Packaging of the weight loss pills Wegovy, Ozempic and Mounjaro.
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When Virta Health founder and CEO Sami Inkinen approached employers a few years ago about using the company’s nutrition-driven digital diabetes program to reduce obesity-related weight, most companies weren’t ready to commit.
Now, more employers are turning to nutritional counseling and coaching as they grapple with the rising costs of issues like diabetes and weight-loss drugs Novo Nordisk Ozempic and Wegovy and Eli Lilly and Company Monzaro and Zepbond.
“Our goal is not to drive the maximum number of GLP-1 prescriptions, but we are the telemedicine company of choice for many employers to use these medications responsibly and then get members off these medications and nutritionally sustain weight loss,” Inkinen said .
The company issued a peer-reviewed research A year ago, the study found that patients who received Virta’s nutritional counseling program maintained weight loss a year after they stopped taking GLP-1. But Inkinen said less than 10% of the company’s weight-loss participants were using the popular drugs — most opted for separate nutritional counseling but still lost an average of 13% of their weight in a year.
“Frankly, while the drug companies may be pushing this message, if you have the options and the tools, no one really wants to use these drugs forever,” he said.
For Virta, demand for such services has led to revenue growth of 60% in 2024, to a record of more than $100 million, Inkinen said.
He said the 10-year-old startup is on track to become profitable in the second half of this year.
More employers need to weigh in
Companies surveyed Health Buyer Business Group Glucagon-like peptide drugs (commonly known as GLP-1 drugs) are now the top driver of drug costs for employer plans, with 96% of respondents expressing concerns about long-term cost impacts.
As a result, more and more employers are looking to leverage management strategies such as nutritional consulting and coaching services
“Most employers want their plan members to have access to weight management medication options, such as GLP-1, however, they also want to ensure that it is clinically appropriate and accompanied by medical and lifestyle change support to ensure a safe and healthy purchase over the long term. said Randa Deaton, vice president of buyer engagement for Buyer Business Group.
However, Deaton noted that the use of these schemes sometimes creates new headwinds when it comes to GLP-1 pricing in pharmaceutical benefit schemes.
“We are seeing that PBMs and drug manufacturers have been reducing rebates when employers require lifestyle management interventions as part of drug standards, making it difficult for employers to develop the right plans to support their workers and family members,” she said.
One of Virta Health’s competitors, Omada Health, is working with Cigna Evernorth Pharmacy Benefits operates a program called EncircleRx. Cigna CEO David Cordani said that the number of participants in the program increased from 2 million in the second quarter of 2024 to 8 million in the third quarter.
“The market continues to grapple with affordability challenges for GLP-1 drugs” and is looking for a more value-based approach, Cordani told analysts on the company’s third-quarter earnings call.
“Clients are observing and physicians are observing the start-stop dynamic that’s happening with some patients, but that’s also not going to produce the desired or expected results,” he said.
2025 IPO speculation
For Virta and Omada, GLP-1’s growth momentum has fueled speculation that the two decade-old startups could go public this year if market conditions are right.
Omada Health reportedly filed a confidential registration application with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission last summer to go public, According to “Business Insider”. The company declined to comment on the report.
Virta Health was valued at $2 billion after completing its last round of funding in 2021. This is Inkinen’s second startup. He was one of the co-founders of online real estate company Trulia, which went public in 2012 and was later acquired by a competitor Zillo.
As for Virta’s IPO plans, Inkinen said his current focus is on growing the company.
“If you have something that works, it’s 1,000 times easier to scale your stuff, your team, your culture,” he said.
