Ozempic®
Ozempic®
Quick summary
Type of Medicine
Once weekly GLP-1 injection for type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular risk reduction
Generic
No
Active Ingredient
Semaglutide, in a once weekly prefilled diabetes pen
Effective Within
Blood sugar typically starts improving within the first two weeks, with the fuller effect on long term glucose control seen across eight to twelve weeks.
Works By
Prompts insulin release when glucose is high, slows stomach emptying and reduces appetite signals.
Side Effects
Nausea and looser stools are common as the dose rises, usually settling with time. In people also taking insulin or sulfonylureas, low blood sugar becomes a more important watch point.
Wegovy® pen or pill?
Eli Lilly
Zepbound® KwikPen®
Eli Lilly
Foundayo Tablets
Eli Lilly
Zepbound® KwikPen®
Eli Lilly
Foundayo TabletsOne weekly shot with one pen a month
One tablet a day
Lose around 20–21% of body weight*
Lose around 11% of body weight*
People who prefer a weekly routine
People who prefer no needles
Inject under the skin using a pre-filled pen. The same pen has 4 doses for 4 weeks.
Take on an empty stomach with water
Cash-pay only
Cash-pay only
Product details
Ozempic is a once weekly injection of semaglutide developed for adults living with type 2 diabetes. It improves blood sugar control by prompting the body to release insulin when glucose runs high and by slowing how quickly the stomach empties, smoothing out the peaks and dips across the day.
Beyond glucose, it earned a further approval for reducing the risk of serious cardiovascular events, such as heart attack and stroke, in adults who have type 2 diabetes alongside established heart disease. That dual benefit is a large part of why it has become so widely relied upon in diabetes care.
One point is worth stating plainly. Ozempic is approved for diabetes and heart risk, not for weight loss. The medicine licensed specifically for weight management is Wegovy, which contains the same molecule at doses studied for that purpose. A clinician will always prescribe according to the approved use.
- Steadies blood sugar through several complementary actions
- Also approved to lower cardiovascular risk in eligible adults
- Given once a week from a prefilled pen, on any chosen day
As with all GLP-1 medicines it carries a thyroid tumor boxed warning and is unsuitable for anyone with a history of medullary thyroid cancer or MEN 2. It is available only on prescription.
Semaglutide as the active ingredient, in a sterile solution for injection.
How it works
From question to doorstep, in days not weeks.
Your success is worth celebrating
Real people. Real progress. Real support.
It was so much more than weight
Madeline’s mother died suddenly. Then her relationship ended. “I had all of these major changes and traumas, and I suppose, in a way, I turned to food to comfort me.”
She started avoiding photos. Her friends would say, “Get in the front we can’t see you.” She’d join in, but always hiding.
Why Helena finally started
“I went to the park with my daughter. She was running around and I got out of breath , I couldn’t be the mum I wanted to be.” Then Helena lost her dad, at just 57. “That was the turning point. Nothing is worth postponing in your life.”
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