EXCLUSIVE-WeightWatchers names new medical chief, plans to offer menopause therapy and support

By Amina Niasse

NEW YORK, July 8 (Reuters) - WeightWatchers will announce on Tuesday Dr. Kim Boyd as its chief medical officer, and plans for a new program to help women manage the transition into menopause and beyond, part of its growth strategy in emerging from bankruptcy.

Boyd, a Stanford University graduate who has worked with several consumer health startups, said in an interview that WeightWatchers is building upon its decades-long work providing weight management tools to also address the specific needs of people using obesity treatments. That includes Novo Nordisk’s NOVOb.CO Wegovy and Eli Lilly’s LLY.N Zepbound.

The company says its model promoting balanced eating and exercise helps subscribers reduce gastrointestinal side effects from the medicines and lose more weight on Wegovy.

“We have the foundation, and we will continue to evolve our programming to show up in a way that matches best with the addition of medications,” Boyd said.

WeightWatchers CEO Tara Comonte said such support for members using weight-loss drugs should appeal to health insurers and employers who pay for health benefits as they seek more sustainable management of the costly medications.

"It's a different business model and these partnerships and relationships take a much longer period of time than dialing up some direct to consumer marketing or promotional models," Comonte said.

The program for perimenopause, menopause and post-menopause will include access to prescription treatments such as hormone replacement therapy, as well as behavioral and nutritional support for members, a significant proportion of whom are women ages 40 to 60 years old, WeightWatchers said.

More details will become available later this year, the company, also known as WW International, said.

“It is a very natural overlap. In the perimenopausal and menopausal phase, up to 70% of women experience weight gain,” Boyd said.

CHANGING WEIGHT LOSS MARKET

Boyd previously served as national medical director at One Medical, a clinical business now owned by Amazon.com AMZN.O, and later was chief medical officer at weight-management company Calibrate.

Her appointment comes nearly a year after previous Chief Medical Officer Dr. Amy Meister stepped down. In the interim, WeightWatchers emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy, after struggling to compete with other online weight-management platforms selling cheaper, compounded versions of obesity treatments, including telehealth companies like Hims & Hers Health HIMS.N.

The market for weight-management companies is changing since the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ordered an end to sales of compounded versions of Wegovy in late May. WeightWatchers last month announced a partnership with Novo Nordisk to sell Wegovy through the drugmaker's NovoCare pharmacy.

Hims & Hers continues to offer smaller doses of compounded Wegovy than what is available from Novo, arguing they are providing a personalized medication that is not subject to the FDA ban. Industry analysts, however, have questioned whether that strategy will leave Hims vulnerable to legal challenges.

Hims has said it also plans to expand into testosterone and menopause treatments as part of its growth strategy in the coming years.

WeightWatchers has stopped selling compounded weight-loss drugs, and its partnership with Novo may prove more attractive to employer-sponsored health plans in the long run, Boyd said.

"At the foundation of this is prescribing FDA-approved medications," Comonte said. “We only prescribe branded drugs."

A month's supply of Wegovy is listed at over $1,000 per month, but many people pay less through insurance. Cash-pay patients can access the treatment for $499 through NovoCare.

“For employers, some of them are finding value in these vendors like WeightWatchers... that give the members the lifestyle tools,” said Chantell Reagan, a senior director at advisory firm Willis Towers Watson.

These strategies may help an employee sustain weight loss if they stop using a drug, she said. “We are looking very closely at our employers that are using these programs and assessing the effectiveness.”