Amid GLP-1 mania, health tech’s weight loss startups are trying to prove their services matter

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The ram­pant suc­cess of new pre­scrip­tion GLP-1 drugs has turned out to be both a tail­wind and a huge risk for health tech’s emerg­ing group of weight loss man­age­ment com­pa­nies.

Cal­i­brate, which made its name as a place where peo­ple could go to get ac­cess to the drugs in the ear­ly days of ap­provals, is in­creas­ing­ly fac­ing com­pe­ti­tion from com­pa­nies like Noom and Weight­Watch­ers — and even drug­mak­er Eli Lil­ly to be the place to go when seek­ing pre­scrip­tion weight loss care. To stay com­pet­i­tive, Cal­i­brate and com­pa­nies like it have to show ev­i­dence that their ap­proach­es go fur­ther than pro­vid­ing ac­cess to weight loss med­ica­tions.

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