Alfie Health – which is now a new virtual clinic for patients with obesity – is announcing $2.1 million in funding led by Y Combinator and Nina Capital along with Goodwater Capital, Phoenix Investment Club, and various angels including the founder of unicorn Opentrons. Plus it is also announcing results achieved by a 300-person cohort of patients who in 9 months lost an average of 10% to 15% of their body weight— similar to the results of prescription medications known as GLP-1 class of anti-obesity medications (such as Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, etc.) — by adhering to Alfie Health’s holistic approach.
With 42% of Americans now struggling with obesity, doctors and their patients have been looking for a sustainable approach to weight loss. And currently, the GLP-1 class is becoming extremely popular as a way to lose 10% to 15% of body weight on average. But these drugs can come with significant issues and downsides.
Created with input from obesity specialists from Mass General and the Cleveland Clinic, the proprietary ObesityRx system utilizes AI to conduct a metabolic profile of patients to understand why they gain and hold on to weight. And the system makes precision medicine recommendations (GLP-1s are often NOT the primary medication), as well as suggestions for behavioral changes. Alfle’s team of specialists and coaches provides ongoing telehealth support. All treatment recommendations are reviewed by Alfie’s medical team.
Alfie Health is now working with a large cardiology group to manage weight loss for a number of its patients with obesity. And they have also partnered with a large enterprise client referring appropriate patients to Alfie. The Alfie Health program is covered by major health insurance providers in select states.
In order to determine a patient’s personalized metabolic profile and recommended weight loss treatment, Alfie Health’s ObesityRx clinical decision support solution leverages advanced AI algorithms to review a patient’s medical history; lab data; vitals via remote monitoring and patient-reported outcomes (PROs) that address satiety, satiation, and other aspects of metabolism.
This platform makes an initial treatment recommendation for each patient based on their unique metabolic profile. And the analysis includes lifestyle change (nutrition, exercise, sleep, etc.) and medications alone or in combination when appropriate such as phentermine, topiramate, naltrexone, bupropion, metformin, and more—in addition to GLP-1s.
The well-publicized GLP-1 medications are in short supply and hard to procure, are very expensive, costing as high as $1,000 a month (depending on insurance coverage, which is limited for most), and patients may have difficulty tolerating them over time. Importantly, certain patients may not lose significant weight while taking GLP-1s as these medications may not address the specific underlying metabolic dysfunction other medications might treat more effectively.
In order to provide ongoing support, the Alfie program also includes monthly telehealth visits with specially trained providers and updated analyses driven by the ObesityRx platform. And patients meet virtually with health coaches to discuss progress, challenges, and strategies every two weeks.
KEY QUOTES:
“The results of our internal study are promising. Our patients have been struggling with obesity for years, or decades in some cases, and frequently suffer from other related health problems. ObesityRx technology provides a unique, data-driven approach that optimizes treatment strategies, streamlining costs associated with obesity and ensuring we strike the perfect balance in prescribing medications. It helps our clinicians determine the root cause of a patient’s obesity and utilize the most effective method from the get-go, which in many cases, may not include one of the GLP-1 medications.”
— Alexander Singh, co-founder and CEO, Alfie Health
“Our goal is to bring clinical-grade obesity management to patients at scale, something which has been extremely difficult to do, since there aren’t enough fellowship-trained obesity specialists for the over 130 million Americans struggling with obesity.”
— Rohit Rustagi, Alfie Health co-founder and COO
“Alfie Health brings a unique, comprehensive approach to treating obesity appropriately. The blend of interdisciplinary care teams, composed of physicians, advanced practice providers and health coaches in conjunction with Alfie Health’s novel technology allows them to provide personalized, virtual options in collaboration with patients’ regular medical specialists.”
— Dr. W. Scott Butsch who is the Director of Obesity Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic’s Bariatric and Metabolic Institute and Alfie’s head clinical advisor
