Noom expands into hormone replacement therapy

The news: Digital health company Noom is launching a hormone replacement therapy program to support women experiencing menopausal hormone shifts.

More on the offering: It pairs medications with Noom’s behavior change program.

• Noom says it can prescribe FDA-approved transdermal patches and progesterone pills, as well as a compounded transdermal cream option.
• Personalized content and resources are provided to help change unhealthy habits and encourage persistence and confidence throughout menopause.
• Noom coaches and clinicians provide ongoing guidance and support.

Why it matters: Noom thinks that many women members who are already enrolled in the company’s weight loss program can benefit from hormone replacement therapy.

• Hormone replacement therapy has been shown to improve metabolic health in menopausal women, per Noom.
• The company says that it has signed up millions of women ages 40 to 60—many of whom have voiced how menopause-related symptoms make it tougher to lose weight.

The trend: We’ve seen more telehealth and D2C health companies tap into markets for hormone replacement therapy for women in perimenopause and menopause and testosterone replacement therapy for men.

• Vitamin Shoppe and Marius Pharmaceuticals recently rolled out a program that offers the drugmaker’s prescription testosterone replacement therapy capsules over telehealth.
• Hims & Hers said in January that perimenopause and menopause “is a natural next step” for the company. Hims also recently acquired an at-home testing company that sells testosterone testing kits.

The final word: Companies that generated a lot of business selling compounded weight loss medications won’t be able to rely on those revenues for much longer.

Exploring new prescription drug segments makes sense—but the hormone/testosterone replacement therapy market is much smaller than the weight loss drug market and comes with more medical risks. It will be important for players in this space to be transparent with consumers about the pros and cons of these treatments and avoid overprescribing.