Noom Inc. has tapped longtime social media executive Geoff Cook to be its new top boss as the weight loss startup transitions to prescribing obesity drugs like Wegovy.
(Bloomberg) — Noom Inc. has tapped longtime social media executive Geoff Cook to be its new top boss as the weight loss startup transitions to prescribing obesity drugs like Wegovy.
Cook, 45, previously co-founded and led The Meet Group Inc., a social media technology company and dating app operator, to a public listing and sale, Noom said in a statement Tuesday. The announcement follows a lengthy search process undertaken by Saeju Jeong, Noom’s current chief executive, and the company’s board of directors that dates back to last year.
Jeong, a Noom co-founder, will become executive chairman, a spokesperson said. Cook’s appointment was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.
Cook “brings with him extensive strategic and executive experience in business innovation, building large scale teams, cultivating a portfolio of successful brands, and extending excellence in consumer offerings,” the spokesperson said.
“My hope for Noom is to work together with a talented team to catalyze our natural creativity and continue to create products and technologies that can save lives,” Cook said in a post on LinkedIn.
A suite of companies, like telemedicine company Teladoc Health Inc., digital health startup Ro and WW International Inc., also known as WeightWatchers, have moved into prescribing drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy in recent months. Such programs tend to provide access to a clinician who can write a prescription, along with other services like nutrition counseling or help getting insurance coverage for medication, all for a monthly fee.
Noom, which for years touted a behavior-based approach to weight loss, recently launched its Noom Med option that includes prescriptions for obesity drugs for about $120 a month. The move into prescribing GLP-1 drugs is a trend seen across the weight-loss industry as lifestyle-focused brands look to capitalize on the recent boom and popularity of highly effective weight-loss drugs.
Read More: Weight Loss Startup Touting Mindfulness Now Prescribes Drugs
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