Founders Fund backed Calibrate Health sold itself to weight loss patients. Fierce Healthcare reported last August on a $100 million funding round.
The company’s most recent development expanded consumer access to medications like Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy, a weight loss injection recently approved by the FDA.
Calibrate’s proprietary integrated vertical pharmacy engine will help members obtain medications like Wegovy.
Bloomberg reported that "expanded access" involved signing people up for manufacturer coupons that provided the medicine at a deep discount for six months. Patients were unaware access to Wegovy came from the manufacturer via a coupon program. They were surprised to learn the cost would go much higher when the secret coupons expired.
Earlier this month Calibrate announced layoffs.
A year after raising $100 million, weight loss-focused digital health startup Calibrate has laid off 24 percent of its employees.
The move affected 156 of the company's 652 staff members. The July 8 job cuts came 11 months after the funding round.
Calibrate's founder is a former investment banker who ran strategic partnerships and communications teams at Capsule. So why the poor communication with Calibrate patients on the coupon program?.
Peter Thiel's Founders Fund is a private equity underwriter (PEU). Theil wants to live forever. Hopefully he can find a coupon for that.
Update 8-27-23: "Tech execs are buying $150,000 red light therapy beds and $70,000 hyperbaric chambers." How lovely.
