In late 2024, Virta launched a sustainable weight loss solution that incorporates what it calls “responsible prescribing” of GLP-1 medications into a nutrition-first approach. The company also launched AI tools to support members, including an AI assistant to answer non-clinical member questions.

Virta Health is tapping into an issue that’s top-of-mind for corporations paying the bills for employees who are prescribed the GLP-1 medications, which can cost upwards of $15,000 a year, though costs have been coming down. Working with 550 organizations, covering 12 million Americans, Virta says it can help people de-prescribe with the combination of medical supervision, personalized diet guidance, supplies, biomarker tracking and health coaching, similar to what it uses for diabetes patients. Part of its approach requires a drastic reduction in carbohydrate calories (the science of nutritional ketosis.)

The high-cost of breakthrough weight-loss drugs is giving Denver, Colo.-based Virta Health a huge second wind. The company, founded in 2014 with a platform aiming to help people reverse type 2 diabetes, twice made the Disruptor 50 for its novel approach to the disease management. Now, it may disrupt the treatment of obesity, as Virta turns its expertise in health coaching and nutrition services to reduce Americans’ reliance on GLP-1 medications.

Virta was founded by Sami Inkinen, founder of real estate start-up Trulia, after the Ironman competitor discovered, to his surprise, that he was pre-diabetic. He teamed up with Stephen Phinney and Jeff Volek, experts on the science of restriction and metabolic health. The company’s emphasis on reversing diabetes, as well as its supportive model for health management, set it apart, as many other weight-loss and diabetes management solutions offered canned advice to exercise more and eat less.

The company has investors including Tiger Global, Sequoia Capital Global Equities and Venrock. Virta has more than 700 employees.

The markets Virta is addressing with its low-med solutions are huge. Nearly 40 million Americans have diabetes, according to the CDC. And GLP-1 drugs have swept over the U.S. population. One survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation found one in eight Americans has taken them. One of the biggest questions about GLP-1s is whether patients will be willing to use them as “forever drugs.” Studies have shown that when people go off the drugs they are likely to gain weight back. But studies have also shown willingness to stay on the drugs for longer periods of time than many patients are comfortable with when it comes to other medications.

Virta sells its services to companies that in turn offer them to employees based on the idea that controlling weight and reversing diabetes will help employees and the companies’ bottom lines.

Virta has years of clinical trial results and data from commercial customers to show that its approach works to lower patients’ blood sugar levels and help them lose weight. Another study focused on fatty liver disease showed more than four out of five patients lost more than 5% of their body weight on Virta Health. Corporate customers have included U-Haul and Quartz.

In addition to its corporate partnerships, Virta is also available off-the-shelf to consumers for $299 a month plus a $250 initiation fee.