Short answer: Both are semaglutide from Novo Nordisk, injected once a week. Ozempic is approved for type 2 diabetes and tops out at 2 mg a week.1 Wegovy is approved for weight reduction, lowering heart risk in people with heart disease and overweight, and MASH liver disease, with a usual 2.4 mg dose and up to 7.2 mg for weight.2
Same active ingredient, same weekly schedule, same half-life. The differences are in who each label is for, how high the dose goes, and which pens, syringes and tablets each brand comes in. For semaglutide against tirzepatide, see Semaglutide vs tirzepatide: what did the head-to-head trial show?.
| Ozempic | Wegovy | |
|---|---|---|
| Active ingredient | Semaglutide1 | Semaglutide2 |
| Approved uses | Type 2 diabetes (blood sugar); lowering heart attack, stroke and heart death risk in type 2 diabetes with heart disease; slowing kidney decline in type 2 diabetes with chronic kidney disease1 | Weight reduction (adults, and ages 12 and up with obesity); lowering heart attack, stroke and heart death risk in adults with heart disease and obesity or overweight; noncirrhotic MASH with F2 to F3 fibrosis (accelerated approval)2 |
| Starting dose | 0.25 mg weekly for 4 weeks1 | 0.25 mg weekly for 4 weeks2 |
| Step-ups | 0.5 mg, then 1 mg and 2 mg if needed, each after at least 4 weeks | 0.5, 1 and 1.7 mg, every 4 weeks, to a maintenance dose |
| Highest label dose | 2 mg weekly1 | 2.4 mg is the usual maintenance dose; for adult weight reduction, up to 7.2 mg after at least 4 weeks on 2.4 mg23 |
| Injection devices | Multi-dose pens (4 weekly doses: 0.25/0.5, 1 or 2 mg) and single-dose prefilled syringes (0.25, 0.5, 1 mg)1 | Single-dose pens 0.25 to 2.4 mg and 7.2 mg (Wegovy HD), a 4-dose 2.4 mg FlexTouch pen, and single-dose syringes 0.25 to 2.4 mg2 |
| Tablet version | Ozempic tablets 1.5, 4 and 9 mg once daily, for type 2 diabetes4 | Wegovy tablets 1.5, 4, 9 and 25 mg once daily, for weight and heart risk2 |
| Missed injection | Take within 5 days; after that, skip it1 | Take it if the next dose is more than 2 days away; after 2 or more missed doses, restart at a lower dose2 |
| Half-life | about 7 days (label: about 1 week)1 | About 1 week2 |
Each brand was approved on its own set of trials, and the label only lists uses those trials showed.
The Ozempic label stops at 2 mg a week because that is the highest dose approved for blood sugar control.1 Wegovy steps through the same early doses (0.25, 0.5, 1 mg) but adds 1.7 mg and 2.4 mg, and since March 2026 a 7.2 mg dose (Wegovy HD) for adults who need more weight reduction after at least 4 weeks on 2.4 mg.23 Because both are the same molecule, the Wegovy label says not to use it with other semaglutide products or any other GLP-1 drug.2
Ozempic pens hold 4 weekly doses and you dial the dose; Wegovy pens are mostly single-dose, one pen per week, with one 4-dose FlexTouch pen at 2.4 mg.12 Both brands now also come as tablets taken daily on an empty stomach. Tablet doses are much larger in milligrams than the injection doses because very little semaglutide is absorbed by mouth; see Rybelsus vs Ozempic: how does the pill compare with the shot?.