Semaglutide: What the Medicine Is, and How We Use It
Semaglutide is an ingredient, not a brand. This page explains what it does in the body, which FDA-approved brands contain it, and why our clinic prescribes brand-name semaglutide rather than compounded versions.
If you are looking for the brand page for weight management, that is Wegovy.
Prefer to call? (980) 306-2060
Care directed by Dr. Joseph Okoye, MD, FACP, a board-certified internal medicine physician practicing medicine for over 35 years.
What Semaglutide Is
Semaglutide is the active ingredient in several prescription medicines. It belongs to a group of drugs called GLP-1 receptor agonists.
The distinction matters because patients often use the ingredient name and a brand name as if they were the same thing. They are not. The ingredient is what acts in your body. The brand is a specific FDA-approved product, with a specific approved use, a specific dose schedule, and a specific manufacturer.
How Semaglutide Works
Your gut releases a hormone called GLP-1 after you eat. It tells your brain you have had enough. Semaglutide copies that hormone and stays in your system far longer than the natural one does.
- You feel full on a smaller amount of food.
- Food leaves your stomach more slowly, so fullness lasts.
- The constant pull toward food quiets down.
- Your body releases insulin more effectively when blood sugar rises.
That last effect is why the same ingredient is used in both diabetes care and weight management, under different brands and different approvals.
Which FDA-Approved Brands Contain Semaglutide
| Brand | Form | What it is FDA-approved for |
|---|---|---|
| Wegovy® | Weekly injection, and a daily tablet | Long-term weight management in adults, and lowering cardiovascular risk in adults with heart disease and excess weight |
| Ozempic® | Weekly injection | Type 2 diabetes |
| Rybelsus® | Daily tablet | Type 2 diabetes |
For weight management, the semaglutide product approved for that purpose is Wegovy. Read the brand page for dosing, side effects, and safety detail: Wegovy in Charlotte, NC. If you are specifically weighing the daily tablet rather than the weekly injection, that has its own page: the Wegovy pill.
Tirzepatide is a different ingredient that works on two hormones rather than one. If you are comparing the two, read tirzepatide or our side-by-side on Wegovy vs. Zepbound.
Brand-Name Semaglutide Versus Compounded Semaglutide
This is the question we get asked most, and it is the reason this page exists.
What brand-name means
Wegovy is manufactured by Novo Nordisk. The FDA reviewed it for safety, effectiveness, and manufacturing quality before approving it, and it continues to be regulated after approval. Every pen contains a known amount of drug, made to a known standard. It is dispensed through licensed retail pharmacies.
What compounded means
A compounded product is mixed by a compounding pharmacy rather than made by the drug manufacturer. Compounded semaglutide products are not FDA-approved. The FDA has not reviewed them for safety, for effectiveness, or for manufacturing quality, and the agency has warned about problems with them, including dosing errors serious enough to send people to hospital.
Some compounded products are also not semaglutide at all. They contain salt forms, such as semaglutide sodium or semaglutide acetate, which are different substances from the semaglutide in an approved medicine.
Why our clinic prescribes brand-name only
We prescribe brand-name, FDA-approved medication filled through licensed retail pharmacies. We do not prescribe compounded semaglutide.
The reason is straightforward. When Dr. Okoye adjusts your dose, he needs to know exactly what you took. When a side effect appears, he needs to know it came from the medicine and not from how it was mixed. Neither is knowable with an unapproved product.
Cost is the usual reason patients consider compounded semaglutide, and it is a real concern. There are better answers to it. See insurance and coverage, manufacturer savings programs, the Medicare GLP-1 Bridge if you have Part D, and our pricing and self-pay options.
Who Should Not Take Semaglutide
Some people should not take this ingredient in any form. Dr. Okoye screens for all of it before prescribing.
- Anyone with a personal or family history of medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC).
- Anyone with Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia syndrome type 2 (MEN 2).
- Anyone who has had an allergic reaction to semaglutide.
- Anyone who is pregnant. If you are planning a pregnancy, semaglutide should be stopped at least two months beforehand.
Semaglutide carries a boxed warning about the risk of thyroid C-cell tumors, based on animal studies. Whether it causes these tumors in people is not known.
Extra caution and closer monitoring apply if you have had pancreatitis or gallbladder disease, if you take insulin or a sulfonylurea, if you have diabetic retinopathy, or if you have gastroparesis. Tell us about every medicine and supplement you take.
Full side effect and safety detail sits on the brand page: Wegovy.
What Physician-Led Semaglutide Care Involves
Patients on blood pressure or diabetes medicines often need those doses lowered as they lose weight. That is one of the reasons this belongs with a physician who manages your whole health picture rather than a prescription service. See physician-led versus online care.
Initial and follow-up visits are available in person or virtually. Tanita body composition analysis requires an in-person visit at our Charlotte office. We see patients from across the Charlotte region and virtually throughout North Carolina and South Carolina. See the communities we serve.
Talk to a Physician About Whether Semaglutide Fits
Start with a medical evaluation at our Eastway Drive clinic in East Charlotte, or virtually across North Carolina and South Carolina.
Or call (980) 306-2060
Treatment options are reviewed during your medical weight loss visit.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is semaglutide the same as Wegovy?
Do you prescribe compounded semaglutide?
Is compounded semaglutide cheaper?
Does semaglutide come as a pill?
Who should not take semaglutide?
Will my insurance cover it?
What happens if I stop taking it?
Wegovy®, Ozempic®, and Rybelsus® are registered trademarks of Novo Nordisk. Trademarks belong to their respective owners.
Treatment recommendations are individualized and based on medical evaluation, health history, medication safety considerations, insurance coverage, medication availability, and clinician judgment.