Calibrate’s Second Annual Results Report

Treating obesity as the root of cardiometabolic disease leads to real-world sustained weight loss by improving metabolic health.

A year ago, Calibrate made a commitment to continuously publish our real world results and today, we’re continuing to set the benchmark for accountability in our outcomes.

With the launch of our second annual Results Report, Calibrate is the first and only program to demonstrate average sustained weight loss results of 15% at 12, 18, and 24 months. This is remarkable because, in contrast to tightly controlled clinical trials with uninterrupted medication access, our results represent real-world outcomes, agnostic to which GLP-1 members were prescribed and how long they spend on medication.

Headlines heralding these game-changing medications overlook an important point: medication alone will not solve the obesity pandemic. In fact, while GLP-1 medications offer incredible results, studies show that upon stopping medication, patients will regain weight, and that without comprehensive habit changes, even patients who have uninterrupted access to medication are at risk of regaining weight over time. This combination is at the heart of how we designed Calibrate, and our newest Results Report validates our initial vision: that a comprehensive program is the new standard of care for obesity treatment by improving metabolic health to produce sustained outcomes.

Obesity: An Underserved Public Health Crisis

Obesity is the largest category of chronic disease and a significant driver of healthcare costs. 42% of Americans have obesity, a prevalence that has tripled in the past 50 years, and while the underlying causes of obesity are complex and multivariate (genetics, environment, biology, and social determinants of health all play a role), the consequences are dire. Obesity is the root of cardiometabolic disease — building from obesity to diabetes, liver disease, cardiac events, kidney disease, and ultimately premature death. The socio-economic costs of overweight and obesity are staggering and projected to increase from $870 billion to $3.4 trillion by 2060 in the United States. But these figures can never fully capture the ill health, poor quality of life, and lives cut short as a result of a chronic disease that is entirely treatable.

Despite these startling consequences, very few people with obesity get the access to care they need to improve their metabolic health. Today, there are nearly 200 million adults in the United States who qualify for obesity treatment and only a little over 5,000 obesity medicine-certified physicians. Only 2% of qualifying adults receive pharmacologic obesity treatment despite recent FDA approval of effective GLP-1 medications.

Medication is Not A Panacea

While GLP-1s have delivered on their promise as a breakthrough tool in obesity treatment — particularly medications like Wegovy® (semaglutide) and Mounjaro® (tirzepatide) where clinical trial results rival outcomes of bariatric surgery — we cannot accept medications as a panacea on their own. Doctors and patients finally have a tool that works, but without comprehensive behavior change (which real world doctors do not have the resources to deliver), patients must remain on the medication for life, thus creating more hurdles than it overcomes:

• Maintaining lifelong access to drugs for half of Americans with obesity currently priced at an average of $1000+ per month would bankrupt the U.S. healthcare system, plain and simple.
• As effective as these medications are for obesity treatment, chronic use has not been validated for long-term efficacy. In fact, Wegovy’s® STEP 5 trial’s results that show weight regain at 104 weeks signal the possibility that without comprehensive behavior change impacting underlying physiology, GLP-1s may not maintain efficacy over time.
• Similar to the challenges patients have obtaining insulin, unconstrained use of GLP-1s will require constant management for access and coverage, which is untenable for patients and providers.

In addition to these obstacles, we saw extraordinary challenges to medication access in 2022, driven by unprecedented consumer demand, the rising costs of ongoing therapy, and supply chain issues that resulted in prolonged inventory shortages — each compounding one another. This past year taught us that no one can guarantee uninterrupted, lifelong medication access. Awareness and demand will continue to grow, but payors will not cover GLP-1s indefinitely.

This is why we intentionally designed Calibrate differently: rather than promising indefinite access to medication, we promise lasting results — at least 10% weight loss by the end of our Metabolic Reset, or your money back. While GLP-1 medication is an important tool, it is not a holistic treatment. Our goal is to create a treatment for our members that allows them to sustain their results long after medication.

Our Outcomes and Reporting Are Unparalleled

We stand by our Results Promise because we have the data to back it up. By regularly sharing our results, we hope to change the way weight loss results are reported and measured, bringing a new standard of scientific rigor and accountability to a category that has historically lacked both.

We tracked the outcomes of 2,643 Calibrate members — our entire member population as of October 2022 who completed Calibrate’s Metabolic Reset, a year-long program with an initial pathway to GLP-1 coverage and at least one month of access to medication with intensive lifestyle intervention.

• On average, these members experienced weight loss of
  – 15.6% at 12 months (n=2,397)
  – 15.9% at 15 months (n=1,319)
  – 15.8% at 18 months (n=569), and
  – 16.8% at 24 months (n=38)
• Calibrate works by improving metabolic health. Members (n=893–1,175) saw significant clinical improvements across a range of metabolic health markers:
  – On average, members (n=1,507) experienced a 5.95 inch reduction in waist circumference with 32% of members improving from at “at risk,” meeting waist circumference criteria for metabolic syndrome, to “normal.”
  – 98% of members experienced an improvement in at least one metabolic marker at reassessment at 12 months, with 60% of people who started with an “abnormal” lab value moving into a normal range for at least one test.
  – And importantly, 81% of members with diabetes or prediabetes showed a categorical improvement in their condition.

We know that our weight is determined by a combination of factors, including genetics, environment, and lifestyle, and that treatment requires more than the age-old advice to “eat less and exercise more.” Our proprietary behavior change program can change the underlying biology that contributes to obesity to drive sustained weight loss and improved metabolic health. Members (n=1,431–1,529) self-reported improved health behaviors as a result of Calibrate as follows:

• 54% of members saw improvements in food habits
• 48% saw improvements in exercise
• 38% increased the hours they sleep, and
• 27% saw improvements in their emotional health rating

To download the full report, click here.

Medication is a Tool, not a Treatment: Sustaining Results After Medication

We believe that improving metabolic health enables our members to sustain weight loss after medication. In December 2021, we began to transition a group of early members (n=519) off of their prescribed GLP-1 medication. Early results from this pilot program demonstrate that members who have begun the tapering process sustain weight loss.

Calibrate is a sustainable model because we are the only program purpose-built to use medications as a tool, not a treatment. Calibrate guarantees outcomes because our program produces clinically meaningful results that sustain for more than two years. Cost, coverage, and inventory drive access, and our model is a proven solution to get more people access to a new standard of care.

Treating Obesity as the Root of Cardiometabolic Disease

Calibrate exists to fundamentally increase access to metabolic health treatment because we know that obesity is a symptom of the poor metabolic health that leads to an array of cardiometabolic disease.

When Calibrate launched in 2020, one of our biggest hurdles was convincing consumers that their weight wasn’t their fault and that a holistic program combining medication and behavior change could actually change their biology. We’ve seen a seismic shift in consumer awareness since then, with interest in GLP-1 medication and consumer understanding about the link between metabolic health and obesity growing every day.

Now, fulfilling our mission to change the way the world treats weight means more than education. It means delivering cost-effective and clinically significant obesity treatment sustainably: with results members can sustain and a cost equation our healthcare system can sustain for the long term.

These latest results are an important step in proving that sustainable and effective obesity treatment is possible. We’re focused on scaling that treatment for the millions of Americans who need it.