Novo Nordisk and Noom to partner around digital health solutions to help people with obesity lose weight and keep it off

BAGSVÆRD, Denmark, Oct. 1, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Novo Nordisk, a global healthcare company, and Noom, a leading behaviour change company, today announced a collaboration on digital health solutions focusing on weight management and education, with the aim of improving the lives of people living with obesity. The collaboration follows a successful 8-month pilot that combined Noom's proven, science-backed behaviour change programmes with Novo Nordisk's more than 95 years of experience in helping people living with chronic diseases. This collaboration, as one of many ways Novo Nordisk is partnering to improve care, will make solutions for behaviour change and education available to people with obesity in the US.

"We are passionate about improving the lives of people with obesity and finding new solutions to support respectful and complete care, which includes lifestyle change and medical management," said Camilla Sylvest, Novo Nordisk executive vice president, Commercial Strategy & Corporate Affairs. "We believe that the combination of Noom's services, with Novo Nordisk's offerings to support people with obesity, will help educate and empower people with obesity to lose weight, keep it off – and live healthy lives."

Noom's solutions seek to understand individual motivations and obstacles and use cutting-edge technology, including artificial intelligence, behavioural coaching by over 1,000 personal health coaches, data and wellness insights, to guide people towards sustainable change.

"Sustainable change can't happen in a vacuum, and those living with obesity who want to manage their weight are in need of personalised human coaching to help them change their habits, so they can lose weight for good," said Saeju Jeong, CEO and co-founder of Noom. "We've worked with the Novo Nordisk team for over a year and have engaged with over 4,000 people with obesity. We're enthused by the exciting feedback and know that by jointly testing and refining what works, we will continue to deliver much-needed, sustainable solutions and support, as part of a scientific, insight-driven treatment plan."

About obesity

Obesity is a complex, chronic disease that is influenced by multiple aspects, including physiological, psychological, genetic, environmental and socioeconomic factors.¹ It is associated with many serious health consequences² and decreased life expectancy.³ Obesity is not a life choice or simply a question about willpower⁴ and necessary help and support can be hard to find. There are few healthcare professionals trained in obesity care and patients often see their excess weight as something they should be able to solve on their own.^5,6 Like any other chronic disease, the long-term management of obesity requires a full spectrum of treatment approaches, including lifestyle change and intervention, as well as pharmacotherapy or surgery.⁷ The global increase in the prevalence of obesity is a public health issue that has severe cost implications to healthcare systems.^8,9 In 2016, 13% of adults, or approximately 650 million adults, were living with obesity worldwide.⁸

About Noom, Inc.

Noom is the world's leading behaviour change company, disrupting the weight loss and healthcare industries. By combining the power of artificial intelligence, mobile tech, and psychology with the empathy of over 1,000 personal coaches, Noom helps people live healthier lives by changing their long-term habits. More than 50 million people have benefited from Noom's behaviour change courses, including its virtual diabetes prevention programme, which was the first of its kind to be recognised by the CDC. The Noom platform is already being used by leading healthcare and pharmaceutical companies to improve treatment outcomes for patients worldwide. The company is headquartered in New York City with offices in Seoul and Tokyo.

About Novo Nordisk

Novo Nordisk is a global healthcare company with more than 95 years of innovation and leadership in diabetes care. This heritage has given us experience and capabilities that also enable us to help people defeat obesity, haemophilia, growth disorders and other serious chronic diseases. Headquartered in Denmark, Novo Nordisk employs approximately 41,600 people in 80 countries and markets its products in more than 170 countries. For more information, visit novonordisk.com, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube.

Changing Obesity™ is our long-term commitment to improve the lives of people with obesity by changing how the world sees, prevents and treats obesity.

Further information

References                               

1. National Institutes of Health. Clinical Guidelines On The Identification, Evaluation, And Treatment Of Overweight And Obesity In Adults. Available at: http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/guidelines/obesity/ob_gdlns.pdf. Last accessed: April 2018.
2. Guh DP, Zhang W, Bansback N, et al. The incidence of co-morbidities related to obesity and overweight: a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC Public Health. 2009; 9:1–20.
3. Whitlock G, Lewington S, Sherliker P, et al. Body-mass index and cause-specific mortality in 900 000 adults: collaborative analyses of 57 prospective studies. Lancet. 2009; 373:1083–1096.
4. Rosen H. Is Obesity A Disease or A Behavior Abnormality? Did the AMA Get It Right? . Mo Med. 2014; 111:104–108.
5. Kaplan L, Golden A, Jinnett K, et al. Perceptions of Barriers to Effective Obesity Care: Results from the National ACTION Study. Obesity. 2018; 26:61–69.
6. Caterson I, Alfadda A, Auerbach P, et al. Gaps to bridge: misalignment between perception, reality, and action in obesity. Diabetes Obes Metab. 2019:1–11.
7. Jensen MD, Ryan DH, Apovian CM, et al. 2013 AHA/ACC/TOS guideline for the management of overweight and obesity in adults: a report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force on Practice Guidelines and The Obesity Society. Circulation. 2014; 129:S102–138.
8. World Health Organization. Obesity and Overweight Factsheet no. 311. Available at: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs311/en/. Last accessed: September 2019.
9. Cawley J, Meyerhoefer C, Biener A, et al. Savings in Medical Expenditures Associated with Reductions in Body Mass Index Among US Adults with Obesity, by Diabetes Status. Pharmacoeconomics. 2015; 33:707–722.

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