DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Exclusive: How Calibrate stumbled from hot weight-loss startup to $20 million sale under threat of bankruptcy
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-02 | by ( Rebecca Torrence | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Facing the threat of bankruptcy, weight-loss startup Calibrate was forced to make a tough deal with private equity firm Madryn Asset Management, according to company documents reviewed by Insider. Under the terms of the deal, Madryn took a 70% stake in Calibrate in exchange for just $20 million, the documents show. Calibrate, Madryn, Kenyon, and the company's VC backers didn't immediately return messages seeking comment for this story. Some longtime patients have regained much of the weight they lost after Calibrate failed to get them medications, Insider reported on Thursday. Under the deal, Madryn exchanged $20 million of its loans for senior equity in Calibrate.

Persons: Madryn, Isabelle Kenyon, She's, Kenyon, didn't, Fortune, Michael Siluk, They're Organizations: Asset, Tiger Global, Founders Fund, Optum Ventures, Madryn, Tiger, Getty, Owners, LinkedIn Locations: Madryn

☆ Once loyal Calibrate patients say they regained weight after the startup struggled to get them weight-loss meds on time
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-02 | by ( Rebecca Torrence | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +14 min

Christina started taking Wegovy in September 2021 after getting a prescription through Calibrate, a startup that promises science-backed help with weight loss. She never received medication through Calibrate again, and she's since gained back all the weight she lost. Calibrate says its goal for Masters patients is to get them off weight-loss medications and help them maintain the weight loss they achieved. A former employee on Calibrate's clinical team said the startup allocated fewer doctors to second-year patients because those patients historically required less help from Calibrate. At least four second-year patients Insider spoke with said they sought refunds from Calibrate after they didn't receive the services they paid for.

Persons: Christina, She'd, I'm, Florian Gaertner, they've, They've, Isabelle Kenyon, Kenyon, Fortune, Jenny Craig, Ozempic, it's, Katie, Calibrate's, didn't, It's, James, they'd, Arantza Pena Popo, Disha, aren't, hasn't, Michael Siluk, Beth Organizations: Getty, Calibrate's, Better, LinkedIn Locations: York, Chicago

☆ Inside the struggles at Calibrate, a new kind of weight-loss startup that's facing a mountain of patient complaints and refunds
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-05 | by ( Rebecca Torrence | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +19 min

Weight-loss startup Calibrate has struggled to get patients access to buzzy drugs like Ozempic. Kenyon's startup Calibrate, which she launched in June 2020, is one of the healthcare companies feeding the frenzy. CalibrateThe company is now running up against several massive challenges: Weight-loss drugs are expensive and in short supply, and health insurers are increasingly reluctant to pay for them. Kenyon said about 20% of Calibrate members do not have coverage for weight-loss medications, and around half of those people request refunds from Calibrate. Want to tell us about your experience with Calibrate or weight-loss drugs?

Persons: lightbulb, Isabelle Kenyon, Kenyon, Jenny Craig, OptumRx, She's, she's, Saxenda, —, weren't, It's, they've, Holly, hadn't, hasn't, Claire Rosenzweig, Rosenzweig, it's, Andrew Kelly, Shelby Livingston, Rebecca Torrence Organizations: New, Tiger Global, Founders Fund, Optum Ventures, FedEx, Food and Drug Administration, Jefferies, Better Business Bureau, BBB, Better Business, Metropolitan New, Better, Apple, Businessolver, Optum, UnitedHealth, Employees, REUTERS, Madryn Asset Management, SM Ventures, Ventures Locations: America, New York, Danish, GLP, Florida, Metropolitan New York, slivingston@insider.com, rtorrence@insider.com

☆ Workers are clamoring for pricey new weight-loss drugs like Ozempic. Companies are grappling with how to respond.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Companies that pay for workers' health insurance are grappling with how to cover the pricey drugs. Medicare, the federal program that provides health coverage for people 65 and older, doesn't cover weight-loss drugs. ArcBest already has a program to help workers lose weight through behavior changes and nutrition. Krutsch said he wants to build on that, covering the weight-loss drugs Wegovy and Saxenda for employees who aren't able to lose weight without medication. The new weight-loss drugs were in short supply in 2022, and that gave employers time to figure out how to handle them, he said.

☆ Weight loss startups offer access to new drugs, but do they provide good care?
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-13 | by ( Darius Tahir | Kaiser Health News | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +11 min

Now a wave of startups offer access to a new category of drugs coupled with intensive behavioral coaching online. These patients pay hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars, to access new drugs, called GLP-1 agonists, along with online coaching to encourage healthy habits. (That price includes generic drugs, but not the newer GLP-1 agonists, like Wegovy.) The firms say they’re on the vanguard of weight care, both citing the influence of biology and other scientific factors as key ingredients to their approaches. Found said older generics like zonisamide are more accessible than the GLP-1 agonists advertised on social media and their own website.

☆ HR pros conducting layoffs need to take these 4 steps to ensure job cuts don't go from difficult to disastrous
▼ + stars: | 2022-08-09 | by ( Ebony Flake | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Insider spoke with experts who constructed a tool kit for HR to facilitate layoffs the right way. But there is a better way — and a worse way — to tell workers you're laying them off. To help get it right, Insider pulled together a tool kit for HR professionals who carry the weight of conducting layoffs. Human resources professionals are responsible for managing layoffs under these difficult conditions and making sure they're done right. To avoid making cuts that can appear targeted, HR staff should review layoff rosters with the company's legal department.

Persons: That's, it's, Isabelle Kenyon, Slack, Kenyon, We're, Weeks, Vishal Garg, Rudhir Krishtel, Rudhir, Tara Hines, McCoy, Hines, doesn't, Mark Zuckerberg, Krishtel, what's Organizations: Apple, McCoy, Employers, Meta, Facebook, Employees, Netflix

Search resuls for: "Isabelle Kenyon"

6 mentions found