Reportedly, 42% of Americans struggle with obesity, and doctors and their patients are looking for a sustainable approach to weight loss. Currently, prescription medications known as the GLP-1 class of anti-obesity medications, such as Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, etc. are becoming extremely popular as a way to lose 10-15% of body weight on average. However, these drugs can come with significant issues and downsides.
New York-based Alfie Health, a virtual obesity management clinic, revolutionises this sector with its proprietary AI clinical decision support technology. This tech recommends a combination of precision medicine and behavioural change to help patients sustainably lose weight.
In a recent development, Alfie Health has snapped $2.1 million in funding led by Y Combinator (that backed Curacel, and Take App) and Nina Capital, along with Goodwater Capital, Phoenix Investment Club, and various angels, including the founder of unicorn OpenTrons. Besides this, it also announced the results achieved by a 300-person cohort of patients who lost an average of 10 to 15% of their body weight in nine months, similar to the results of GLP-1s.
“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,” said Alexander Singh, co-founder and CEO, Alfie Health. “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.”
Virtual obesity clinic
Founded by Alexander Singh and Rohit Rustagi in 2022, Alfie Health is a virtual obesity management clinic that uses AI and a holistic approach. Developed with input from obesity specialists from Mass General and the Cleveland Clinic, the proprietary ObesityRx system utilises AI to conduct a metabolic profile of patients to understand why they gain and hold on to weight. Its algorithms 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.
Alfle’s team of specialists and coaches provides ongoing telehealth support. All treatment recommendations are reviewed by Alfie’s medical team. Currently, they are working with a large cardiology group to manage weight loss for a number of its patients with obesity. They have also partnered with a large enterprise client referring appropriate patients to Alfie. The program is covered by major health insurance providers in select states.
To provide ongoing support, the Alfie program also includes monthly telehealth visits with specially trained providers and updated analyses driven by the ObesityRx platform. Patients meet virtually with health coaches to discuss progress, challenges, and strategies every two weeks.
Alfie provides ongoing medical supervision and support via regular telehealth visits. Dr. Scott Butsch, Director of Obesity Medicine, Cleveland Clinic is a key Alfie Health clinical adviser.
“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,” explained Rohit Rustagi, Alfie Health co-founder and COO.
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 said, “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.”
