Options compared · Singapore weight-loss options compared, Medisave included

Weight loss injections in Singapore: GLP-1 types and cost

Written by the GetLean Clinic Team · Published 2026-10-25 · Updated 2026-10-27 · 1859 words

Weight loss injections in Singapore are prescription GLP-1 medicines, not the beauty-clinic "fat-dissolving" injections. The two once-weekly ones registered here for weight management are Mounjaro (tirzepatide) and Wegovy (semaglutide): in their main trials, average weight loss was 20.9% on tirzepatide 15 mg and 14.9% on semaglutide 2.4 mg, against 3.1% and 2.4% on placebo (SURMOUNT-1; STEP 1). Individual results vary.

Availability in Singapore. Both medicines are registered with Singapore's Health Sciences Authority, and their registered indications include weight management. Which medicine suits a particular person, if any does, is decided by the doctor who assesses them.

What are weight loss injections?

Weight loss injections are GLP-1 medicines: prescription medicines that act at the receptor for GLP-1, a hormone the labels describe as a natural regulator of appetite and calorie intake. Both US labels say the medicine decreases calorie intake, likely by affecting appetite (semaglutide label; tirzepatide label).

The weight loss injections registered in Singapore are GLP-1 medicines of two kinds: GLP-1 receptor agonists, semaglutide (Wegovy) and liraglutide, and a dual GIP and GLP-1 receptor agonist, tirzepatide (Mounjaro) (semaglutide label; tirzepatide label). Tirzepatide and semaglutide are injected once a week and liraglutide once a day. All of them are prescription medicines: every registered semaglutide, tirzepatide and liraglutide product in Singapore is classified Prescription Only (HSA register). How GLP-1 medications work explains the mechanism.

Which weight loss injections are available in Singapore?

The GLP-1 injections registered in Singapore for weight management include tirzepatide (Mounjaro) and semaglutide 2.4 mg (Wegovy), each injected once a week, and liraglutide, injected once a day (NDF; NDF; NDF). Tirzepatide is also registered here for type 2 diabetes.

GetLean carries only GLP-1 medications approved by Singapore's Health Sciences Authority, such as Rybelsus, Wegovy and Mounjaro, and whether medication is appropriate for you, and which one, is decided by Dr Quek at your consultation. GetLean does not prescribe or supply liraglutide. Saxenda in Singapore compares liraglutide with Wegovy and Mounjaro.

How much do weight loss injections cost in Singapore?

At GetLean, Mounjaro and Wegovy are each from S$488 a month (S$788 depending on dose, S$1,088 at the max dose), all-in: Dr Quek's video consultations and reviews, the medication delivered to you, and daily WhatsApp coaching. The price follows the dose Dr Quek prescribes: Mounjaro is S$488 a month at 2.5 mg and 5 mg, S$788 at 7.5 mg and 10 mg and S$1,088 at 15 mg (max dose), and Wegovy is S$488 a month at 0.25 mg to 1 mg, S$788 at 1.7 mg and 2.4 mg and S$1,088 at 7.2 mg (max dose). The first video consultation is S$20, refunded in full if he decides medication is not right for you. Mounjaro in Singapore and Wegovy in Singapore have the table for each dose.

Billing is monthly, with the medication included. Fat-dissolving injections are a different treatment, and GetLean, a telehealth clinic, does not offer them.

How are weight loss injections given?

GLP-1 weight loss injections are given under the skin, at a dose that starts low and is stepped up: tirzepatide and semaglutide once a week, liraglutide once a day (NDF; NDF; NDF). In Singapore's product information, the starting dose of tirzepatide is 2.5 mg, raised to 5 mg after 4 weeks; semaglutide is stepped up over 16 weeks from 0.25 mg to 2.4 mg to reduce the likelihood of stomach symptoms; and the starting dose of liraglutide is 0.6 mg a day, raised to 3.0 mg in steps of at least a week. Tirzepatide goes into the abdomen or thigh, or the back of the upper arm when someone else gives it, and semaglutide into the abdomen, thigh or upper arm.

Which dose suits a person is the prescribing doctor's decision. How GLP-1 dose titration works sets out the steps, and your first GLP-1 injection covers what to expect on the day.

What are the side effects of weight loss injections?

The commonest side effects of GLP-1 weight loss injections are digestive: nausea, diarrhoea, vomiting and constipation, mostly while the dose is being raised. In the US labels' weight-loss trials, nausea affected 44% of adults on semaglutide 2.4 mg against 16% on placebo (US label), and 25% to 29% of adults on tirzepatide against 8% (US label). The labels' warnings cover rarer serious problems, including acute pancreatitis, gallbladder disease, kidney injury from dehydration and serious allergic reactions (semaglutide label; tirzepatide label).

Mounjaro side effects and Wegovy side effects give each medicine's full figures, and GLP-1 side effects sorts them by how serious they are.

Side effects are why daily contact matters: at GetLean, daily WhatsApp coaching keeps you in touch with our care team (9am to 9pm every day, Singapore time), so anything clinical can reach Dr Quek early, not weeks later. Outside those hours an urgent symptom does not wait for a reply: go to an emergency department, or call 995 if it is an emergency.

What is the strongest weight loss injection?

No trial names one weight loss injection as the strongest for everyone. In SURMOUNT-5, a trial that compared tirzepatide with semaglutide directly, 751 adults with obesity and without type 2 diabetes lost 20.2% of their body weight on average on tirzepatide (Mounjaro) and 13.7% on semaglutide (Wegovy) by week 72 (Aronne 2025). The trial was open-label, and individual results vary and are not guaranteed.

A 2026 network meta-analysis compared the medicines indirectly, each against lifestyle measures alone at one year: weight loss of 14.9% for tirzepatide and 9.8% for semaglutide injection, with moderate to high certainty, and larger benefits generally came with more side effects and more people stopping (Nong 2026).

There is no single best one for everyone: which medicine suits a person, if any does, is decided by the doctor who assesses them. That choice is what your consultation with Dr Quek is for, and at every monthly check-in he decides with you whether to continue, adjust or stop.

What are fat-dissolving injections, and how are they different?

Fat-dissolving injections are a different treatment from a GLP-1 weight loss injection. One of them, deoxycholic acid, has a US prescribing label: it describes a drug that destroys the membranes of fat cells where it is injected, and approves it only to improve moderate to severe fullness from fat under the chin (US label).

For deoxycholic acid, a fat-dissolving injection with a US prescribing label, the label allows up to six treatment sessions at least a month apart, and only for fat under the chin; it says use anywhere else is not approved and not recommended (US label). It also reports serious reactions after use outside the chin area, including muscle or nerve injury and lumps that may not go away. Its trials measured fullness under the chin, by clinician and patient ratings and by MRI.

A GLP-1 injection works differently: it acts on appetite, and its trials measured body weight as a whole. Slimming treatments in Singapore: what fat-freezing and HIFU do covers the other spot treatments sold for slimming.

Who should not take weight loss injections?

Anyone allergic to the medicine or its ingredients should not take a GLP-1 weight loss injection: that is the only contraindication in Singapore's product information (NDF; NDF). The US labels add a personal or family history of medullary thyroid carcinoma or MEN 2 (semaglutide label; tirzepatide label), and the medicines are stopped before a planned pregnancy: at least 2 months before for semaglutide in Singapore's insert (HSA insert), and at least 1 month before for tirzepatide in the European label (pregnancy sections).

A weight loss injection in Singapore needs a doctor's prescription, and a consultation does not guarantee a prescription. MOH has stated in Parliament that GLP-1 medicines may only be dispensed by a registered doctor or a licensed retail pharmacy against a valid prescription (MOH 2024). That is exactly what your consultation with Dr Quek is for: nothing is prescribed or dispensed before he has assessed you.

You do not have to go to a clinic, though: at GetLean the doctor comes to you, by live video from home, and where a prescription is issued, the medication is delivered to your door. Am I eligible for GLP-1 treatment? sets out who the programme is for.

Want to see an online doctor about GLP-1? Book your consult for a S$20 video consultation with Dr Quek. Book your consult

Can you buy weight loss injections online without a prescription?

No: GLP-1 weight loss injections are prescription-only medicines in Singapore (HSA register), and HSA has received reports of people hospitalised with severe vomiting after taking GLP-1 medicines obtained overseas or online without a prescription and medical supervision (HSA 2026). HSA tells consumers who have been buying prescription medicines from unauthorised sources to stop immediately. Compounded semaglutide and Telegram sellers: the real risk covers the channels to avoid.

Common questions

What are the different types of weight loss injections?

What is the strongest weight loss injection?

No trial names one weight loss injection as the strongest for everyone. In SURMOUNT-5, a trial that compared tirzepatide with semaglutide directly, 751 adults with obesity and without type 2 diabetes lost 20.2% of their body weight on average on tirzepatide and 13.7% on semaglutide by week 72 (Aronne 2025). The trial was open-label, and individual results vary and are not guaranteed.

How much does a slimming injection cost?

At GetLean, Mounjaro and Wegovy are each from S$488 a month (S$788 depending on dose, S$1,088 at the max dose), all-in: Dr Quek's video consultations and reviews, the medication delivered to you, and daily WhatsApp coaching. Billing is monthly, with the medication included. Fat-dissolving injections are a different treatment, and GetLean, a telehealth clinic, does not offer them.

How many times do you need fat dissolving injections?

Who should not take weight loss injections?

Do injections to lose weight work?

GLP-1 weight loss injections worked in their trials, on average: adults lost 20.9% of their body weight on tirzepatide 15 mg over 72 weeks in SURMOUNT-1, against 3.1% on placebo (Jastreboff 2022), and 14.9% on semaglutide 2.4 mg over 68 weeks in STEP 1, against 2.4% (Wilding 2021). Individual results vary and are not guaranteed.

About GetLean

A doctor-led GLP-1 programme in Singapore, with a plan to get you off the medication from day one: the GetLean GLP-1 Taper Plan. Daily WhatsApp coaching tracks your weight, eating and exercise while the medication is working. Every month Dr Quek reviews how it's going and, when you're ready, steps the dose down towards the lowest effective dose.

Book my S$20 consult

References

National Drug Formulary Singapore, product information for tirzepatide pre-filled pen (SIN17258P), sections 4.1 to 4.3, page last updated 9 October 2026, read 25 October 2026. ndf.gov.sg
National Drug Formulary Singapore, product information for semaglutide 2.4 mg injection (SIN16748P), sections 4.1 to 4.3, page last updated 9 October 2026, read 25 October 2026. ndf.gov.sg
National Drug Formulary Singapore, registered product information for liraglutide 6 mg/ml injection (SIN15338P). ndf.gov.sg
Health Sciences Authority, Listing of Registered Therapeutic Products (via data.gov.sg). data.gov.sg
Ministry of Health Singapore, parliamentary reply on cases of unauthorised sale of drugs for treatment of diabetes and obesity, 10 September 2024. moh.gov.sg
Semaglutide 2.4 mg US prescribing information, sections 5.1, 12.1 and 12.2, DailyMed SPL version 19 (30 June 2026), read 25 October 2026. dailymed.nlm.nih.gov
Tirzepatide US prescribing information (weight-management product), sections 12.1 and 12.2, DailyMed SPL version 40, read 25 October 2026. dailymed.nlm.nih.gov
Jastreboff AM et al., SURMOUNT-1, tirzepatide once weekly for the treatment of obesity, N Engl J Med 2022. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Wilding JPH et al., STEP 1, once-weekly semaglutide in adults with overweight or obesity, N Engl J Med 2021. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Aronne LJ et al., SURMOUNT-5, tirzepatide as compared with semaglutide for the treatment of obesity, N Engl J Med 2025. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Nong K et al., comparative effects of drugs for adults with overweight or obesity, systematic review and network meta-analysis, BMJ 2026;394:e372161. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Semaglutide 2.4 mg US prescribing information, section 6.1, adverse reactions in the weight-reduction trials, DailyMed SPL version 19 (30 June 2026), read 25 October 2026. dailymed.nlm.nih.gov
Tirzepatide US prescribing information (weight-management product), section 6.1, adverse reactions in the pooled weight-reduction trials, DailyMed SPL version 40, read 25 October 2026. dailymed.nlm.nih.gov
Semaglutide 2.4 mg US prescribing information, boxed warning and sections 4, 5, 6.1 and 6.2, DailyMed SPL version 19 (30 June 2026), read 25 October 2026. dailymed.nlm.nih.gov
Tirzepatide US prescribing information (weight-management product), boxed warning and sections 4, 5 and 6, DailyMed SPL version 40, read 25 October 2026. dailymed.nlm.nih.gov
Health Sciences Authority, register of therapeutic products (Infosearch) — package insert for the registered semaglutide 2.4 mg product, SIN16748P, approved 26 August 2026, sections 4.3, 4.4, 4.6, 4.8 and 5.3. eservice.hsa.gov.sg
Semaglutide and tirzepatide product information — pregnancy and lactation sections (DailyMed and EMA SmPC). dailymed.nlm.nih.gov
Deoxycholic acid injection, US prescribing information, sections 1, 2.1, 5.5, 12.1 and 14, DailyMed SPL version 26 (28 September 2026), read 25 October 2026. dailymed.nlm.nih.gov
Health Sciences Authority, risks of obtaining prescription medicines and unapproved injectable peptides through unauthorised channels, consumer safety article, 25 September 2026. hsa.gov.sg

Keep reading

Guide: Singapore weight-loss options compared, Medisave included Slimming treatments in Singapore: what fat-freezing and HIFU do Ozempic, Mounjaro and Wegovy side effects: common, rare, and serious How GLP-1 medications work: appetite and your brain Compounded semaglutide and Telegram sellers: the real risk Guide: What is GLP-1? What GLP-1 medication does and does not do Guide: GLP-1 side effects and safety: how the Singapore label reads Guide: How to come off GLP-1 in Singapore: stopping and tapering

How the programme worksWhat it costs

This article is information about a medical service and about GLP-1 medication as a class. It is not medical advice, and it is not a recommendation to take any specific medication. GLP-1 medication is prescription-only and is dispensed solely where clinically appropriate, as determined by a doctor registered with the Singapore Medical Council. Clinical-trial figures describe the populations studied; individual results vary and are not guaranteed. If you are considering treatment, book your consult and speak to a doctor about whether it is suitable for you.