GLP-1 Medications UK: The Complete 2026 Guide

If you have landed here because you have been thinking about weight loss medication for a while, you are in safe hands.

Most people spend weeks reading about GLP-1 medicines before they decide to go ahead with anything.

But this guide is here to put an end to your seemingly never-ending GLP-1 research.

This guide is a roadmap to help you choose the best GLP-1 medicine for your health and lifestyle.

It explains what each GLP-1 medication is, how well it works, what it costs, and who it suits. It is not a recommendation for any one treatment.

Before we begin: A little bit about OnlineClinic

OnlineClinic has been operating since 2011 and has treated more than 2.1 million patients.

The pharmacy is registered with the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC), our prescribers are registered with the General Medical Council (GMC), and the service is regulated by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

As of July 2026, on Trustpilot, the service rating is 4.6 out of 5 based on 6,336 reviews.

If you read a guide to weight loss injections even a year ago, three major developments have changed the overall landscape.

Wegovy now has a heart-health licence

Since July 2024, the MHRA has licensed Wegovy to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke in adults who already have cardiovascular disease and a BMI of 27 or above.

In April 2026, NICE recommended Wegovy for that purpose.

It is the first and only GLP-1 medication in the UK that is licensed for heart health.

Mounjaro does not have it. For some people, that changes which treatment makes sense.

There is now a GLP-1 you can take as a tablet

On 11 June 2026, the MHRA approved oral semaglutide, a once-daily Wegovy tablet, as the first oral GLP-1 medicine licensed for weight loss in the UK.

Until then, every available option was an injectable.

A tablet does not suit everyone, and it is not the same as the injection in every respect. Still, for people who have avoided treatment because of needles, it makes obesity management more accessible.

Wegovy is available in a higher 7.2mg dose

The higher-strength Wegovy 7.2mg dose was also approved in the UK ahead of most other countries.

The MHRA cleared the 7.2mg weekly dose in January 2026 and a single-injection 7.2mg pen in April 2026.

It produces more average weight loss than the older 2.4mg dose.

All three developments are covered in more detail below.

GLP-1 stands for glucagon-like peptide-1.

It is a hormone your gut releases naturally after a meal.

It tells your brain that you are full and to slow the rate at which your stomach empties.

GLP-1 medications mimic that hormone, but at a stronger and longer-lasting level than your body produces on its own.

Doctors call this class "GLP-1 receptor agonists".

Here is what happens when GLP-1 medicines are at work:

• You feel full sooner during a meal.
• You stay full for longer between meals.
• Cravings, especially for high-calorie foods, tend to fade.
• Your stomach empties more slowly, which is also why nausea is common early on.
• As a result of all things mentioned above, you gradually begin to lose weight.

Wegovy, in both its injection and tablet forms, and Saxenda, act solely on GLP-1.

Mounjaro works slightly differently from the others.

Alongside GLP-1, it also mimics a second gut hormone called GIP.

That dual action is why Mounjaro tends to produce the highest average weight loss in clinical trials compared to other alternatives.

Four GLP-1 treatments are licensed in the UK for weight management. Here is a side-by-side comparison.

Two other medicines come up in the same searches but are not on this list, and it is worth being clear about why.

Ozempic contains the same active ingredient as Wegovy (semaglutide), but in the UK, it is licensed only for type 2 diabetes, not for weight loss.

Prescribing it purely for weight loss is off-label, and it is not how we operate.

If you are researching semaglutide for weight loss, Wegovy is the licensed product. We explain the full picture in Mounjaro vs Ozempic: the UK regulatory reality.

Xenical (orlistat) is a weight loss tablet, but it is not a GLP-1 medicine.

It works in the gut by preventing the fat you eat from being absorbed, rather than by changing appetite.

It produces less weight loss than the GLP-1 medications, but it can suit people for whom injections or GLP-1s are not appropriate.

Mounjaro (tirzepatide)

Mounjaro is the most effective of the four weight loss medicines.

It is a once-weekly injection that comes as a pre-filled pen, starting at 2.5mg and stepping up in stages to a maximum of 15mg.

Each dose gives your body at least four weeks to adjust before the next increase.

If you wish to understand more about Mounjaro, our step-by-step guides cover the practical side: Mounjaro dosage schedule, how to inject Mounjaro confidently, what to eat while you are on Mounjaro, Mounjaro side effects, how long does Mounjaro take to work, and Mounjaro vs Wegovy.

Wegovy injection (semaglutide)

Wegovy is a once-weekly semaglutide injection, and until very recently, the maximum dose for the injection was 2.4mg.

Since early 2026, a higher 7.2mg dose has been approved in the UK, which produces greater average weight loss and narrows the weight loss gap with Mounjaro.

Wegovy is also the only GLP-1 medication with a UK licence for reducing cardiovascular risk in people who already have heart disease.

That is a genuine point of difference, and we cover it in its own section below.

For more information, see the Wegovy dosage schedule and Wegovy side effects week by week.

The Wegovy pill (oral semaglutide)

On 11 June 2026, the MHRA licensed a once-daily semaglutide tablet, the first oral GLP-1 medicine approved for weight loss in the UK.

It contains the same active ingredient as the Wegovy injection.

The tablet is taken first thing in the morning on an empty stomach, with a small sip of plain water.

There should be a 30-minute gap between taking the tablet and having breakfast.

The tablet is available in four doses: 1.5mg, then 4mg, 9mg, and 25mg, with at least four weeks at each dose.

In a clinical trial, the 25mg tablet produced an average weight loss of around 13.6% over 64 weeks, which is broadly in line with the older 2.4mg injection.

One common mix-up:

The Wegovy tablet is not the same as Rybelsus, which is a lower-dose oral semaglutide licensed only for type 2 diabetes.

To learn more about oral Wegovy, check out our guide: Oral semaglutide explained.

Saxenda (liraglutide)

Saxenda was the first long-acting GLP-1 to reach the UK, and it is worth knowing about in the wider picture.

It is a daily liraglutide injection, with doses going from 0.6mg to a maintenance dose of 3.0mg over about five weeks.

On average, it produces less weight loss than semaglutide or tirzepatide, and a daily injection is less convenient than a weekly one.

It does have a longer real-world safety record, and the daily dose can allow finer adjustment for people who find dose changes tricky.

While we do not offer Saxenda, you can read more about liraglutide on our Saxenda page, and Wegovy vs Saxenda sets the two approaches side by side if you want the details.

Now that you know about all the weight loss medication options available in the UK, the next natural step is to understand how much weight you can lose on each medicine.

Here’s what the clinical trials show.

• Mounjaro: In a clinical trial, adults on the highest dose (15mg) lost about 20.9% of their starting weight over 72 weeks. The lowest-dose group (5mg) lost about 15% of their weight.
• Wegovy 2.4mg injection: Clinical studies show an average weight loss of about 14.9% over 68 weeks on the 2.4mg dose.
• Wegovy 7.2mg injection: A study showed weight loss of about 18.7% among people who took the 7.2mg dose.
• Wegovy tablet, 25mg: In a clinical trial, participants lost about 13.6% over 64 weeks.
• Saxenda: A study found that participants lost an average of 8% weight over 56 weeks.

There is an important caveat behind every one of these figures.

Averages hide a wide range.

Some people lose far more than the average, and some lose very little.

Response to GLP-1 medication varies from person to person, and no one, including your prescriber, can predict exactly how your body will respond.

What the trials do show is that the newer medications (Mounjaro and higher-dose Wegovy) tend to produce the largest average results.

In the 2023 SELECT trial, Wegovy 2.4mg was tested in 17,604 adults with cardiovascular disease and a BMI of 27 or higher.

Over roughly three years, it reduced the risk of a major cardiovascular event, meaning heart attack, stroke, or cardiovascular death, by 20% compared with placebo.

On the strength of that evidence, the MHRA licensed Wegovy for cardiovascular risk reduction in July 2024, and NICE recommended Wegovy for cardiovascular health in April 2026.

Because GLP-1 medications work in similar ways, they share a similar side effect profile.

The most common effects are digestive, and they tend to be at their worst during the first few weeks as the dose climbs.

For most people, they settle as the body adjusts.

Common side effects:

• Nausea: The most common side effect, usually worst in the first four to eight weeks.
• Diarrhoea: Common early on, often eases with time.
• Constipation: Staying well hydrated helps.
• Vomiting: Less common than nausea, but it does happen.
• Reduced appetite: Partly the point of the medication, though it can feel strange at first.
• Tiredness: Usually mild.

Less common but serious effects:

• Pancreatitis: Inflammation of the pancreas. Rare, but seek medical advice for severe stomach pain that does not go away.
• Gallbladder problems: Rapid weight loss of any kind can trigger gallstones.
• Low blood sugar: More of a risk if you also take diabetes medication, particularly insulin.
• Allergic reactions: Rare, but need immediate attention.

Most users find side effects manageable.

We cover the side effects in detail, and what genuinely helps, in Mounjaro side effects week by week and Wegovy side effects week by week.

If your weight loss stalls partway through, the Mounjaro plateau guide explains why that happens and what to do.

GLP-1 weight loss medication is not for everyone, and eligibility is defined by clear clinical criteria. In general, you may be suitable for a GLP-1 medicine if you have:

• A BMI of 30 or above, or
• A BMI of 27 or above, together with at least one weight-related health condition, such as type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, sleep apnoea, fatty liver disease, PCOS, osteoarthritis, or heart disease.

You might not be eligible for a GLP-1 medicine if you are:

• Pregnant, planning to become pregnant, or breastfeeding.
• Living with a personal or family history of medullary thyroid cancer, or with Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia syndrome type 2.
• Known to have had a serious allergic reaction to the medication's active ingredient.

There are situations where you can often still be treated.

Your prescriber will want to talk it through carefully first if you have the following health conditions:

• Pancreatitis or gallbladder disease
• Severe kidney or liver problems
• An eating disorder
• If you are on other diabetes medication
• If you are on oral contraception (GLP-1 medications can affect how well the pill is absorbed, which we cover in Mounjaro and contraception)

If none of the eligibility criteria applies to you, GLP-1 medication is not the right treatment, and our prescribers will explain why and what else might help.

There is no single right answer, and the honest position is that the choice is yours. A few practical patterns tend to hold:

Mounjaro tends to suit people prioritising the highest average weight loss, or those who have tried Wegovy without achieving enough weight loss at the maximum dose.

Wegovy (injection) tends to suit people who want a licensed semaglutide option, those for whom cost is a bigger factor at the starting dose, and, importantly, anyone with established heart disease who could benefit from its cardiovascular licence.

The Wegovy tablet tends to suit people who want to avoid injections, provided the daily empty-stomach routine fits their morning.

The prescriber's role is the one that matters most here.

They look at your full medical history, your current medications, your BMI, and any health conditions, and they advise on which treatment is suitable and why.

If you are moving between treatments, our guide on switching from Wegovy to Mounjaro walks you through how that is usually done.

And if you are still deciding between the two big weekly options, Mounjaro vs Wegovy is the detailed head-to-head.

Our prices start at:

• Wegovy (injection): From £87.49.
• Mounjaro: From £174.99 for the 2.5mg starter pen.
• The Wegovy tablet (oral semaglutide): Priced by dose, confirmed at your consultation.
• Xenical (the non-GLP-1 option): Priced at your consultation.

Along with the medicine, your order at OnlineClinic includes the prescription, the consultation, the packaging, and next-day delivery.

There are no hidden fees.

Our weekly injections have a subscription option with savings on repeat deliveries, and you can pause, skip, or cancel at any time from your account.

You can start a free consultation for the Wegovy injection, the Wegovy pill, or Mounjaro whenever you are ready. There is no rush, and it is reasonable to take your time deciding.

The process is straightforward. Once you place an order at OnlineClinic, here’s what happens from start to finish:

1. Fill in a short medical questionnaire. It takes 5 to 10 minutes and covers your medical history, current medications, height and weight, and any conditions or allergies. The questions are thorough on purpose because a prescriber uses them to check that the treatment is safe for you.
2. A GMC-registered prescriber reviews your answers. If they need more detail, they message you through your account. No phone tag, no in-person visit.
3. If treatment is approved, it is dispensed and dispatched. Next-day delivery with temperature-controlled packaging when needed, plus everything you need to get started (needles, a sharps bin, and the full patient information leaflet).
4. If it is not approved, the prescriber explains why. They may suggest an alternative or recommend you speak to your GP. You are not charged for treatment that is not issued.

Our pharmacy is registered with the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC), our prescribers are registered with the General Medical Council (GMC), and the service is regulated by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

If you prefer to verify us directly, the CQC and GPhC public registers list us.