WeightWatchers Returns With a Plan for the New GLP-1 World

WeightWatchers is no longer content to stew about its seemingly slender prospects in the Wegovy era. 

After the GLP-1 onslaught plunged the company into Chapter 11 submission in May, the dieting brand emerged from bankruptcy last week to announce it had successfully trimmed the fat from its considerable debt load, built a strategy for success moving forward, and plans to relist on the Nasdaq.

GLP-One of Us

It’s worth remembering that the company, which rebranded as WW International in 2019, was already in trouble before a little weekly injectable came along that promised the same results as being a WeightWatchers client without the arduous processes of carefully scheduled workout classes and calorie-counted meals. The pandemic had already crushed its in-person business, and business never recovered. In 2018, the company reported annual revenue of $1.5 billion; by 2021, that had fallen to $1.2 billion, and by 2024, a measly $800 million.

By May, company lawyers proclaimed in a bankruptcy hearing that an “evolution in consumer preferences and the rapid rise of GLP-1s” made it unable to service its $1.6 billion debt load. Now? WeightWatchers wants to turn GLP-1s from poison pill to bottom line miracle drug, among other plans to rev up new revenue:

• The company has struck a deal with Novo Nordisk to sell weight loss drug Wegovy directly to clients on its online platform at $299 per month. WeightWatchers set the stage for such a movie in 2023 when it acquired telehealth company Sequence for $132 million.
• The company also plans to push into menopause treatment plans, which it says is designed to address a broader gap in healthcare. “It is a very natural overlap. In the perimenopausal and menopausal phase, up to 70% of women experience weight gain,” newly hired Chief Medical Officer Dr. Kim Boyd told Reuters last week.

The Ringer: The company will also have help from someone who knows the GLP-1 industry with great intimacy. As it emerges from bankruptcy, WeightWatchers has appointed a new board of directors — among them former Eli Lilly president Mike Mason, who helped pioneer the GLP-1 industry. “As medical treatments like GLP-1s become more widely used, the need for trusted, comprehensive care models that combine medication with lasting lifestyle change has never been greater,” Mason said in a statement.