How does dosing work with injection pens?
Nest injection pens deliver .01mL or 1 insulin unit per partial turn of the pen dosage selector wheel. In informal terms, a partial turn is called a "click" as that's the noise the pen makes each time a new number is selected. That means that 1 click = 1 unit = .01mL.
Nest pens are based on the ISO 11608 design. This means they use standardized 3mL ISO 11608-3 style cartridges. That means a 3mL cartridge holds 3/.01mL or 300 units/clicks/.01mL.
Let us use semaglutide as an example. Semaglutide went off patent in China, India, Canada, Brazil and Turkey in 2026 so we get asked this question from generic pharmaceutical developers often.
To find the number of milligrams delivered, start with the total dosage in milligrams in the cartridge. For example for 4mg/3mL semaglutide would be 1.34mg/mL. Or multiply by .01mL (same as dividing by 100) to find the dosage per click or in this case .0134mg/click.
Common dosages can then be worked out backwards by dividing them by the dosage per click to find the number of clicks/units to dispense that dose.
0.25mg of semaglutide = 0.25mg/.0134mg/click = 18.65 clicks. Partial clicks can't be delivered, .01mL is the minimum dosing increment so round up to 19 clicks or 0.2546mg.
0.5mg of semaglutide = 0.5mg/.0134mg/click = 37.31 clicks, or round down to 37 clicks.
1mg of semaglutide = 1mg/.0134mg/click = 74.62 clicks or round up to 75 clicks.
The process is the same for any new drug application. The dosing scale and maximum dose can be customized to reflect the drug being manufactured. If you need help with the technical details of choosing a delivery platform for your new drug application please let us know.
