Daily Medication Pearl: Semaglutide (Wegovy)

Author(s):

Saro Arakelians, PharmD

Semaglutide (Wegovy) is indicated as an adjunct to a reduced calorie diet and increased physical activity for chronic weight management in adult patients.

Medication Pearl of the Day: Semaglutide (Wegovy)

Indication: Semaglutide (Wegovy) is a glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist indicated as an adjunct to a reduced calorie diet and increased physical activity for chronic weight management in adult patients with an initial body mass index of 30 kg/m2 or greater (obesity).

Insight:

Dosing: Initiate at 0.25 mg once weekly for 4 weeks. In 4-week intervals, increase the dose until a dose of 2.4 mg is reached.
Dosage forms: Injection of pre-filled, single-dose pen that delivers doses of 0.25 mg, 0.5 mg, 1 mg, 1.7 mg, or 2.4 mg.
Adverse events: The most common adverse reactions reported in greater than or equal to 5% of patients treated with semaglutide are nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, constipation, abdominal pain, headache, fatigue, dyspepsia, dizziness, abdominal distension, eructation, hypoglycemia in patients with type 2 diabetes, flatulence, gastroenteritis, and gastroesophageal reflux disease.
Mechanism of action: Semaglutide is a GLP-1 analogue with 94% sequence homology to human GLP-1. Semaglutide acts as a GLP-1 receptor agonist that selectively binds to and activates the GLP-1 receptor, the target for native GLP-1.

Source: (fda.gov)