Startups are Rushing to Prescribe a new Weight Loss Drug, but Questions Remain For Zoe, it started with a news article. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had approved a new weight loss drug, developed by Novo Nordisk, called Wegovy. Intrigued, she joined a Facebook support group for people trying out the drug. Wegovy is a new tradename for semaglutide, a drug that’s been approved to treat Type II diabetes since 2017, but which also won FDA approval as a weight loss medication in June of this year. Its results are striking - one in three participants who took it during a clinical trial, combined with changes in diet and physical activity, lost a fifth of their body weight, as well as improving biomarkers for heart disease. Despite its very recent approval, startups are already lining up to prescribe it. Take Calibrate, a telehealth startup that describes the new drug as "both effective and safe" at bringing about "health benefits and weight loss" when combined with changes in diet and physical activity. Or look at Fella, another startup that’s tackling stress eating in men, with a combination of lifestyle coaching and pharmaceutical weight management. Both were cagey about discussing the drug, though. Calibrate declined to comment at all, and Fella answered general questions about its approach, turning down the opportunity to answer more specific questions about Wegovy and its overall view of the weight management landscape. Other once-promising weight loss drugs have crashed and burned, like Fen-Phen, which was linked to severe cardiovascular events, or the appetite-modulator Belviq, which was recalled in 2020 due to cancer risks. Most people who go on a diet will not lose weight for the long-term, often experiencing a rebound afterward. Despite all that, weight loss remains a multibillion dollar industry with a powerful draw. "I think I would still start Wegovy even if all blood tests initially came back normal," Zoe said.