What Is Wegovy Used For? Semaglutide 2.4 mg Explained

Complete guide: GLP-1 drugs: a complete guide to semaglutide and beyond

What is Wegovy used for?

Wegovy is the brand name of semaglutide in the presentation intended for weight management and the diseases that accompany it. According to the current label published on DailyMed, it has three indications: to reduce the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events in adults with established cardiovascular disease and either obesity or overweight; to reduce excess body weight and maintain the reduction long term in adults and pediatric patients aged 12 years and older with obesity, and in adults with overweight who have at least one weight-related comorbid condition; and to treat noncirrhotic metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH) with moderate to advanced liver fibrosis in adults¹.

The current label groups two dosage forms, the injection and the tablet, and the injection additionally includes pediatric patients aged 12 and older¹. When someone searches for «injectable semaglutide», they almost always mean the Wegovy and Ozempic presentations: two products with the same molecule and different labels (see the next section).

Wegovy vs Ozempic: is it the same semaglutide?

It is the same molecule, but not the same product. The Ozempic label indicates the drug to improve glycemic control in adults with type 2 diabetes, to reduce major adverse cardiovascular events in adults with type 2 diabetes and established cardiovascular disease, and to reduce sustained eGFR decline, end-stage kidney disease and cardiovascular death in adults with type 2 diabetes and chronic kidney disease². The Wegovy label, by contrast, covers weight, cardiovascular risk without requiring diabetes, and MASH¹.

The difference also shows in the trials behind each label. SUSTAIN-6, which supports Ozempic's cardiovascular profile, tested once-weekly semaglutide 0.5 mg or 1.0 mg in people with type 2 diabetes at high cardiovascular risk: major cardiovascular events occurred in 6.6% with semaglutide and 8.9% with placebo (HR 0.74)¹³. The STEP program, which supports Wegovy, tested a 2.4 mg weekly dose in obesity⁵. That is why «semaglutide 2.4 mg» is associated with Wegovy: it describes the dose studied in the weight trials, not a different molecule.

For clinicians, the practical consequence is to read the product's indication, not only the name of the active ingredient. A broader review of the class is in the GLP-1 guide: semaglutide, tirzepatide and retatrutide.

Body weight: what STEP 1, STEP 2, STEP 5 and STEP Teens measured

In STEP 1, a randomized trial in adults with overweight or obesity, the mean change in body weight at week 68 was −14.9% with semaglutide and −2.4% with placebo, a difference of −12.4 percentage points. Of those treated, 86.4% lost at least 5% of body weight versus 31.5% with placebo, and 50.5% lost at least 15% versus 4.9%⁵. STEP 2 repeated the design in adults with overweight or obesity and type 2 diabetes⁶.

STEP 5 extended follow-up to two years: the weight change at week 104 was −15.2% with semaglutide, a difference versus placebo of −12.6 percentage points⁷. In adolescents aged 12 to under 18 with obesity (STEP Teens), body mass index changed −16.1% with semaglutide and +0.6% with placebo at week 68⁹; this trial underpins the label's inclusion of pediatric patients aged 12 and older¹.

These figures are group averages under trial conditions, with a lifestyle intervention in both arms. They do not predict an individual's result.

Heart, kidney and liver: uses beyond weight

Cardiovascular risk. SELECT assigned 17,604 adults with established cardiovascular disease and overweight or obesity, without diabetes, to semaglutide 2.4 mg or placebo. The composite outcome (cardiovascular death, nonfatal myocardial infarction or nonfatal stroke) occurred in 6.5% of the semaglutide group and 8.0% of the placebo group (HR 0.80). Adverse events leading to discontinuation were more frequent with semaglutide: 16.6% versus 8.2%¹⁰.

Heart failure. In adults with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction and obesity, semaglutide improved the KCCQ symptom score by 16.6 points and reduced body weight by 13.3% versus 2.6% with placebo¹¹.

Kidney. The FLOW trial, in adults with type 2 diabetes and chronic kidney disease, found a 24% lower risk of the composite kidney outcome with semaglutide (HR 0.76)¹⁴; that evidence supports Ozempic's kidney indication, approved by the FDA in January 2025²⁴.

Liver. In ESSENCE, resolution of steatohepatitis without worsening of fibrosis occurred in 62.9% of treated patients versus 34.3% with placebo, and improvement in fibrosis without worsening of steatohepatitis in 36.8% versus 22.4%¹². The FDA approved the indication under the accelerated pathway, based on a laboratory surrogate endpoint, and requires additional data to confirm the effect on a clinically meaningful outcome³.

Semaglutide versus other options: what the head-to-head trial says

In SURMOUNT-5, which compared tirzepatide directly with semaglutide in obesity over 72 weeks, the mean weight change was −20.2% with tirzepatide and −13.7% with semaglutide¹⁵. The comparison does not change what each label authorizes, but it helps place semaglutide within the class; its mechanism and that of tirzepatide are explained in the article on the dual GIP/GLP-1 agonist.

None of these trials supports a «best for everyone» conclusion: they measure groups with specific inclusion criteria, and the choice between drugs depends on the label, comorbidity and clinical judgment.

Safety, warnings and what happens after stopping

The Wegovy label carries a boxed warning for the risk of thyroid C-cell tumors: semaglutide caused dose- and treatment-duration-dependent thyroid C-cell tumors in rodents, and it is unknown whether this occurs in humans. It is contraindicated in people with a personal or family history of medullary thyroid carcinoma or with multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2¹. An analysis of this signal is in GLP-1 and thyroid cancer.

In SELECT, discontinuations for adverse events were double those with placebo¹⁰. And in the STEP 1 extension, after semaglutide was withdrawn and only the lifestyle intervention continued, participants regained two-thirds of the weight they had lost over the following year⁸. That is one reason the label speaks of «maintaining weight reduction long term»¹.