Wegovy in Australia

Both forms are registered for chronic weight management, alongside a reduced-calorie diet and more physical activity, in adults with an initial BMI of 30 or more, or 27 to under 30 with at least one weight-related condition. The injection is also registered for adolescents aged 12 and over with obesity (BMI at or above the 95th percentile for age and sex) who weigh more than 60 kg; the tablet is not registered for anyone under 18.

Two further uses are registered:

The FlexTouch pen is the only form on sale at the three retailers; single-dose pens and pre-filled syringes are also on the ARTG. A new needle goes on for each injection and comes off afterwards. Before first use the pen is kept in the fridge (2 to 8°C, never frozen); after first use it keeps for up to 42 days below 30°C.

The injection is given once a week on the same day, at any time, with or without food, into the abdomen, thigh or upper arm. The day can change if doses are at least 72 hours apart. A missed dose is taken within five days, otherwise skipped until the usual day; after several missed doses the Product Information says to consider restarting at a lower dose. A dose step can be delayed until stomach side effects settle. If 2.4 mg is not tolerated, 1.7 mg can be the maintenance dose, with another try at 2.4 mg later.

The 7.2 mg dose is for adults whose BMI was 30 or more when they started, after at least four weeks on 2.4 mg. The three 2.4 mg injections are given one after another, at least 5 cm apart, and can go in the same body area. If 7.2 mg brings no further weight loss, the dose goes back to 2.4 mg. For adolescents, heart-risk reduction and MASH the maximum is 2.4 mg.

Once supplied, the tablet is taken differently:

In the pooled 68-week trials of 2.4 mg, nausea affected 38.3% (placebo 14.0%), diarrhoea 26.8% (14.3%), vomiting 21.8% (5.7%) and constipation 21.8% (10.2%); 4.3% stopped permanently because of stomach and bowel effects. At 7.2 mg in STEP UP, nausea was 40.3% against 34.9% at 2.4 mg and 12.5% on placebo, and vomiting 22.9% against 15.5% and 5.6%. On the tablet in OASIS 4, 74.0% had stomach or bowel effects against 42.2% on placebo.

Altered skin sensation (dysaesthesia, such as burning or sensitive skin) affected 21.6% on 7.2 mg in STEP UP against 0.3% on placebo, and 2.1% on standard injection doses against 1.2%; most cases were mild to moderate and resolved during treatment. Hair loss was 6.2% at 7.2 mg, 3.3% at 2.4 mg and 1.0% on placebo in the pooled STEP UP and STEP UP T2D table (the Product Information text gives 5.3% at 7.2 mg in STEP UP).

Precautions in the Australian Product Information:

The trials behind the Australian registration compared Wegovy with placebo, both groups also on a reduced-calorie diet and more physical activity. Results are average changes in body weight. The Product Information reports them by treatment policy, which counts everyone randomised whether or not they kept taking the medicine.

Weight returns for most people who stop. In STEP 4, people switched to placebo after reaching 2.4 mg over 20 weeks regained 6.9% of body weight over the next 48 weeks, though their average weight at week 68 was still below where they started; those who continued lost a further 7.9%. In the STEP 1 extension, 327 participants followed for a year after stopping regained about two thirds of the weight they had lost (11.6 of 17.3 percentage points).

For adults the Product Information has no rule to stop if weight loss is too small. Adolescents are re-evaluated, and treatment stopped, if BMI has not fallen by at least 5% after 12 weeks on 2.4 mg or the highest tolerated dose. The Product Information gives no tapering schedule, and this review found no Australian guideline on tapering Wegovy.

Wegovy is a Schedule 4 (prescription-only) medicine in both forms, and the Product Information does not limit starting it to specialists. With no PBS listing there is no authority application.

The Medical Board of Australia's telehealth guideline says prescribing without a real-time consultation, in person, by video or by phone, is not good practice, including requests based only on an online questionnaire. In September 2026 AHPRA said it was investigating unsafe prescribing, particularly in "high-volume and single-treatment business models", including of GLP-1 weight-loss drugs, and that telehealth prescribing requires "even greater rigour".

Pharmacy compounding of GLP-1 medicines, including semaglutide, has been prohibited in Australia since 1 October 2024. In March 2026 the TGA reported that laboratory tests of several imported unregistered products labelled as GLP-1 medicines found they contained none.