Maintenance Dose
The regular dose of a drug administered after initial loading or titration to maintain steady therapeutic blood levels. The maintenance dose is calculated based on the drug's clearance rate and the target steady-state concentration, and represents the dose a patient takes on an ongoing basis.
Technical Context
Maintenance dose = CL × Css / F (where CL is clearance, Css is target steady-state concentration, F is bioavailability). At steady state, the amount eliminated between doses equals the maintenance dose administered. For peptide drugs, maintenance doses are established through dose-ranging trials that identify the dose producing optimal benefit-risk balance. The maintenance dose of semaglutide for type 2 diabetes is 0.5 or 1.0mg weekly (Ozempic), while the weight management maintenance dose is 2.4mg weekly (Wegovy). Some patients may require dose adjustment based on tolerability — not all patients can tolerate the full maintenance dose, and dose reduction may be needed for those with persistent side effects.