A bumper two-week review, with Noom on GLP-1s, Chrissy Farr and Rock Health review metabolic health, bariatric surgery in teens, and more.

AT A GLANCE

  • Noom, a behavior change platform, announces a new program — “Noom Med” — to incorporate anti-obesity medications.
  • Restriction of access to Ozempic and Wegovy, by ‘…employers’ health plans [who] won’t pay for them…’, is covered by The Wall Street Journal.
  • Rock Health focuses on whole person view of obesity care, to comprise a serviceable addressable market of almost $13B.
  • Sima Sistani, CEO at Weightwatchers, is extensively profiled by Lauren Goode in WIRED magazine.
  • My good friend Chrissy Farr teams up with Sami Inkinen at Virta Health with ‘Obesity is a complex chronic disease – and it’s time we treated it as such.’
  • Oral semaglutide achieved 15.1% weight loss (17.4% if all people adhered to treatment) in adults with obesity or overweight from Novo Nordisk.
  • In JAMA Surgery this week, bariatric surgery leads to ‘…substantial and long-lasting reduction in the use of lipid-lowering and antidiabetic medications compared with no surgery for obesity…’

EVENTS

  • Hope you all had a restful Memorial Day last weekend, are enjoying the summer sunshine, and taking care of the seasonal allergies!

NEWS

  • Noom, founded in 2008 as ‘…a consumer-first digital health platform that empowers its users to achieve holistic health outcomes through behavior change and the latest in modern medicine…’ announced a new program, Noom Med, to incorporate anti-obesity medications.
    • I am completely aligned with the statement ‘…For the millions of Americans who are taking or who have taken GLP-1 medication, though, lasting success is not achievable without a comprehensive behavior change program…’ This is supported by CEO Saeju Jeong’s statement, the ‘…goal isn’t just to help people lose weight – it is to help them avoid chronic illness, increase their lifespan, and enhance their ability to enjoy their lives…’ I could not say it better myself.
    • The ‘…proven track record of providing personalized and destigmatized weight loss solutions…’ is spot on, and admirable, together with the ‘…strict, clinician-created protocols, and only users who qualify are prescribed medication.’ Noom’s Chief of Medicine, Dr. Linda Anegawa, ratifies the ‘…use of a comprehensive clinical approach, paired with psychological change education and support… to achieve long-term health outcomes.’
    • It is of interest this program is solely offered for individuals, and not currently a part of the Noom for Work, employer benefit offering; we have seen a number of D2C [direct-to-consumer] weight loss companies expand, or pivot, to D2E [direct-to-employer] offerings, and I see it as only a matter of time before this is the same for Noom Med.
  • Emma Court at Fortune covers the launch of Noom Med, ‘…aiming to capitalize on the drugs that help people feel fuller and eat less with relatively few side effects.’ Linda Anegawa, Noom’s Chief of Medicine, is quoted: ‘…lasting success is really not often achievable without having that anchor in behavioral change…’, followed by a more aggressive stance that I agree with: ‘…I can throw all the Wegovy at you in the world, but if you don’t have a comprehensive lifestyle program in place, people can still gain weight.’

OPINION

  • Noom, founded in 2008 as ‘…a consumer-first digital health platform that empowers its users to achieve holistic health outcomes through behavior change and the latest in modern medicine…’ announced a new program, Noom Med, to incorporate anti-obesity medications.
    • I am completely aligned with the statement ‘…For the millions of Americans who are taking or who have taken GLP-1 medication, though, lasting success is not achievable without a comprehensive behavior change program…’ This is supported by CEO Saeju Jeong’s statement, the ‘…goal isn’t just to help people lose weight – it is to help them avoid chronic illness, increase their lifespan, and enhance their ability to enjoy their lives…’ I could not say it better myself.
    • The ‘…proven track record of providing personalized and destigmatized weight loss solutions…’ is spot on, and admirable, together with the ‘…strict, clinician-created protocols, and only users who qualify are prescribed medication.’ Noom’s Chief of Medicine, Dr. Linda Anegawa, ratifies the ‘…use of a comprehensive clinical approach, paired with psychological change education and support… to achieve long-term health outcomes.’
    • It is of interest this program is solely offered for individuals, and not currently a part of the Noom for Work, employer benefit offering; we have seen a number of D2C [direct-to-consumer] weight loss companies expand, or pivot, to D2E [direct-to-employer] offerings, and I see it as only a matter of time before this is the same for Noom Med.
  • Emma Court at Fortune covers the launch of Noom Med, ‘…aiming to capitalize on the drugs that help people feel fuller and eat less with relatively few side effects.’ Linda Anegawa, Noom’s Chief of Medicine, is quoted: ‘…lasting success is really not often achievable without having that anchor in behavioral change…’, followed by a more aggressive stance that I agree with: ‘…I can throw all the Wegovy at you in the world, but if you don’t have a comprehensive lifestyle program in place, people can still gain weight.’

DATA

  • Noom, founded in 2008 as ‘…a consumer-first digital health platform that empowers its users to achieve holistic health outcomes through behavior change and the latest in modern medicine…’ announced a new program, Noom Med, to incorporate anti-obesity medications.
    • I am completely aligned with the statement ‘…For the millions of Americans who are taking or who have taken GLP-1 medication, though, lasting success is not achievable without a comprehensive behavior change program…’ This is supported by CEO Saeju Jeong’s statement, the ‘…goal isn’t just to help people lose weight – it is to help them avoid chronic illness, increase their lifespan, and enhance their ability to enjoy their lives…’ I could not say it better myself.
    • The ‘…proven track record of providing personalized and destigmatized weight loss solutions…’ is spot on, and admirable, together with the ‘…strict, clinician-created protocols, and only users who qualify are prescribed medication.’ Noom’s Chief of Medicine, Dr. Linda Anegawa, ratifies the ‘…use of a comprehensive clinical approach, paired with psychological change education and support… to achieve long-term health outcomes.’
    • It is of interest this program is solely offered for individuals, and not currently a part of the Noom for Work, employer benefit offering; we have seen a number of D2C [direct-to-consumer] weight loss companies expand, or pivot, to D2E [direct-to-employer] offerings, and I see it as only a matter of time before this is the same for Noom Med.
  • Emma Court at Fortune covers the launch of Noom Med, ‘…aiming to capitalize on the drugs that help people feel fuller and eat less with relatively few side effects.’ Linda Anegawa, Noom’s Chief of Medicine, is quoted: ‘…lasting success is really not often achievable without having that anchor in behavioral change…’, followed by a more aggressive stance that I agree with: ‘…I can throw all the Wegovy at you in the world, but if you don’t have a comprehensive lifestyle program in place, people can still gain weight.’
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