Introducing Noom Med

The following is a copy of a note sent to Noom employees on May 24, 2023 to celebrate the launch of Noom Med, Noom's latest program dedicated to providing higher support for those struggling with the disease of obesity.

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Dear Team,

Today is a big day for us! I am super excited to share that Noom Med, formerly Noom Clinical V2, is officially live as an offering in our buy flow! While the name has changed, the service offered is the same. As we’ve shared previously, this program - Noom’s first service specifically dedicated to fighting the disease of obesity - has been available as a pilot to a small population of medically qualified patients in select states since this fall. Today, we are making the program available in over 30 states, with plans for rapid nationwide expansion. This means Noom Med will be accessible to over 85% of the U.S. population and marks a huge step forward when it comes to achieving our mission.?

As a company singularly dedicated to helping people everywhere live healthier lives, the statistics surrounding obesity remind me how big of a challenge we face. Over 40% of Americans suffer from obesity, and over 70% have either obesity or high-risk pre-obesity. Behind these numbers are the stories that we hear from our users every day, who experience chronic illness, diabetes, and pre-diabetes, and the ingrained belief that weight loss should be a linear journey fueled by restriction and willpower. We know obesity isn’t a willpower problem, and someone’s determination alone cannot override thousands of years of evolution. We also know that long-term, sustained weight loss comes from getting to the root cause of our behaviors. Noom Med provides a conscientious approach to both, by giving our users scientifically-backed tools that address the biological and psychological components of sustained weight loss.?

With the expansion of Noom Med comes a new layer of responsibility for the health and safety of our users. The obesity care space is full of programs that just push meds without discretion – that is not who Noom is. Our program is special because it combines telehealth services with the tools we already know work when it comes to long-term weight loss. In fact, our users cannot solely sign up for weight loss medications, because Noom Med is available only as an extra service, on top of our Noom Weight program. We strongly believe the combination of individualized medical care with our proven, psychological programs will help those who qualify experience lasting success.?

In order to meet our own diligent standard of care, and provide the quality of treatment our users deserve, we’ve put together a world-class clinician team. All clinicians are led and trained by our Chief of Medicine, Dr. Linda Anegawa, who brings over 20 years of experience in patient care, telehealth, and obesity and internal medicine to the program. Every Noom Med user will be able to connect with our clinicians via video and put a name and face with their Noom care. This allows users to experience individualized support in a stigma-free environment and lowers the risk of communication barriers, which have been proven to increase patients' engagement in their own care.?

This team knows better than anyone that our mission has never solely been about helping people lose weight: it’s about empowering people with the ability to enhance and enjoy their lives. I want to emphasize that Noom Med will not - and should not - be the solution for everyone looking to live a healthier life. But, for those who qualify and meet our rigorous medical standards, Noom’s unparalleled and powerful combination of supervised clinical care and our personalized, psychological approach to weight management can be life-changing.?

In typical Noom fashion, we already have a lot of plans on how to keep evolving this service. I look forward to continuing the conversation at this week’s TGIF, where the Noom Medical team and I will share more in-depth about what today’s launch means, for Noom and our users, in both the short and long term. First, we take today to celebrate this incredible accomplishment!

Thank you to the many, many people who contributed their hard work and expertise to bring Noom Med to life. I know countless hours were spent across the clinical, product, operations, legal, marketing, communications, and CCX teams (and others!) to ensure Noom Med meets our psychological & clinical standards, and provides the experience our users deserve.?

To you all, I am continually humbled by your commitment to Noom’s users and mission. As a founder, I simply can't believe how far we’ve come in the past 16 years. And as a wholehearted believer in the power of Noom, I’m fired up for this next evolution! The future is bright.

Saeju