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☆ Exclusive: A16z-backed Knownwell is buying AI-powered Alfie Health to supercharge its obesity care
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-20 | by ( Rebecca Torrence | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

With that market shaking out this year, one obesity care startup just scooped up another. Knownwell, which provides obesity-centered primary care and weight management, has acquired Y Combinator startup Alfie Health, Business Insider has learned exclusively. But many investors leaned away from backing obesity care startups as the virtual prescription-focused model clashed with medication shortages. AdvertisementKnownwell has taken a different approach to weight management, with in-person providers alongside its virtual care services, and primary care in addition to obesity care. Alfie HealthGetting obesity care rightBoyarsky Pratt founded Knownwell alongside Dr. Angela Fitch, the president of the Obesity Medicine Association and the former associate director of Massachusetts General Hospital's weight care center.

Persons: —, Alfie, Alexander Singh, Ozempic, Knownwell, It's, Andreessen Horowitz, Alfie Health, Y Combinator, Nina Capital, Brooke Boyarsky Pratt, Boyarsky Pratt, it's, Angela Fitch, Vineeta, Kindbody, Agarwala Organizations: Service, Health, Business, Alfie Health, Knownwell, Flare Capital Partners, Nina, Obesity Medicine Association, Massachusetts, Oak, Carbon Health Locations: WeightWatchers, Plenty, Needham , Massachusetts, Boston, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Dallas, Minneapolis

☆ The CEO of an A16z-backed healthcare startup is pitching a better way to save money on obesity care
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-29 | by ( ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Boyarsky Pratt said about 35% of Knownwell's patients come for primary care, while the rest see the company's providers for their metabolic health. They can prescribe GLP-1 drugs, but they're just one tool the company uses to treat obesity, Boyarsky Pratt said. It's also planning to partner with more health systems to help them expand access to weight care. It partners with one large system in Massachusetts now, but Boyarsky Pratt declined to disclose which one. "The data shows that the earlier patients get into a comprehensive treatment, the better for the long-term course of the disease," Boyarsky Pratt said.

Persons: —, Brooke Boyarsky Pratt, Andreessen Horowitz, Boyarsky Pratt, Knownwell, Angela Fitch, Berkadia, Fitch, Needham, Boyarsky Platt, they'd, Michael Siluk, It's Organizations: Service, Business, GLP, BMI, Medicare, Obesity Medicine Association . Obesity Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Harvard Business School, Berkshire Hathaway, Obesity Medicine Association, Weight, Flare Capital Partners, Staff, Getty, American Academy of Pediatrics Locations: Boston, GLP, Massachusetts, Knownwell, Needham , Massachusetts, telehealth

☆ Here's why we need insurance coverage for obesity treatment
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-13 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailHere's why we need insurance coverage for obesity treatmentDr. Angela Fitch, Knownwell chief medical officer and president of Obesity Medicine Association, joins 'Squawk Box' to discuss the latest study from weight-loss drug Wegovy, what the advancement in weight-loss drugs means for the obesity epidemic in the U.S., and more.

Persons: Angela Fitch Organizations: Obesity Medicine Association Locations: U.S

☆ These stocks are trying to solve a major shortcoming of weight loss drugs: Shrinking muscle mass
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-22 | by ( Christina Cheddar Berk | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

One of the downsides of taking new anti-obesity medications is that patients tend to lose lean muscle mass along with body fat. "This is a major shortcoming in terms of not just quality of life for the patients who have to lose lean muscle mass, but there's actually room to improve on the weight loss and there [are] other metabolic benefits to improving your lean muscle mass ... [including] you might have better durability of weight loss." The drug is being tested in a phase 2b study alongside semaglutide to protect against loss of muscle mass. Until then, patients will need to watch what they eat and focus on exercise just as they would on any other weight loss regimen. When that occurs, muscle loss will be an even bigger issue than it is now.

Persons: Piper Sandler, Allison Bratzel, there's, Bratzel, Versanis, Eli Lilly, Eli Lilly's Mounjaro, they're, Lydia Alexander, Alexander, Sandler's Bratzel, incretins, Biohaven, Nestle, Ulf Mark Schneider, Jeff Jonas, Jonas, Stephens, Jim Salera, Atkins, Morgan Stanley, — CNBC's Michael Bloom Organizations: Wall, Nordisk's Ozempic, Obesity Medicine Association, Bristol Myers Squibb, Nestle, Gabelli, Quest, Foods Locations: Swiss

☆ Ozempic, Wegovy may curb drinking, smoking and other addictive behaviors – here's what we know
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-10 | by ( Annika Kim Constantino | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

Jaap Arriens | Nurphoto | Getty ImagesHeather Le Biller shed 9 pounds within the first week of taking Novo Nordisk 's blockbuster diabetes drug Ozempic – and then even more as she continued treatment. That means it could take years before the Food and Drug Administration and other regulators worldwide approve drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy as addiction treatments. Jerlhag and her colleagues at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden have studied the effect of GLP-1s on addictive behaviors for more than a decade. "The mechanism in the brain that regulates overeating is important in regulating addictive behaviors as well," Leggio told CNBC. Still, NIDA's Leggio advises against using GLP-1s off-label to reduce addictive behaviors, "simply because there's not enough evidence in humans that they work."

Persons: Jaap Arriens, Heather Le Biller, Ozempic –, Le Biller, they're, Angela Fitch, Brandon Bell, Dr, Lorenzo Leggio, semaglutide, –, Eli Lilly, pharmacologist, Jerlhag, George Frey, NIDA's, Leggio, Steven Batash, Batash, NIDA's Leggio Organizations: Nurphoto, Novo Nordisk, CNBC, Wegovy, Obesity Medicine Association, and Drug Administration, Pharma, National Institute on Drug, University of Gothenburg, Company, Reuters, Brigade, Getty Locations: Riga, Latvia, France, Ozempic, Novo, U.S, Italian, Austin , Texas, Sweden, Provo , Utah, Queens , New York

☆ Insurers face long road, high cost to cover obesity drugs after promising Wegovy heart health data
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-09 | by ( Annika Kim Constantino | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

There is likely a long way to go before the U.S. sees increased insurance coverage for obesity drugs. While the trial results demonstrate that obesity drugs may have significant health benefits beyond shedding unwanted pounds, organizations representing U.S. insurers emphasized that the data is still preliminary. "Health insurance providers will continue to analyze new evidence as it becomes available," he added. Ceci Connolly, CEO of the Alliance of Community Health Plans, acknowledged the promise of the data but said "outrageous prices should give everyone pause." The organization represents regional, community-based health plans that cover more than 18 million Americans across the U.S.

Persons: Jim Vondruska, Wegovy, Eli Lilly, David Allen, Ceci Connolly, Jared Holz, It's, Debra Tyler's, Joe Buglewicz, Eduardo Grunvald, George Frey, UCSD's Gunvald, Eli, Ethan Lazarus, Lazarus Organizations: Reuters Novo Nordisk, Novo Nordisk, America's Health, Alliance of Community Health, U.S, Drugs, Pfizer, Medicare, CVS, Aetna, CNBC, Washington Post, Getty, UCSD Health's Center, International Foundation of Employee, University of Texas System, UTS, Novo, Reuters, Obesity Medicine Association, New England, of Medicine Locations: Chicago , Illinois, U.S, Mizuho, Killingworth, Conn, Texas

☆ 2 huge employers just said they're dumping Wegovy from their health plans. It's a sign of a crackdown on popular weight-loss drugs.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-22 | by ( ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Ascension and the University of Texas System are set to stop paying for workers' weight-loss drugs. Jenny started taking the popular weight-loss injection Wegovy in February and saw results almost immediately. picture alliance/Getty ImagesThe crackdown on insurance coverage for weight-loss drugs may be just beginning. Renee Rayburg, a consultant at Pharmaceutical Strategies Group who helps companies manage their spending on prescription drugs, said she hadn't seen many employers retreat completely from covering weight-loss drugs, as Ascension is doing. Any weight-loss drugs that hit the market in the future would also be excluded.

Persons: Jenny, Wegovy, Ascension, Renee Rayburg, hadn't, Saxenda, Angela Fitch, Fitch, Eli Lilly's Mounjaro, Getty, Marianne Ayala, Tracy Spencer, Spencer, Drugmakers, haven't, she's, that's Organizations: University of Texas, Companies, Pharmaceutical, Group, PSG, Wegovy, UT, Obesity Medicine Association . Obesity Medicine, Obesity Medicine Association, Food, Novo Nordisk's Wegovy, Novo Nordisk

☆ New developments in weight-loss drugs: Novo Nordisk, Eli Lilly & Pfizer advance studies
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailNew developments in weight-loss drugs: Novo Nordisk, Eli Lilly & Pfizer advance studiesDr. Angela Fitch, Knownwell chief medical officer and president of Obesity Medicine Association, joins 'Squawk Box' to discuss the advances in weight-loss drugs, what it means for the obesity epidemic in the U.S., and more.

Persons: Eli Lilly, Angela Fitch Organizations: Novo Nordisk, Pfizer, Obesity Medicine Association Locations: U.S

☆ Medicare is prohibited from covering weight-loss drugs — Ozempic could change that
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( Lydia Ramsey Pflanzer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Medicare is prohibited from covering new weight-loss medications. Medicare, the federal program that covers healthcare for people 65 and older, is prohibited by law from covering any weight-loss medications. That includes looking at programs that test out Medicare coverage and proposed limits to coverage, The Journal reports. The future of the $100 billion weight-loss drugs marketExpanding Medicare coverage to new weight-loss medications could drastically change how Americans access the drugs. Meanwhile, other Americans will continue to go to Canada, Mexico, and unregulated online pharmacies to get the weight-loss medications for cheap.

☆ Americans desperate for the hot weight-loss drug Ozempic are turning to Canada and Mexico because they can't afford it at home
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

She found CanShipMeds.com, one of many websites that says it ships a similar drug, Ozempic, from Canada at a lower cost. Delp is hardly the only American searching for weight-loss drugs across the border in Canada or Mexico. Medicare, the federal program that provides health coverage for people 65 and older, doesn't cover weight-loss drugs at all, though there's a push to change that. People are looking to Canada and Mexico for cheaper OzempicCrystal Cox/Business InsiderUntil insurance coverage improves, people will look abroad to afford the weight-loss drugs. Want to tell us about your experience with weight-loss drugs like Ozempic and Mounjaro?

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