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GLP-1s, a class of weight loss and diabetes drugs, has taken the healthcare industry by storm, with J.P. Morgan Research projecting the GLP-1 market to surpass $100 billion in revenue by 2030, Gabriel Perna reports for Modern Healthcare. Advisory Board's Rachael Peroutky explains why the telehealth market for these drugs is worth watching.
The organizations selling GLP-1s on the telehealth market
1. Mayo Clinic
On Wednesday, the Mayo Clinic announced it will test a telehealth weight loss offering through its diet program. The Clinic will provide GLP-1s as well as video consultations alongside Amwell Medical Group physicians.
2. Transcarent
Transcarent on Wednesday announced it will work alongside 9amHealth to add a weight loss program for employers who are self-insured.
This program will provide patients with access to pharmaceutical treatments, including GLP-1s, as well as bariatric care providers alongside lifestyle management, behavioral coaching support, and advice from dietitian nutritionists.
3. Eli Lilly
Eli Lilly, which manufactures the FDA-approved GLP-1s Zepbound and Mounjaro, announced earlier this month it will launch LillyDirect, a telehealth platform that will give patients access to prescriptions for conditions like obesity, migraines, and diabetes — some of which Eli Lilly will ship directly to patients.
LillyDirect will connect patients to Form Health, a telehealth provider, which has doctors who will work with patients to determine appropriate prescriptions. According to Eli Lilly CEO David Ricks, neither Form Health nor its physicians will receive any financial compensation for prescribing Eli Lilly's drugs.
The service will offer delivery of Zepbound as well as some Eli Lilly insulin products for people with diabetes and a migraine drug.
4. WeightWatchers
In December, WeightWatchers launched a virtual service called WeightWatchers Clinic using clinicians previously employed by Sequence, a telehealth weight loss provider that WeightWatchers acquired in March, who will prescribe GLP-1s.
WeightWatchers also said it will prescribe other weight loss drugs for any patients uninterested in or ineligible for GLP-1 medications.
5. Noom
In May, Noom announced the launch of Noom Med, a new telemedicine company that will offer clinical services to help patients lose weight with lab tests that evaluate metabolic health, video consultations with physicians specializing in obesity care, and for some patients, medication.
Linda Anegawa, Noom's chief of medicine, said the company is following criteria set by FDA for the prescribing of weight loss drugs. Noom Med is only available for individuals who have a body mass index (BMI) above 30, or those with a BMI over 27 who also have a diagnosed weight-related condition, including type 2 diabetes, hypertension, sleep apnea, dyslipidemia, or high cholesterol.
6. Teladoc
In April, Teladoc Health announced it will offer weight management services to members within its diabetes and hypertension programs and that it could potentially prescribe GLP-1s.
However, Teladoc CEO Jason Gorevic in November said, "We are seeing some employers that say we're all in on GLP-1s. We see others saying, 'I'm terrified of the long-term cost of these medications.'"
7. Ro
In January 2023, Ro announced the launch of a weight loss program with GLP-1s. While Ro dealt with shortages of GLP-1 medications last year, CEO Zachary Reitano noted the impact had started to wane by the end of the year.
Other companies in the virtual weight loss space
In 2019, Calibrate became one of the first virtual health companies to prescribe GLP-1s. However, the company faced challenges related to drug shortages and a lack of insurance coverage, and in October Calibrate announced it was going through a legal restructuring and that its founder, Isabelle Kenyon, was stepping down as CEO.
Meanwhile, Found, a similar virtual weight loss company that offered GLP-1s early on, announced in May it was launching a service to help employers manage the costs of the drugs.
Knownwell, which launched in January 2023 and has a virtual and in-person weight loss clinic that prescribes GLP-1s, raised $20 million in Series A funding in December.
In addition, Y Combinator, a startup accelerator that produced Airbnb and Instacart, led a pre-seed funding round in June for Alfie Health, a startup virtual obesity clinic that prescribes GLP-1 medications. (Perna, Modern Healthcare, 1/19)
Why we're watching the telehealth market for weight-loss drugs
The sheer variety of traditional providers and payers getting on board with this telehealth approach is notable. Early on, when these offerings started popping up (mostly via wellness companies), Advisory Board was skeptical of the quality of services that would be provided. We worried the offerings were mostly a cash grab seeking to capitalize on the high demand of Wegovy.
Obesity care services in the traditional provider setting don't have the best track record to start with. Many providers admit they don't know how to approach obesity care and people often experience weight bias at the bedside. Ideally, these programs are a place for people to find providers who can offer comprehensive unbiased obesity services, with GLP-1's being just one of several offerings.
While these programs are often grouped together, there are likely two different strategies emerging here:
- Direct-to-consumer companies are catering to patients who may not have insurance coverage for weight management drugs or have been unable to get access to the drugs through their usual provider (either due to provider hesitancy to prescribe or drug shortages). These companies generate revenue from the GLP-1 prescriptions and any other wrap-around services they offer.
- Obesity service vendors are selling to payers or self-insured providers. These companies support payers and providers who are overwhelmed by the demand and cost of GLP-1s. Often these vendors require employees or members to participate in a lower-cost weight management option (e.g., diet and behavior change support) before they are provided access to GLP-1s.
These vendors help their clients (1) fulfill their members' or employees' demand for weight management treatment, and (2) control access to the high-cost GLP-1s.
We expect these types of programs to grow as payers feel more and more pressure to offer GLP-1 coverage for weight management.
Some of us at Advisory Board now have a more optimistic view of these programs than we did this time last year. These services have the potential to push our understanding of obesity management forward and move us past the weight bias and weight-loss stigma that exists today. For now, healthcare leaders and patients alike are right to be hesitant, but they shouldn't write the programs off completely.
Remember, the programs are not a monolith and quality will vary — especially early on as programs get off the ground. Before payers and providers partner-up with one of these vendors, they should ask a lot of questions to ensure vendors have done their homework on how to provide comprehensive obesity care. Patients should do the same.
Advisory Board's top weight management drug resources
- Research: 3 paths to the future of obesity care (and how to get there)
- Expert insight: 3 missteps in our approach to treating obesity (and 5 ways to fix it)
- Radio Advisory episode: What the future of weight management drugs could hold
Posted on January 22, 2024
Updated on January 22, 2024
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