Early data from first participating employer show that Smart^Rx can save organizations millions by bypassing traditional PBMs to deliver brand-name GLP-1 medications

NEW YORK, April 23, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Noom Health, the enterprise division of the leading behavior change platform Noom, today announced that its Smart^Rx program is on pace to cut GLP-1 medication costs by nearly 80% for its first participating employer, projecting approximately $1.3M in annual spend compared to $6.2M in the prior year.

Program integration began in January 2026 with these early results pointing to a huge savings opportunity for other organizations grappling with runaway anti-obesity medication expenses. This data offers meaningful proof that a structured, clinically integrated GLP-1 strategy can deliver millions in real savings without compromising access or member outcomes.*

Employer health strategies have traditionally centered on condition-specific programs to manage diseases like obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular conditions individually, which has led to employers managing multiple point solutions simultaneously, often with low coordination, engagement, and return on investment. GLP-1 medications have rapidly accelerated this challenge, becoming one of the fastest-growing and most expensive line items in employer health plans. Without a structured strategy, organizations risk redundant and unsustainable costs with limited visibility into outcomes.

However, the chronic conditions that these plans typically address are increasingly understood to be interconnected manifestations of a shared underlying issue: metabolic dysfunction. Noom Health identified this dynamic early and developed Smart^Rx specifically to address this challenge, giving employers a clinically grounded, cost-transparent alternative to traditional pharmacy benefit channels, while remaining rooted in Noom’s best-in-class behavior change program.

In From Managing Illness to Building Health, a just-released white paper, Noom Health outlines why a fragmented, condition-specific approach is structurally misaligned with both clinical science and financial outcomes — and argues for a shift toward integrated, prevention-focused models that address root causes rather than downstream symptoms. Noom Health developed its Metabolic Suite offering to address this integration opportunity.

"GLP-1 enrollment historically peaks at the start of the year, when employees activate new benefits and reset health goals, which means January and February are our highest-volume months. The savings we're seeing from our first employer now reflect the program at scale,” said Cody Fair, Chief Commercial Officer at Noom. “These early results validate what we've believed from the start — that employers don't have to choose between giving their people access to the most effective weight-loss treatments and managing costs responsibly. As more employers bring Smart^Rx to their people, we expect the impact to scale significantly by reducing drug costs and building the clinical foundation that makes savings, and outcomes, stick. Smart^Rx changes the math entirely."

Smart^Rx is an enhancement to Noom Med, Noom’s clinical obesity care program. With Smart^Rx , Noom Med “rewires” the traditional GLP-1 supply chain, bypassing pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) and connecting employers directly to brand-name medications at substantially lower cost. Smart^Rx is structured as a supplemental benefit to arm employers with flexibility to determine how costs are shared with employees, making it adaptable to virtually any benefit design.

The realized savings represent only a portion of the total opportunity: Noom Med members who combine Noom’s behavioral support with GLP-1 therapy lose 39% more weight on average than those on medication alone¹. Combined with the industry’s leading GLP-1 Companion program, these outcomes translate to a 4.1x ROI over three years, as validated by Accorded, an independent third-party actuarial firm².

“What makes Smart^Rx clinically meaningful isn’t just the price point — it’s that medication access and behavior change are fully integrated into one seamless experience,” said Jennifer Jones, MSM RD CSOWM, Director, Clinical Solutions Architect, Noom. “Members aren’t navigating two separate systems. That continuity is what drives real outcomes, and what we’re seeing in the data reflects that.”

About Noom: Noom is the leading behavior change company, empowering everyone, everywhere to live better longer – every day. Noom pairs sustainable behavior change with prescription-grade catalysts to make lasting change feel easy. Noom Health partners with top health plans and employers to offer millions of Americans a suite of metabolic health solutions – including Noom Clinical (Noom Med, Noom SmartRx, and NoomRx programs), Noom Weight, Noom Diabetes, and Noom Diabetes Prevention Program. Noom is building the future of preventive care and longevity medicine, leading the convergence of wearable-monitored behavior change, clinical care, diagnostics, and pharmacy into an integrated, AI-enhanced system that drives individualized, meaningful health outcomes.

Noom has received multiple grants from the NIH for digital health research and innovation and has been recognized by the CDC for its groundbreaking diabetes prevention programs. With offices in New York City and Princeton, NJ, Noom has been recognized on Newsweek’s Most Trusted Brands list, as well as by Inc. and Fortune as a best place to work. Learn more at noom.com, subscribe to our blog, or follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Contact:
Molly Molendyke
comms@noom.com

¹Based on a retrospective study of self-reported data of pounds lost for active versus passive users who were offered the Noom program when being prescribed an early stage GLP-1.
²Third-party validated actuarial analysis, October 2024. This projection is based on a comparison to a status quo scenario where GLP-1 medication spending is uncontrolled. ROI may vary based on factors such as company size, employee health profiles, and current healthcare cost.
* Note on Methodology: Savings figures based on January, February and March 2026 data from employers enrolled in Noom Med with SmartRx across a client population of 24,638 members, of which 367 utilized GLP-1 medications in 2025, as reported directly by the employer. Data includes all enrolled employers; one employer (enrollment began in February) had a limited number of prescriptions during this period. Annual spend projection of ~$1.3M is based on the January–March 2026 run rate and projected enrollment growth of 10% every month based on reasonable internal assumptions. Actual results vary. Additional potential savings for employees with prior GLP-1 prescriptions who have not yet enrolled in Noom Med are not reflected in these figures. Assumes use of Zepbound Kwick Pen prescriptions starting in April 2026 and consistent Zepbound to Wegovy purchase ratio throughout the year. Does not account for increases in employee contribution payments towards product access year over year or include cost of Noom.