SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Virta Health, the leader in type 2 diabetes reversal, today announced $133 million of equity financing led by Tiger Global. The latest funding round will accelerate Virta's efforts to drive widespread adoption of its telehealth-powered diabetes reversal treatment. Virta helps people reverse their chronic disease while removing the need for costly medications, including insulin.
Buoyed by delivering transformational outcomes in patient health and cost savings, Virta is experiencing surging demand from large employers, health plans, and government entities. Organizations are eager to add reversal solutions to their benefits portfolios, driving Virta's growth rate to nearly 200% year over year. Virta works with over 100 organizations, and treats patients in all 50 states.
"Virta is redefining how diabetes and other chronic diseases should be cared for, delivering significantly better health outcomes and impressive cost savings,” said Scott Shleifer of Tiger Global. “We are excited to partner with Virta as its pioneering approach becomes an invaluable benefit offering for more employers and health plans everywhere.”
Nearly half of U.S. adults suffer from type 2 diabetes or prediabetes. Despite trillions of dollars spent on diabetes and related conditions over the past decade, there has been no improvement in population-level outcomes. The COVID-19 pandemic has made matters worse. People with diabetes are at high risk for severe illness from COVID-19, and the risk of dying from the disease is twice as high compared to those without diabetes.
Virta’s approach offers an answer to our nation’s metabolic crisis. In peer-reviewed clinical studies, 94% of patients using insulin decrease or eliminate their dosage at one year, and 63% of all diabetes prescriptions are eliminated. Medication reduction occurs simultaneously with an average drop in HbA1c (a measure of blood sugar) of 1.3%—a figure that rivals drug therapies. Virta’s weight loss results exceed the goals of the National Diabetes Prevention Program and the FDA benchmark for weight loss drugs by nearly 150%. For healthcare payers, these improvements can translate to an estimated $5,000 per patient per year in gross savings.
These outcomes underscore the promise of the next generation of telehealth to transform care delivery. Virta provides patients continuous, proactive care from dedicated doctors and health coaches. Going far beyond episodic care and remote patient monitoring, this model drives long-term adherence to nutritional interventions that can stop progression of, and even reverse, chronic disease.
“The norm in diabetes care has been more medications, more weight gain, and more suffering. Diabetes reversal changes this,” said Sami Inkinen, Virta Health Co-founder and CEO. “We have shown a path for people to live medication and diabetes-free, and this investment is about reaching even more people and taking diabetes reversal mainstream.”
The Series E financing follows a recent $65 million raise in December of 2020, nearly doubling the company’s valuation in just 5 months to $2 billion. Financing will help support growth in research and product innovation, as well as enable Virta’s commercial team to meet the demand for diabetes reversal from employers, health plans, and government.
Most importantly, this investment will speed up efforts to make diabetes reversal available to more of the 30 million Americans struggling with type 2 diabetes, including:
- Donnie, who eliminated two types of insulin, lost 20 pounds, and improved his A1c from 11% to 6% in just 4 months
- Abbie, who lost 45 pounds, eliminated her injectable medications, improved her A1c by 5 points, and even after a year on Virta continues to see improvement
- Mario, who moved his A1c from 11.6% to 5.1% and lost 40 pounds in 6 months, and has the energy and mobility to play basketball with his daughter again
- Lori, who avoided expensive bariatric surgery after finding Virta, and is no longer on any medications for diabetes or multiple sclerosis. She also lost over 70 pounds
- Greg, who no longer needs Novolog or metformin, has improved his triglycerides from 500 mg/dL to 129 mg/dL, and has returned to his love of hiking and taking long walks
- Chris, who, in only 7 months, no longer needs metformin or blood pressure medication, has normal blood sugar without medication, has lost 85 pounds, and has seen pain in his hands disappear
To learn more about Virta and its solutions for diabetes, prediabetes, and obesity, visit www.virtahealth.com.
About Virta Health
Virta Health helps people reverse type 2 diabetes and other chronic conditions. Current approaches manage disease progression through increased medication use and infrequent doctor visits. Virta reverses type 2 diabetes through innovations in technology, nutrition science, and continuous remote care from physicians and behavioral experts. In clinical studies, 94% of patients reduce or eliminate insulin use, and weight-loss exceeds FDA benchmarks by 150%. Virta works with the largest health plans, employers, and government organizations and puts 100% of its fees at risk based on clinical and financial outcomes. To learn more about how Virta is transforming lives by reversing type 2 diabetes and other chronic diseases, visit www.virtahealth.com or follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.
