Ozempic pen doses, clicks and cost calculator

What the selector can and cannot tell you

The selector may click as it moves, but those clicks are not the instruction for setting a dose. Use the labelled dose counter and the pointer described in the leaflet for your exact pen. The Ozempic patient instructions explicitly advise against counting clicks. [1]

Different strengths and pack presentations are a further reason not to transfer a chart from one pen to another. An online conversion cannot check what you have been supplied, whether the device has enough medicine for the labelled dose, or whether that dose was prescribed for you.

If you cannot select the prescribed dose or are uncertain whether a pen is the correct product, stop and ask the dispensing pharmacy for help. Do not draw up residual solution or improvise a partly filled injection from several devices.

Read the labelled dose count

The current SmPC lists four-dose presentations at the usual Ozempic strengths and a 1 mg pen delivering eight labelled doses. Pack authorisation and actual market supply are different matters; the carton and leaflet supplied to you establish which presentation you hold. [2]

In the tool, the two 1 mg options are intentionally separate. A price comparison that counts four doses for an eight-dose pen doubles the apparent injection cost. Counting eight for a four-dose pen halves it. Neither error is harmless when you are deciding what to order.

Some boxes contain more than one pen. The input here is the price per single pen and the number of pens. Check both before comparing a result with an advertised box price.

Cost arithmetic does not extend a pen’s life

A single pen entered at £120 with four labelled injections gives an illustrative cost of £30 per injection. A pen with eight labelled injections entered at the same hypothetical price gives £15. These examples explain the calculation; they are not offers or an assertion that either presentation costs that amount.

Supply is based on the labelled weekly use, assuming no treatment change, loss, damage or expiry. In-use storage periods differ between presentations. The product information distinguishes the eight-dose 1 mg pen from the four-dose pens. Do not apply one presentation’s use-by period to another. [2]

Any consultation, delivery and support costs need consistent treatment in a comparison. A low figure cannot establish the legitimacy of a seller.

Keep the reason for treatment in view

NHS information distinguishes semaglutide brands used for diabetes from those used for obesity. Ozempic is not an interchangeable substitute for a Wegovy prescription simply because the active ingredient is semaglutide. [3]

Questions about a missed injection, other diabetes medicines, low blood sugar or changing treatment belong with your clinical team. Keep a record of the product, presentation and prescribed dose so the pharmacist can answer the question you are actually asking.

Questions and answers