Virta Health’s Treatment for Sustained Type 2 Diabetes Reversal Provides New Hope for Chronic Disease Patients

SAN FRANCISCO, California – February 7, 2018: Virta Health, the first company with a clinically-proven treatment to safely and sustainably reverse type 2 diabetes and other chronic metabolic diseases without the use of medications or surgery, today announced the peer-reviewed publication of 1-year results from its ongoing clinical trial, now 2.5 years in duration. The study augments Virta Health’s existing body of peer-reviewed research, which proved that the Virta Treatment could systematically reverse type 2 diabetes in as little as 10 weeks. Newly released data demonstrates that diabetes reversal rates are sustained and in fact improved at one year, while metrics of other chronic conditions, such as obesity, blood pressure, cardiovascular disease and inflammation, are also substantially improved.

“What’s exciting about this new data is both the sustainability of the outcomes and the improvements in other comorbidities, such as high blood pressure, inflammation and heart disease,” said Sami Inkinen, CEO and Co-Founder of Virta Health. “I am more excited than ever about what this means for our current and future patients, not to mention the impact we can make on the economic burden of chronic disease as we scale towards our long-term goal of reversing type 2 diabetes in 100 million people by 2025.”

By combining highly-individualized nutritional ketosis, medical supervision, and innovations in technology and artificial intelligence, the Virta Treatment helps people eliminate medications safely and sustainably while simultaneously lowering blood sugar and restoring metabolic health. Virta’s continuous remote care model—near real-time access to physicians and other clinical team members via a mobile device—reinvents diabetes treatment to allow for scale to millions of people. Enterprises, such as Virta customer Purdue University, are benefitting too by promoting a healthier workforce and experiencing significant savings for each employee receiving the Virta Treatment.

"Our approach is actually changing the diabetes care model," said Dr. Sarah Hallberg, Virta Medical Director and principal investigator of the study. "With continuous remote care, we provide patients ongoing and immediate access to our clinical team, which is critical for both safe and effective reversal of type 2 diabetes, especially for patients taking medications."

Key Study Findings

The study, published today in the peer-reviewed healthcare journal Diabetes Therapy, evaluates health outcomes after one year for 262 adults with diagnosed type 2 diabetes who received the Virta Treatment, and an additional 87 adults with type 2 diabetes who received usual care from their doctors and diabetes educators. Key findings of the Virta Treatment group at one year include:

• 60 percent of those completing one year had type 2 diabetes reversed (HbA1c < 6.5% while taking no glycemic control medications or only metformin).
• 83 percent remained enrolled in the trial.
• 94 percent of insulin users reduced or stopped usage altogether.
• Participants experienced 1.3 percent average reduction in HbA1c (while reducing or eliminating medications).
• Participants achieved 12 percent weight loss on average.

Usual care participants had no significant changes to HbA1c, weight or diabetes medicine use. With the Virta Treatment, however, results go beyond blood sugar and obesity reduction and included the following statistically significant changes:

• 24 percent decrease in triglycerides
• 18 percent increase in HDL-C (i.e. ‘good’ cholesterol)
• 39 percent decrease in C-reactive protein (a marker of inflammation)
• Decrease in both systolic and diastolic blood pressure

“The continued improvement experienced by Virta Health patients, combined with the safety of the Virta Treatment, not only provides hope for those living with type 2 diabetes, but also for those with other chronic metabolic diseases,” said Dr. Ethan Weiss, Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of California San Francisco and a member of the Cardiovascular Research Institute (CVRI). “As a physician, I hear from my patients that they are desperate for ways improve their health. The Virta Treatment gives them the chance to actively reduce disease burden while also reducing medications. This is highly unusual.”

To learn more about the Virta Treatment and to view the full results of the 1-year study, please visit www.virtahealth.com

About Virta Health

Virta Health delivers the first clinically-proven treatment to safely and sustainably reverse type 2 diabetes and other chronic metabolic diseases without the use of medications or surgery. At one year, 60% of patients in our clinical trial achieved diabetes reversal, 94% of insulin users reduced or eliminated usage altogether and 83% of patients remained active in the trial. Results extended beyond diabetes reversal, with sustained improvements in blood pressure, inflammation, cardiovascular markers, insulin resistance and weight loss. For enterprises, Virta can save thousands of dollars in medical expenses per patient while tying treatment fees to successful outcomes. The Virta Treatment, delivered through a technology-enabled online clinic, will help millions of people get their lives back while making type 2 diabetes a thing of the past.