The Burrill Report


Merck has launched a new business to provide comprehensive weight management programs on behalf of U.S. employers, hospitals, medical groups, and health plans seeking to lower their healthcare costs.

The company's new subsidiary, HMR Weight Management Services, will coordinate programs that combine a structured diet, behavioral coaching and monitoring, and physical activity to achieve clinically meaningful weight loss and to reduce the health risks obese patients face, such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

More than two-thirds of the adult population in the United States is either overweight or obese. The economic burden those patients present for HMR Weight Management Services' target customers—both in direct medical costs and indirect costs, such as lower productivity and absenteeism—are substantial. Drugs alone have proven inadequate for addressing the needs of many obese and overweight patients. To compensate, drugmakers such as Merck are taking steps to maintain their claims as an essential partner in achieving desired outcomes through participation in new wraparound services that address the multiple factors behind chronic illness.

In the case of HMR Weight Management, Merck is partnering with Health Management Resources, a 25-year-old privately held medical weight management specialist. Together, the companies will provide programs through a network of licensed clinics in major medical and academic centers, and through a remote delivery program called Healthy Solutions at Home. The financial arrangement between Merck and HMR was not disclosed.

“We’re excited to provide scalable weight management interventions based on approaches that have shown consistent results in clinical trials, and that have been effective in the battle against obesity,” says Len Tacconi, president of HMR Weight Management Services.

In a clinical study supporting the Healthy Solutions at Home program, the median weight loss for participants completing the program was 23 pounds at 12 weeks during the induction active weight loss phase and 28 pounds at 26 weeks while following the maintenance phase. For those who completed 26 weeks of the program, 60 percent achieved 10 percent or greater weight loss, which is recognized by the medical community as clinically meaningful weight loss.

In a study comparing the effectiveness of remote and clinic-based programs, there was no significant difference between the groups after the 12-month weight maintenance phase following the initial 6-month weight-loss phase. On average, both groups were able to maintain approximately 60 percent of weight loss over one year.

Merck says that HMR Weight Management's new programs and services are open to all customers, regardless of their use of any medicines or programs offered by Merck or any other company.

December 26, 2013
http://www.burrillreport.com/article-merck_launches_new_weight_management_business.html