I'm saddened that ~3k people have already died due to Coronavirus globally or about ~70/day since the tracking started. That's 3k too many.
In comparison, during the same period ~40,000 people have died due to diabetes in the U.S. alone. Or ~1,000/day. With much less outrage :-(
Proud to announce Virta's $65M Series D, led by our partners at
@sequoia
- this means even faster scaling of our T2 diabetes reversal treatments for the benefit of millions of patients & payers nationwide. Still Day One
@virtahealth
- much more to come!
If you’ve had T2 diabetes for 24yrs, been on insulin for 15yrs, take 290units of insulin/day ($50,000/y++ cost); What’s the predicted outcome? Accelerated death or amputations? Apparently you can still reverse the disease and get off 100% of insulin. True:
Dr. Sarah Hallberg was and continues to be a daily inspiration to me and our
@virtahealth
team. Her passing is sad beyond words, but I'm very grateful our paths crossed in this life. Rest in Peace Sarah.
From a happy
@virtahealth
provider (MD) about a Virta patient today:
"Starting labs included a1c of 11.8%, glucose of 539, and triglycerides of >1200. At one year, a1c is 4.9%, glucose 116, and triglycerides 220, without adding any meds."
True health care - not sick care.
Imagine living with HIV/AIDS and not being told there's a life saving treatment. That'd be unethical?
Yet, too many ppl suffering from Type 2 Diabetes are being told they're living with a life sentence without a parole. Not true - T2D can be reversed:
Our real success measure at
@virtahealth
is how many patients’ t2 diabetes we’ve safely and sustainably *reversed*, yet I’m excited to share that we’ve just raised a $45m Series-B to accelerate our growth and treat more patients!
I was interviewing a software engineer today
@virtahealth
and after hearing about our clinical outcomes he asked: "So...why would a physician ever prescribe insulin or other drugs for T2 diabetes if they can prescribe Virta?" Good question to contemplate...
What if there was a diabetes drug that delivered these results after two years on it? These are the exact
@virtahealth
treatment results at 2yrs, now published.
(Longer write up and summary: ) CC:
@ProfTimNoakes
Prediction: multi-billion dollar health care & wellness innovations and businesses in our near future(today) to lower total health care costs:
* how to sleep
* how to eat
* how to move
* how to think (be mindful)
...all of which would have seemed insane 100 or 1,000 years ago.
Exciting
@virtahealth
T2 diabetes reversal news:
Q: Can T2D be reversed quickly?
A: Yes in under 10wks as shown in our clinical trial
Q: But can T2D reversal then be sustained for two+ years in most patients?
A: Yes. Our 2yr peer-reviewed results here:
Question I get often: “so you guys
@virtahealth
REVERSE T2 diabetes!?! Wow. But, these must be recently diagnosed ppl, right?” Nope. Many have 10+ year history. Here’s some who diagnosed in 1980, 38 years ago! Yes, T2D now reversed: ...this is the future.
Chart: What happens to insulin dose (on average) for those living with Type 2 diabetes? Goes up over time. And on Virta? Data from our clinical trial: comes down, even more after 2 years on the
@virtahealth
treatment. More details to come here soon:
Seen on TV: "people smiley & happy living with their T2 diabetes...in TV commercials for T2D drugs. Life's great w T2D!"
In reality: practically all our
@virtahealth
patients are eager to get OFF of their drugs, side effects & the on-going T2D suffering from daily pain & fatigue
This is beyond fantastic "Michael’s monthly costs for his diabetes medicine have dropped from “over $5,000 to around $20.” I'm so proud of the
@virtahealth
team!!
Virta Treatment (
@virtahealth
) 1yr clinical trial results are in: T2 diabetes can be reversed quickly with lasting results. End of an era, from managing to reversing T2D and new hope for millions of ppl living with T2D and massive cost savings to payers:
Good news in health care -> From "Fee for service" to "100% fee for outcomes"
@virtahealth
; Now that we've replicated and improved our clinical trial's diabetes reversal outcomes nationwide, we are putting 100% of our money where out mouth is for payers:
Insulin is a life saving drug for people w/ T1 diabetes - it's absolutely necessary.
But for T2 diabetes (majority of insulin use), it's just a BAD patch. We've now shown we can eliminate need for insulin, which is transformative for patient health and payer economics.
Did you know, 94% of type 2 diabetes patients in Virta's clinical trial eliminated or reduce insulin usage after one year?
With Virta's treatment, removing insulin & other diabetes medications from your daily routine is possible. Learn more at
The difference in diabetes drug use over two years b/w:
a) "usual care"(gold standard) T2D care; and
b) T2 diabetes reversal using nutrition
(with much better glycemic control in (b)).
Tough to see why anyone would pick (a).
Peer-reviewed source data:
Health care miracle -or- future of T2 diabetes (is reversal): "In less than two months, I’ve gone from an average fasting glucose of 187 down to an average of 96 and I’ve lost 18 lbs. I’m off all of my diabetic medication, and it feels great!"
@virtahealth
My fave moment of today so far, reading last week's
@virtahealth
patient feedback.
Three here...
* "For the first time I'm not scared of my diabetes!"
* "Virta has given me hope."
* "I absolutely believe that finding Virta has added twenty years to my life".
...that made my day!
Wow, even more than I expected: the
@virtahealth
treatment saves medication costs (only fraction of total savings!) on average $4,337/PMPY in insulin using T2 diabetics. — saving lives AND money. That’s how all health care should be...
Email to our customer service inbox today: "My husband has been in 1month [
@virtahealth
] and has already significantly reduced his meds,lowered his glucose on the lower meds and lost weight. This is a first for us, amazing way to end year and start 2018.just wanted to thank you"
Big news: we
@virtahealth
are reversing T2 diabetes, getting patients off of drugs, even insulin, savings lives and scaling this positive patient impact very fast.
Related news: we raised a $93M Series-C to do more of the above faster.
And: Back to work.
Why our team
@virtahealth
wakes up every morning: great story of a patient who went from A1c 12.4% to 6.4% and off meds in four months. Not a miracle, systematic:
"My doc warned me I had to consider insulin and even bypass surgery...Virta was fully covered by the plan. I thought this might be the answer to my prayers...In 3 mo's, all my diabetes meds had been removed, including Trulicity,Janumet XR,Jardiance."
Amen:
I chuckle when I see companies invest to develop insulin pumps for T2 diabetics. Here's yet another
@virtahealth
patient who got OFF of insulin and his pump in a matter of days. This is the future, not a more automated pump (IMHO):
Mice are NOT men, yet despite the scientist's quote "This was a totally unexpected finding" our
@virtahealth
patients (while totally anecdotal) share thoughts like this all the time: "Weirdly, I don't get the flu/cold anymore! I used to be sick quarterly"
Detailed look of
@virtahealth
1-year diabetes reversal results VS. “diabetes mgmt” usual care w drugs. Much more to come - but this already makes one ask: if doctor offered you both, why would anyone choose “usual care” that has inferior results? That’s what our patients tell too
One of the very many impressive things I observed at a Finnish public (free tuition) school: teaching kids visually how much sugar is found in typical food items.
Our
@virtahealth
patient retention after 1-year is stunning ~90% among commercial patients and was 83% in our published and peer-reviewed clinical trial results. That's better than that of just popping a pill. Why? These NPS results today explain a bit (=it works + 24x7 support)
A
@virtahealth
patient fdback: "He [his Primary care doc] told me that he thought that I have been his only client that was diabetic that has ever came in with good news and he has been practicing medicine for 23yrs. He said he had goose bumps on his neck he was so happy for me."
Sad data: “1 in 10 (that’s 10%!) COVID-19 patients w diabetes die within a week”. Only if there was a way to quickly improve glucose control and reverse T2D...
What's the best solution to current insulin use for T2 diabetes?
a) cheaper insulin
b) insulin subsidized by tax payers
c) innovative short- and long acting insulin
d) making insulin unnecessary in all socio-economic groups using nutrition
@virtahealth
data shows: start w/ (d).
Excited to share latest
@virtahealth
peer-reviewed clinical trial results: in addition to reversing T2 diabetes Virta Treatment improves 22 of the 26 Cardiovascular risk factors (VS. ZERO improvement in standard T2D care on drugs).
Now that most clinicians & scientists agree that T2 diabetes can be reversed, I often get the question "are they all newly diagnosed T2D patients only?" We don't have exact stats but here's a patient from today w/ 30+ yr T2D history & on insulin. Yet, reversed T2D on
@virtahealth
T2 Diabetes reversal going mainstream. I'm glad it's not just
@virtahealth
- hopefully in a few years the
#1
treatment goal for T2D is reversing (not managing) the disease:
I'm donating $50k to U.S. Veterans to offer free diabetes reversal treatment (here: ) after reading NYTimes yesterday: "She lost a foot (due diabetes). V.A. finally granted the benefit, but by that time she’d lost her other foot."
Here's another anecdotal (i.e. we haven't published any peer-reviewed results yet) benefit our
@virtahealth
patients report quite regularly when reversing their T2 diabetes - neuropathy is reversed/improves visibly:
This type of reversal of T2 diabetes course is supposed to NOT be possible since T2D is a "chronic and progressive disease" that can not be reversed(I still hear that). Incredible story, yet this type of reversal is happening frequently among our
@virtahealth
patients.
In 2015, Marcie was afraid of a future that held the possibility of blindness, nerve damage and amputation due to type 2 diabetes. Since starting Virta in 2017, her A1c is now 4.8, she's lost 100 lbs & has the energy of a teenager! Read her story here:
We are very excited to team up with
@DeptVetAffairs
to offer select Veterans living with T2 diabetes access to the
@virtahealth
diabetes reversal treatment. Hope is on the way with this chronic disease - not a life sentence anymore!
My fave Tue AM activity, reading
@virtahealth
patient feedback from my inbox:
"To think that 2 weeks ago I wanted to have Bariatric surgery and now I'm not taking insulin [at all] is truly a miracle."
This person went from ~25units of Novolog insulin a day to zero in two wks.
Type 2 diabetes & fatty liver — still considered a “chronic, progressive” disease (life sentence) with progressively more miserable life — seems to be reversible based on
@virtahealth
clinical trial data and real world patient results:
Often heard "T2 diabetes is a chronic and progressive disease that can not be reversed, only managed". Tell it to these patients who got off of insulin and have blood sugar in non-diabetic range (+ says “Type 2 is reversible”). Miracle? CC:
@virtahealth
Dear
@govsingapore
- I'm so impressed you've started a war against (T2) diabetes. Fantastic:
However, only one of the things listed in the article make sense (discouraging/banning sugary drinks). I'd be happy to save you billions with free advice anytime.
T2 diabetes (T2D) is so common that many people (who don't have it) think of it as a minor inconvenience. Reading
@virtahealth
new patient quotes this AM - this is the reality:
Q: Why did you join Virta to reverse your T2D?
A: "Already lost one leg, trying not to lose the other"
Is this for real and possible?
“Within the first 30 days of starting Virta, I was off all of my diabetic medications, including my insulin…" [after having T2D for twenty years!]
Thanks
@virtahealth
and
@BlueCrossNC
teams for changing & saving lives in NC!
Reading
@virtahealth
new pt feedback: "I'm down 1 foot and 3 toes, so wish you would have come around a long time ago. Been waiting a long time for an option like this. Thank you for doing this for people like me."
- in case anyone thought living WITH T2 diabetes is ~ok. Not so.
Hmmm... what is the most downloaded peer-reviewed paper in the journal Diabetes Therapy? 41,000 downloads for a dry scientific paper in couple of weeks: The
@virtahealth
clinical trial results. Why is this happening? Might guess...
Read our most downloaded article from February:
Effectiveness and Safety of a Novel Care Model for the Management of
#Type2Diabetes
at 1 Year: An Open-Label, Non-Randomized, Controlled Study
IMPT question about Founder burn out (yes it's real) came up in today's podcast interview. Made me think further, so sharing how I've avoided burn-out while founding & building three companies (
@trulia
and
@virtahealth
most recently) over last 20 years, more or less non-stop.
New
@virtahealth
SF office open today - better, more functional and more bang for $$. We are still strong believers in frequent in-person collaboration & p2p trust building while enabling remote work on D2Day basis.
I always get this Q...can you reverse T2D for someone who has had it for a long time
@virtahealth
?
Might have been our record so far: someone w/ 27 year(!!) history of T2D and on insulin. Now: biomarkers normal, 100% off of insulin. N=1, but you only need 1 to disprove a "truth"
I'm so proud of our
@virtahealth
science and particularly our Dr. Amy McKenzie (PhD) who just received the Young Investigator of the Year award from the National Lipid Association. One of many to come as we publish more
@virtahealth
research results!
This is a call for quality entrepreneurs - I want to (angel) invest and help...in a specific area that makes me sad and inspired to help: HEALTH because what's being sold is easy-click-bait snake oil and we need your real solutions.
That is...
This
@virtahealth
patient living w/ T2 diabetes got completely off of insulin and asked: "How did Virta do it in just 3 months when I’ve been struggling with type 2 diabetes for decades?" (indeed, too many millions are still needlessly suffering from T2D)
Great!
@TheEconomist
congrats on discovering that T2 diabetes is a massive problem facing the humanity. But please keep digging deeper for solutions if you think bariatric surgery is the only solution for "diabetes reversal". Start here: via
@virtahealth
Reading
@virtahealth
patient feedback for the day: (1/2) "Not done yet. Still need to lose 43 pounds. I'm still obese. But virta saved my life, my eyes, kidneys and heart. From inevitable pain and suffering. We reversed type II diabetes!!!! I'm so happy I cried..."
Fascinating how no peer-reviewed publication abt outcomes (we've published 6 papers to date) can convince a smart physician as well as N=1 exp with his/her own patient. From our patient today: "My PCP is amazed at these results. I think he is becoming a believer." V. typical! :-)
(2/2) These
@virtahealth
patient stories we hear every day always make me ask: why should living WITH T2 Diabetes (and on progressively more drugs) be even be an ethical option (recommended by anyone) if T2D can be reversed and diabetes Rx eliminated.
Thanks
@virtahealth
team, our patients and hundreds of large customers to get this far on our journey to reverse T2 diabetes. Now it's time to work even harder and take T2D reversal mainstream. And we will.
Finally SUGAR is hitting mainstream, thanks
@nytimes
>
When we did our in 2014, I got a lot of eye-rolls "sugar's everywhere, it can't be that bad...everything in moderation". Now most realize it's the silent-killer
#2
after tobacco
Classic example how a major American health care system celebrates their key annual results. In other words, volume of transactions or services rendered and not a single word about patient health outcomes or NPS or anything else that the CUSTOMER (=patient) really cares.
My favorite Zoom meeting of the week done: welcoming new
@virtahealth
employees into our rapidly growing team to scale T2 diabetes reversal. Welcome everyone! Best of all, we again had one of our Virta patients join the team as an employee now!
I'm reading
@virtahealth
patient feedback to prep for week "I have started running 2 miles/day during lunch bcos I have so much energy I don't know what to do with myself." I love these! This patient reversed T2D, got off of 4 meds while A1C down from 7.9 to 5.9. (w/o exercise!)
I sometimes get the question: “is Virta built for the 1% white folk living in big cities”. The answer is no, just the opposite,
@virtahealth
is for the 99%. Here’s just one example how we are reversing T2D among Native Americans. Great story, one of many:
This is both scary and uplifting. A comment from a
@virtahealth
patient through the
@DeptVetAffairs
"A month before I started this treatment, I was planning my funeral. I didn’t have any hope and you guys gave me hope."
Wow. Thx
@virtahealth
team for all the work that enables it
Q: If there was an FDA approved NAFLD/NASH drug delivering these exact results today without any side-effects in treating liver disease, what would be total worth (in $'s) of that drug? (I'm seriously curious)
Scanning
@virtahealth
patient feedback: "I’ve been on insulin for almost 5yrs, today will be the first day without it. And my breakfast...its weird to eat without taking insulin! :) I can get used to this very soon.” -- And so she says goodbye to needles, insulin and $$ wasted.
Developing nations jumped over fixed line telephones directly to mobile. After 5+ yrs in health care, it's pretty clear to me that health care delivery will follow the same: Virtual, continuous remote care will be built/enabled before traditional care delivery systems are built.
Reading
@virtahealth
patient feedback to finish off the day: "Virta is the
#3
most impactful thing I've ever done in my life after getting married and having a child."
And now I feel like I shouldn't end the day at 7:30PM!
Not too long ago our entire
@virtahealth
team barely filled a conference room in SF, now our Denver team alone is a force! Today’s team off-site in Denver (yes, hiring in Denver too: data engineers and clinicians!)
Wow, a whole new American Xperience: our 3y old is starting pre-school and I'm receiving more emails, updates and todo's from the school than as a CEO of a company. I thought schools exist to do this for parents rather than crowdsource it. In Finland kids just show up & thats it
I wasn't smart enough to get to Stanford MedSchool but a benefit of my
@virtahealth
job is an annual opportunity to speak there.
The best part: these wicked smart students restore my belief in humanity & ability to "fix" U.S. healthcare for the benefit of patients & tax payers!
A
@virtahealth
under 70d into the treatment sent this. I bet these results sound too good to be true for many.
My favorite line: "The doctor [their PCP] was so impressed he gave me a standing ovation".
Thanks
@virtahealth
team for your tireless efforts to change & save lives.
Very nice to see 50 companies that will change their industries (and the world) by
@CNBC
and have
@virtahealth
recognized among giants:
And now back to work to do what really matters: reverse more T2 diabetes cases:
Reading our
@virtahealth
patient charts and reports and one after another they read like someone came up with a miracle life-extensions drug. Typical: “Pt 24days into treatment, off ALL Invokana(SGLT2 diabetes drug),fasting blood sugar 204mg/dL, now 91. Weight 244lbs to 224lbs.
America has a solution to our obesity crisis!
It's a drug GLP-1:
* you'll be on it for the rest of your life
* you have to inject it w/ a needle
* costs about $11,000/p/year
* comes w/ decent side-effects
* weight loss about as good as w/
@virtahealth
...
How we explain
@virtahealth
treatment to prospective patients (people living w t2 diabetes) in a couple of minutes. While the science and implementation is complex, summary is simple:
10 years. $2 Trillion. No improvement in T2 Diabetes outcomes. A sad wow! (paper source via
@JAMA_current
)
So should we give up on improving T2D outcomes on a population level? Not yet - I'm sharing some exciting population level T2D outcome data here:
Based on last ~40y statistics, it seems that the Standard American Diet is leading into obesity, diabetes, several chronic diseases and inevitably premature death (on population level). Could one design even worse diet that consists of real food only(i.e. not poison)? Impossible?
Surprisingly I got myself frustrated by reading (not Twitter). Rare for me, but happened.
Reason: Been reading latest U.S. T2 diabetes statistics and outcomes papers. Maddening.
We’ve completely lost the war on T2D. Completely.
Nice contrast:
A) Study testing whether vitamin D could prevent diabetes ("no" is the answer). Worthy of
@NEJM
B) Study to test not just preventing, but actually reversing T2D & eliminating insulin (wasn't worthy of NEJM):
Oh boy, so many people asked me about the recent
@CBSNews
@60Minutes
feature on the GLP-1 class of (weight loss) drugs that I feel compelled to write my thoughts here - and lots to criticize (episode: ) 🧵
It's not year 2021BC, it is 2021, but I'll repeat my prediction that our most impactful companies driving down sick care costs will effectively help people to...
1. Sleep right
2. Eat right
3. Stay calm & sane
4. Move their bodies, not just brains
I'm not kidding. Go build.
Slow, expensive and painful = running 5+ year prospective clinical trial. Glad we
@virtahealth
did that to demonstrate that T2 diabetes reversal is both possible & sustainable. 8 new scientific abstracts just out at
@AmDiabetesAssn
science sessions: