ozempic and Rybelsus
All three are semaglutide from Novo Nordisk; they differ in approved use and dose.
| Brand | Approved for | Top labelled dose |
|---|---|---|
| Wegovy | Weight management, cardiovascular risk in obesity or overweight, MASH (injection) | 2.4 mg weekly usual, up to 7.2 mg for weight in adults; 25 mg daily tablet |
| Ozempic | Type 2 diabetes, with cardiovascular and kidney risk | 2 mg weekly injection; 9 mg daily tablet |
| Rybelsus | Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular risk | 14 mg daily tablet |
The Wegovy label says using it with any other semaglutide product, or any other GLP-1 receptor agonist, is not recommended. Wegovy is not taken on top of Ozempic or Rybelsus.
How Wegovy works
Semaglutide copies the gut hormone GLP-1 and acts on its receptor, including in brain areas that regulate appetite. People eat fewer calories as a result, and the label notes the weight lost is more fat than lean mass. It also slows stomach emptying, and its half-life of about a week allows once-weekly injections. More: how GLP-1 medicines work.
Wegovy dosage
Injection, once weekly, same day each week, into the abdomen, thigh or upper arm:
| Weeks | Dose |
|---|---|
| 1-4 | 0.25 mg |
| 5-8 | 0.5 mg |
| 9-12 | 1 mg |
| 13-16 | 1.7 mg |
| 17 onward | 2.4 mg (recommended) or 1.7 mg |
| After 4+ weeks at 2.4 mg | Adults needing more weight loss may go up to 7.2 mg (maximum) |
If a step is not tolerated, the label allows delaying the next increase by 4 weeks. The 7.2 mg dose is for weight reduction in adults only.
Tablets, one a day on an empty stomach with up to 4 ounces of water. Then take no food, drink or other oral medicine for 30 minutes. The build-up is 1.5 mg for days 1-30, 4 mg for days 31-60, 9 mg for days 61-90, then 25 mg once daily. Someone on the 2.4 mg injection can switch to the 25 mg tablet one week after their last injection.
A missed injection is taken if the next dose is more than 2 days away, otherwise skipped. After 2 or more missed injections, the label says to restart the dose build-up at a lower dose. A missed tablet is simply skipped. The schedule is the prescriber’s to set; full detail: semaglutide dosage. The Wegovy pill against the other semaglutide tablets: oral semaglutide.
Side effects and who should not take it
Rates from the trials of the 2.4 mg injection in adults with obesity or overweight, up to 68 weeks:
| Reaction | Placebo | Wegovy 2.4 mg |
|---|---|---|
| Nausea | 16% | 44% |
| Diarrhoea | 16% | 30% |
| Vomiting | 6% | 24% |
| Constipation | 11% | 24% |
| Abdominal pain | 10% | 20% |
| Headache | 10% | 14% |
| Fatigue | 5% | 11% |
At 7.2 mg, nausea affected 39% and vomiting 22%. Dysaesthesia (altered skin sensation such as tingling or burning) affected 22%, against 6% on 2.4 mg. Hair loss affected 6%, 3% and 1% on 7.2 mg, 2.4 mg and placebo. The tablet’s side effects were similar in type and frequency to the injection’s.
Who should not take it: anyone with a personal or family history of medullary thyroid carcinoma or MEN 2. Anyone with a prior serious allergic reaction to semaglutide or an ingredient in Wegovy should not take it either.
The label also warns of:
- acute pancreatitis
- gallbladder disease
- low blood sugar in people with diabetes (more likely with insulin or a sulfonylurea)
- kidney injury after dehydration
- a raised heart rate
- retinopathy complications in type 2 diabetes
- aspiration under anaesthesia
It says to stop Wegovy for weight loss once pregnancy is recognised.
What the trials showed. In the main 68-week trial, weight fell 14.9% on 2.4 mg against 2.4% on placebo. In adults with type 2 diabetes, it fell 9.6% against 3.4%. At 72 weeks, 7.2 mg gave 18.8% against 15.5% on 2.4 mg and 3.9% on placebo. The 25 mg tablet gave 13.6% against 2.4% at 64 weeks.
Stopping matters:
- In STEP 4, people switched to placebo after a 20-week run-in regained 6.9%. Those who continued lost a further 7.9% Rubino 2021 - Rubino D, Abrahamsson N, Davies M et al. Effect of Continued Weekly Subcutaneous Semaglutide vs Placebo on Weight Loss Maintenance in Adults With Overweight or Obesity: The STEP 4 Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA. 2021;325(14):1414-1425., in the references below.
- A year after the STEP 1 trial ended, people had regained 11.6 percentage points of a 17.3% loss Wilding 2022 - Wilding JPH, Batterham RL, Davies M et al. Weight regain and cardiometabolic effects after withdrawal of semaglutide: The STEP 1 trial extension. Diabetes Obes Metab. 2022;24(8):1553-1564., in the references below.
See coming off a GLP-1.
Wegovy vs compounded semaglutide
Compounded or “research use only” semaglutide is not Wegovy. It has not been through the FDA review behind Wegovy’s label, and FDA has documented dosing errors, counterfeits and unapproved salt forms in that supply. What legally differs: compounded vs branded semaglutide.
Is Wegovy the same as semaglutide?
Wegovy’s only active ingredient is semaglutide, so the molecule is the same as in Ozempic and Rybelsus. But Wegovy is one approved product, with its own doses, devices and weight-management approvals, and a vial simply labelled “semaglutide” is not Wegovy. Other approved peptide medicines: FDA-approved peptides.
Common questions
How much does Wegovy cost without insurance?
As of 3 October 2026, Novo Nordisk's self-pay price for the Wegovy pen is $349 a month at 0.25 to 2.4 mg and $399 for Wegovy HD 7.2 mg. New patients pay $199 a month for their first 2 months of the 0.25 or 0.5 mg pen. That offer runs to 31 December 2026. The Wegovy pill costs $149 (1.5 mg), $199 (4 mg) or $299 (9 or 25 mg) a month. The list price is $1,349.02 a month.
How are people getting Wegovy for $25?
Through Novo Nordisk's savings offer, which needs a prescription and commercial insurance that covers Wegovy. It cuts the cost to as little as $25 a month for the pen or the pill. It takes at most $100 a month off, so a copay above $125 leaves you paying the copay minus $100. Government beneficiaries are excluded; eligible Medicare Part D members can use the $50 GLP-1 Bridge instead.
Which is cheaper, Ozempic or Wegovy?
Ozempic has the lower list price: $1,027.51 a month against $1,349.02 for Wegovy, as of 3 October 2026. At Novo Nordisk's self-pay prices, the pills cost the same at each dose tier ($149 to $299). Both pens cost $199 for a new patient's first 2 months, then $349. At the top doses Wegovy costs less: $349 at 2.4 mg and $399 at 7.2 mg, against $499 for Ozempic 2 mg. They are approved for different conditions.
How much is Wegovy at Walmart?
I found no Walmart pharmacy page that prints a Wegovy price. Sam's Club, which Walmart owns, said on 7 January 2026 that its pharmacies would dispense the 1.5 mg Wegovy pill for $149 a month through Novo Nordisk's self-pay offer. Wegovy.com suggests asking a retail pharmacist whether they can process the self-pay option. As of 3 October 2026 it costs $199 to $399 a month for the pen and $149 to $299 for the pill.
Who sells Wegovy for the cheapest?
The self-pay prices I checked on 3 October 2026 were the same at NovoCare Pharmacy, TrumpRx.gov and Costco Pharmacy. The pill is $149 to $299 a month, the pen up to 2.4 mg is $349 and Wegovy HD is $399. A new patient pays $199 for the first 2 months of 0.25 or 0.5 mg. With commercial insurance that covers Wegovy, Novo's savings offer can bring it to $25 a month, and eligible Medicare Part D members pay $50.
How long do you stay on Wegovy?
The label describes long-term use, alongside diet and activity, to lose weight and keep it off; its main weight trial ran 68 weeks. Weight tends to return after stopping: a year after the STEP 1 trial ended, people had regained 11.6 percentage points of a 17.3% loss. A prescriber decides how long treatment continues.
What is the generic name for Wegovy?
Semaglutide. Wegovy is Novo Nordisk's brand name for semaglutide for weight management and cardiovascular risk reduction, sold as a once-weekly injection and a once-daily tablet. Ozempic and Rybelsus are other brands of the same molecule.
What is the difference between Wegovy and Ozempic?
Same molecule, different approvals and doses. Wegovy is approved for weight management, cardiovascular risk reduction in adults with established cardiovascular disease and obesity or overweight, and MASH with liver fibrosis. The usual injection dose is 2.4 mg weekly, up to 7.2 mg. Ozempic is approved only for adults with type 2 diabetes, including cardiovascular and kidney risk, with a maximum injection dose of 2 mg weekly.
What is the downside of Wegovy?
Gastrointestinal side effects are common: in the 2.4 mg trials, nausea affected 44% against 16% on placebo, diarrhoea 30%, vomiting 24% and constipation 24%. It carries a boxed warning for thyroid C-cell tumours seen in rodents. Rarer serious risks include pancreatitis, gallbladder disease and kidney injury. It is also long-term treatment, and weight tends to return after stopping.
Why are people stopping Wegovy?
In the label's weight-loss trials, 6.8% of people on 2.4 mg stopped because of side effects, against 3.2% on placebo. The most common causes were nausea, vomiting or diarrhoea. In the cardiovascular outcomes trial the figures were 16% and 8%. Stopping has a cost: in the STEP 1 extension, people who had lost an average 17.3% regained 11.6 percentage points of it in the year after treatment ended.
Does Wegovy get rid of belly fat?
The trials measured total body weight, not fat in one area, so the label makes no claim about belly fat. It does state that the weight semaglutide removes is more fat mass than lean mass. No medicine can choose where the body loses fat from first.
Can I lose 20 pounds in 3 months on Wegovy?
No trial measured that. The first 16 weeks are spent building up the dose to reduce side effects. Weight loss in the trials built up gradually, and the headline 14.9% average loss on 2.4 mg was measured at 68 weeks. How much and how fast one person loses depends on starting weight, dose and response.
What well-known people have said about Wegovy
Public statements, shown because people search for them. Each is one person's account, in their words or a faithful summary, with where and when they said it. None of it is evidence that Wegovy works or is safe; that is what the rest of this page is for.
Elon Musktech entrepreneur (Tesla, SpaceX, X)Said they use it
Musk replied on Twitter in October 2022, when a follower asked his secret, that it was fasting and Wegovy. In a later reply he credited "fasting + Ozempic/Wegovy + no tasty food near me" for losing about 30 pounds.
“fasting + Ozempic/Wegovy + no tasty food near me”
Replies on Twitter (now X), October-November 2022, October 2022. Source: Newsweek · University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
Photo: Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
References (17 sources)
Bibliographic detail is fetched from PubMed, not written by me - so a citation here cannot drift from the paper it names. Study design comes from PubMed's own tags rather than my judgement.
- 1.Rubino D, Abrahamsson N, Davies M et al. Effect of Continued Weekly Subcutaneous Semaglutide vs Placebo on Weight Loss Maintenance in Adults With Overweight or Obesity: The STEP 4 Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA. 2021;325(14):1414-1425.Randomised trialPMID 33755728full text
- 2.Wilding JPH, Batterham RL, Davies M et al. Weight regain and cardiometabolic effects after withdrawal of semaglutide: The STEP 1 trial extension. Diabetes Obes Metab. 2022;24(8):1553-1564.Randomised trialPMID 35441470full text
- 3.WEGOVY (semaglutide) injection and tablets - prescribing information: indications, dose schedules including 7.2 mg (Wegovy HD) and tablets, boxed warning and adverse-reaction rates (revised June 2026).- DailyMed, National Library of Medicinelabel
- 4.OZEMPIC (semaglutide) injection - prescribing information, used here for the comparison with Ozempic.- DailyMed, National Library of Medicinelabel
- 5.RYBELSUS and OZEMPIC (semaglutide) tablets - prescribing information, used here for the comparison with Rybelsus.- DailyMed, National Library of Medicinelabel
- 6.FDA's Concerns with Unapproved GLP-1 Drugs Used for Weight Loss - dosing errors with compounded semaglutide, counterfeit Ozempic and unapproved semaglutide salt forms in the unapproved supply.- US Food and Drug Administrationregulatory
- 7.NovoCare: Wegovy - list price of $1,349.02 per package for the pen, HD pen and pill, and self-pay by home delivery or local pharmacy pickup, checked 3 October 2026.- Novo Nordiskother
- 8.Novo Nordisk: what to pay for Wegovy - self-pay pen and pill prices by dose, the new-patient offer, the $25 savings offer, asking a retail pharmacist about self-pay, and the Medicare GLP-1 Bridge, checked 3 October 2026.- Novo Nordiskother
- 9.Novo Nordisk news release, 24 February 2026: list price of Wegovy 2.4 mg injection and 25 mg tablets to fall to $675 from 1 January 2027, with self-pay prices unaffected.- Novo Nordisknews
- 10.TrumpRx: Wegovy pen listing - $199 new-patient offer, then $349 (0.25 to 2.4 mg) and $399 (HD 7.2 mg), as a self-pay coupon for retail pharmacies, checked 3 October 2026.- TrumpRx.gov (US government)other
- 11.TrumpRx: Wegovy pill listing - $149, $199, $299 and $299 for the 1.5, 4, 9 and 25 mg tablets, checked 3 October 2026.- TrumpRx.gov (US government)other
- 12.Costco Pharmacy: Wegovy pen, HD pen and tablet member prices by strength, checked 3 October 2026.- Costco Pharmacyother
- 13.Medicare.gov: weight-loss drugs - the GLP-1 Bridge drug list (Foundayo, Wegovy injection or tablet, Zepbound KwikPen), $50 monthly copay, eligibility criteria and exclusions.- Medicare.gov (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services)regulatory
- 14.CMS: Medicare GLP-1 Bridge - program dates (1 July 2026 to 31 December 2027) and how the $50 copay sits outside the Part D benefit.- Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Servicesregulatory
- 15.Walmart corporate news, 7 January 2026: Sam's Club pharmacies to dispense the 1.5 mg Wegovy pill for $149 a month through the manufacturer's self-pay offer.- Walmart Inc.news
- 16.NovoCare: Ozempic list price - $1,027.51 for every pen and pill strength, checked 3 October 2026, used for the Ozempic vs Wegovy price comparison.- Novo Nordiskother
- 17.Novo Nordisk: save on Ozempic - self-pay pen and pill prices by dose, checked 3 October 2026, used for the Ozempic vs Wegovy price comparison.- Novo Nordiskother