The rising popularity of glucagon-like peptide agonists has led to a gold rush of companies offering telehealth weight-loss services.
GLP-1s, a class of medications that can help with weight loss and diabetes, have become big business in a short period of time. Drugmaker Novo Nordisk, which manufactures injectable GLP-1 agonist medications Ozempic and Wegovy, booked more than $12 billion in revenue in 2023's first nine months from those two drugs alone.
Read more: The Ozempic effect: Insurers ease access to bariatric surgery
J.P. Morgan Research predicts the GLP-1 market will surpass $100 billion in revenue by 2030.
Some traditional providers are wary of ‘drive-through’ GLP-1 providers and employers are expressing concerns over the costs. Shortages of the drugs persist and cautious insurers are unwilling to cover them. But the popularity of Wegovy, Ozempic and the other GLP-1 medications has drawn digital health and direct-to-consumer companies into the market along with established health systems like Mayo Clinic.
Here’s a rundown on who's entered the GLP-1 telehealth market since 2022.
Mayo Clinic
Mayo Clinic said Wednesday it was going to test a telehealth weight loss offering through its diet program. The Rochester, Minnesota-based health system will provide GLP-1s and video consultations with Boston-based Amwell Medical Group physicians.
Transcarent
Digital health company Transcarent said Wednesday it was adding a weight loss program for self-insured employers. The service will offer patients access to pharmaceutical treatments, including GLP-1s, and bariatric care providers alongside lifestyle management, behavioral coaching support and advice from dietitian nutritionists. Virtual weight loss and diabetes care provider 9amHealth is working with Transcarent.
Eli Lilly
The Food and Drug Administration approved Eli Lilly’s GLP-1 weight loss drug Zepbound in November. Earlier this month, the company, which also makes GLP-1 medication Mounjaro, said it was launching a direct-to-consumer telehealth service called LillyDirect. The service will connect patients to independent providers that can prescribe its GLP-1 medications and deliver them to a patient's home. Eli Lilly is working with weight loss telehealth provider Form Health for the service.
WeightWatchers
WeightWatchers launched a virtual service called WeightWatchers Clinic in December. The service uses clinicians previously employed by Sequence, the telehealth weight loss provider it acquired in March, to prescribe GLP-1 medications such as Wegovy and Mounjaro. WeightWatchers said it also prescribes other weight loss drugs for patients not interested or ineligible for GLP-1 medications.
At the HLTH conference in October, WeightWatchers CEO Sima Sistani offered no apologies about offering different weight-loss solutions, including injectable GLP-1 drugs.
Noom
In May, virtual weight loss startup Noom launched a telemedicine platform, Noom Med. The platform includes video consultations with physicians who specialize in obesity care and can prescribe weight loss medications.
Teladoc
In April, Teladoc Health said it was offering weight management services to members in its diabetes and hypertension programs with the potential to prescribe GLP-1s. However, CEO Jason Gorevic tamped down expectations at an investor conference in November. “We are seeing some employers that say we're all in on GLP-1s,” Gorevic said at the time. “We see others saying, ‘I'm terrified of the long-term cost of these medications.’”
Ro
Direct-to-consumer telehealth company Ro launched a weight loss program with GLP-1 medications in January 2023. Like other telehealth companies in the space, Ro dealt with shortages of the medication in 2023 although the impact started to wane towards the end of the year, CEO Zachary Reitano said.
Others
Shortly after it launched in 2019, Calibrate was one of the earliest virtual health companies to prescribe GLP-1s. Calibrate, which received significant backing from well-known venture firms Founders Fund and Tiger Global, faced challenges tied to drug shortages and lack of insurance coverage.The company said in October it was going through a legal restructuring and founder Isabelle Kenyon was stepping down as CEO. Found, another virtual weight loss company that prescribed GLP-1s early on, launched a service in May to help employers manage the costs of the drugs.
Knownwell, which has a virtual and in-person weight loss clinic and prescribes GLP-1s, launched in January 2023. In December, the company raised $20 million in a Series A funding round led by venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. Y Combinator, the startup accelerator that helped produce Airbnb and Instacart, led a pre-seed funding round in June for Alfie Health, a startup virtual obesity clinic that prescribes the medications.
