AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Found, a medically-assisted weight loss program, today shared findings from its poster presentation at the ObesityWeek® 2023 Conference, which reveal that clinically meaningful weight loss, defined as a 5% or more of total body weight loss, can be achieved as early as three months on Found’s program. Participants with overweight or obesity at the start of the program were provided with access to prescriptions for a broad range of anti-obesity medications (AOMs).
Results from more than 4,000 participants who completed 12 months of the Found program show that the majority achieved clinically significant weight loss. The new data reveals that at 3 months, participants experienced an average total loss of 5.5% of body weight. The data also reveals 8.4% of total body weight loss at 6 months and 10.2% of total body weight loss at 12 months. At the time the study was conducted, only a very small number (<8%) of Found members were on GLP-1s, and so these outcomes largely reflect members on lower-cost, non-GLP-1 medications.
Today, more than 40% of Americans have obesity, yet only 1% of physicians specialize in obesity medicine. Clinical care pathways for obesity management have also only been available at premiere academic medical centers that have long wait lists and are often out of reach financially and geographically.
Found’s program addresses the clear gap in access to weight care, providing members with telemedicine-based clinical consults, behavioral support through a digital app and personalized health coaching, access to an online community support group, and access to AOM prescriptions to medically-qualified members. Notably, while some AOMs like GLP-1s have shown high weight loss efficacy and may be preferred by some patients and clinicians, not everyone responds to treatment, and patients are frequently denied insurance coverage. Found's program is designed to provide a wide range of AOMs to treat diverse populations, match obesity root causes, and provide more affordable options to patients.
Found’s cohort analysis included self-enrolled members who were enrolled for at least 12 months from October 2021 to July 2023. The majority of members (99.8%) were prescribed at least one of 14 AOMs; most were on less expensive non-GLP-1 medications, and 7.4% were on GLP-1s at some point during their treatment journey.
Upon subscribing to the program, members completed a comprehensive intake survey for the care team to evaluate their medical health and lifestyle behaviors. Members were encouraged to use the app to track weight at least once a week, which also allowed them to track various other health behaviors, access educational information, communicate with their care team, and interact with the community support group.
In addition to achieving clinically significant weight loss, results show that higher program engagement increased average weight loss outcomes for every BMI category, and being enrolled in the program over a longer period of time also helped improve outcomes. 9.9% of members lost ≥20% of body weight after 12 months.
“Obesity is the defining public health issue of our time, yet access to quality weight care has been extremely limited and costly—until now,” said Dr. Rekha Kumar, Chief Medical Officer of Found. “Found is dedicated to expanding access to obesity care and offering personalized medical and behavioral support by digitally delivering the same high-caliber treatment available at academic and high-end clinics so that people who either cannot travel or afford traditional treatment now can.”
These data reinforce that a digital-first, medically-assisted weight care program that prioritizes high-quality clinical care, precision prescribing, behavior change, personalized coaching, and a supportive community can deliver clinically meaningful results for many of the 70% of Americans living with overweight or obesity.
For more information about the Found program, visit: joinfound.com/pages/program.
About Found
Found is an evidence-based weight care solution that combines the best of modern medicine with lasting behavior change, access to personalized coaching and a supportive community. Centered around clinical care, Found provides its members with a comprehensive weight loss program that delivers long term, sustainable results. Found designs personalized treatments around every factor that make people unique, including biology, medical history, existent lifestyle, goals and more. Found’s members are supported by a team that includes providers to prescribe effective medication, and the best of consumer technology to provide behavioral health interventions delivered through our app for guidance on nutrition, movement, sleep and emotional health. Found is among the largest medically-assisted weight loss clinics in the country, having served 200,000+ Americans to-date. For more information, visit www.joinfound.com.
