NATICK, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Allurion Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: ALUR), a company dedicated to ending obesity, today announced three oral scientific presentations at the 12th Congress of the International Federation for the Surgery of Obesity and Metabolic Disorders – European Chapter (IFSO-EC) held in Vienna, Austria on 2-4 May 2024.
Presentations include data from a survey of 133 patients across seven international obesity centers that shows patients on the Allurion Program lost just over 15% of total body weight at 4 months, and maintained over 80% of their total body weight loss three years after completing the Program. In addition, 72% of patients reported that three years after the Program, their eating habits had remained healthier.
Data from previous studies demonstrated that patients using the Allurion Program maintained an average of 96% of their weight loss one year after the Allurion Program1 , and that by using an intensive follow up, Program patients can continue to lose weight after balloon residency2. This survey provides additional insight into even longer-term outcomes.
"Long-term weight maintenance after significant weight loss is notoriously difficult to achieve,” said Dr. Shantanu Gaur, Founder and CEO of Allurion. “The Allurion Program is intended to deliver a significant amount of weight loss in a short period of time and simultaneously help individuals make durable changes to their lifestyle and behavior. These findings underscore how effective Allurion’s comprehensive program can be in driving long-term weight maintenance.”
Presentations will also include data on the initial experiences with Coach Iris, Allurion’s novel, AI-powered weight loss coach.
A study of 33 patients on the Allurion Program was conducted to explore perceptions concerning interactions with traditional chatbots and to inform the development of Coach Iris. Interviews revealed chatbots were typically deemed frustrating, impersonal, and rigid, with skepticism about their ability to provide meaningful support. However, after real-world utilization of the Coach Iris prototype, surveys demonstrated high satisfaction with its support quality (94%), personalization (84%), information accuracy (100%), and safety and trustworthiness (89%).
“Despite initial skepticism towards traditional chatbots, patients testing Allurion’s innovative, generative AI-powered coach felt that it was personalized, trustworthy and had an empathetic and non-judgmental tone,” said Regina Barzilay, Ph.D., MIT Distinguished Professor for AI and Health, and member of Allurion’s Scientific Advisory Board. “This insight indicates that past chatbot experiences may not dictate future acceptance of AI-powered conversational agents, emphasizing the importance of fine-tuning models to meet patient needs.”
Details of the oral presentations are as follows:
Title: Achieving Sustained Weight Loss at 3-Years with a Swallowable Gastric Balloon Program
Presenter: Roberta Ienca, M.D., Weight Management Center, Nuova Villa Claudia Clinic
Presentation Date: Thursday, May 2nd, 16:30-18:00
Title: Think FAST: A novel framework to evaluate and monitor the Fidelity, Accuracy, Safety, and Tone of an AI Conversational Agent supporting patients receiving obesity treatment
Presenter: Martha Neary, M.Sc., Senior Manager Behavioral Medicine, Allurion
Presentation Date: Friday, May 3rd, 09:00-10:30
Title: Assessing Perceptions and Experience of Using a Novel AI Conversational Agent Fine-Tuned for Patients on a Swallowable Gastric Balloon Program
Presenter: Zoe Griffiths, Bsc,. RD, Senior Director Behavioral Medicine, Allurion
Presentation Date: Friday, May 3rd, 09:00-10:30
For more information about IFSO-EC, please visit: https://www.ifso-ec2024.com/
Sources: 1. Ienca R et al., The Evolution of the Allurion Program for Long-Term Weight Loss: From Virtual Monitoring to a Virtual Care Suite. ZoomForward2022: European Congress on Obesity. Obes Facts. 2022;15 Suppl 1:1-240. doi:10.1159/000524469. ; 2. Raftopoulos Y et al. The Swallowable Gastric Balloon Significantly Enhances an Intensive Lifestyle Intervention Program for Weight Loss: Final Short and Long Term Results up to 1 Year after Balloon Placement. Presented at the 37th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Metabolic & Bariatric Surgery; June 10-12, 2021; virtual.
About Allurion
Allurion is dedicated to ending obesity. The Allurion Program is a weight loss platform that features the Allurion Gastric Balloon, the world’s first and only swallowable, procedure-less intragastric balloon for weight loss, and offers access to the Allurion Virtual Care Suite, including the Allurion Mobile App for consumers, Allurion Insights for health care providers featuring the Coach Iris AI Platform, and the Allurion Connected Scale. The Allurion Virtual Care Suite is also available to providers separately from the Allurion Program to help customize, monitor and manage weight loss therapy for patients regardless of their treatment plan: gastric balloon, surgical, medical or nutritional. The Allurion Gastric Balloon is an investigational device in the United States.
For more information about Allurion and the Allurion Virtual Care Suite, please visit www.allurion.com
Allurion is a trademark of Allurion Technologies, Inc. in the United States and countries around the world.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release may contain certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the U.S. federal and state securities laws. These forward-looking statements generally are identified by the words “believe,” “project,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “intend,” “strategy,” “future,” “opportunity,” “plan,” “may,” “should,” “will,” “would,” “will be,” “will continue,” “will likely result,” and similar expressions and include statements regarding long-term weight loss maintenance on the Allurion Program, Allurion’s expectations for, and market acceptance of, Allurion’s Virtual Care Suite and the Allurion Program in general, Allurion’s ability to scale its business, including the VCS, and the ability of the Allurion Program components to improve clinical and patient outcomes. Forward-looking statements are predictions, projections and other statements about future events that reflect the current beliefs and assumptions of Allurion’s management based on information currently available to them and, as a result, are subject to risks and uncertainties. Many factors could cause actual future results or developments to differ materially from the forward-looking statements in this communication, including but not limited to (i) the ability of Allurion to obtain and maintain regulatory approvals for and successfully commercialize the Allurion Program, including the Allurion Balloon and the VCS, (ii) the timing of, and results from, our clinical studies and trials, (iii) the evolution of the markets in which Allurion competes, (iv) the ability of Allurion to defend its intellectual property, (v) the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russia and Ukraine war, and the Israel-Hamas conflict on Allurion’s business, (vi) Allurion’s expectations regarding its market opportunities, including those for the VCS platform, and (vii) the risk of economic downturns and a changing regulatory landscape in the highly competitive industry in which Allurion operates. The foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive. You should carefully consider the foregoing factors and the other risks and uncertainties described in the “Risk Factors” section of Allurion’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed on March 26, 2024 and other documents filed by Allurion from time to time with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. These filings identify and address other important risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events and results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements, and Allurion assumes no obligation and does not intend to update or revise these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. Allurion does not give any assurance that it will achieve its expectations.
