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Using GLP-1s drug injections for weight loss has become one of the latest ways some big names in the market are shedding extra pounds. Elon Musk recently tweeted about how using Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy helped him lose weight. Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin recently told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” that using a different version of Novo Nordisk’s same drug, Ozempic, which is most commonly associated with diabetes care, made him much less hungry.

“The weekly shot is amazing. … I started this about a year ago, it’s been life changing for me,” Rubin said. 

Social media influencer Remi Bader said she was prescribed Ozempic after experiencing issues with insulin and weight gain.

GLP-1s — which stands for glucagon-like peptide-1 — are receptor agonists that work by imitating the effects of the GLP-1 hormone, activating GLP-1 receptors inside of the pancreas and producing more insulin inside the body. The insulin helps lower blood sugar levels, which can be helpful in managing Type 2 diabetes. GLP-1s also have been found to help with weight loss as they make individuals who use them feel fuller for a longer period of time.

It’s not only the GLP-1 drugs that are helping celebrities and the wealthy, but also their ability to receive high quality clinical and obesity care that helps them lose the weight, according to Zachariah Reitano, the co-founder and CEO of telehealth company Ro. That’s why his company has launched a program to offer GLP-1 drugs and corresponding medical care to individuals struggling with obesity or weight loss issues.

“I think what we’re able to do now is leverage all of the technology that we have to give everyone access to something that only a few people have access to now,” Reitano said in a recent interview with CNBC. 

Ro’s Body Program offers personalized treatment for GLP-1s and weight management. The year-long program uses a combination of GLP-1s and personal coaching. In clinical trials, these drugs have helped participants lose an average of 15% of their weight over a year.

Pairing personalized coaching with GLP-1s is the key to effective weight loss treatment, Reitano said, and helping patients maximize their results.

“I think what’s really important is, yes, it’s access to the medication … but once they have the medication, we want to hold their hand throughout the entire process, and we have built the technology to be able to do that at scale,” Reitano said.

With the Ro Body Program, participants are first diagnosed, entering information about their health history, any weight loss and obesity challenges, and lifestyle and diet, and then are sent an at-home lab test to obtain measures of A1C blood sugar test, cholesterol and kidney function, among other health metrics. Based on their test results and an initial consultation, a doctor may prescribe patients to start off with a low dosage of GLP-1s that is slowly ramped up over time to meet the desired dosage amount.

Diabetes, obesity and a nationwide drug controversy

Ozempic – the brand of semaglutide, a GLP-1 receptor agonist, marketed for Type 2 diabetes treatment – recently made headlines for a nationwide shortage as its use as a weight loss drug gained popularity. When Wegovy, the brand semaglutide marketed for weight management, began experiencing shortages, some using the medicine were prescribed off-brand Ozempic, makin the drug much harder to find. Many with Type 2 diabetes that relied on Ozempic to treat it have been left scrambling to find the medication. There have also been reports of people looking for weight loss help turning to multiple other drug solutions as a result of difficulty finding GLP-1 drugs.

Both obesity and Type 2 diabetes affect a large number of Americans. According to the CDC, the adult obesity rate in the United States was 41.9% in 2017, and about one in 10 people in the United States have Type 2 diabetes. Reitano said it is important to recognize both obesity and diabetes as diseases that deserve proper treatment.

“I think what we’re actually going to see over the next 5 to 10 years is a weight-centric approach to metabolic health,” Reitano said, who noted in a subsequent interview with CNBC’s “Mad Money” on Thursday night that his father’s personal experience with GLP-1 drugs was a motivating factor for his business decision. “I’ve seen GLPs have a tremendous impact on my dad,” he said.

He told CNBC’s Jim Cramer that the once a week injections do three “very, very important things” when comes to obesity. They help regulate sugar levels; they help regulate appetite; and they slow the passage of food from the stomach to the small intestine. This combination of controls has helped patients in clinical studies lose on average 15% of body weight over a year.

Novo Nordisk, Ozempic and Wegovy’s manufacturer, told NBC News last week the company is still experiencing supply chain issues that will last through the month, though access to some dosages of Ozempic for patients with Type 2 diabetes has improved.

The GLP-1 drug Wegovy for weight issues or obesity is approved for individuals with a BMI of 26-plus and co-morbidities, or those with a BMI of 30-plus.

A new real-time approach to weight management

Reitano said it should not be an either/or scenario involving diabetes management of weight loss and that will change over the next decade.

“If we saw obesity as a disease, and we’re both focused on preventing it but once it happens treating it and treating it as a disease, I think we’re going to see an entirely different approach,” he said.

Reitano said the weight loss and obesity management program fits within his company’s broader goal of changing the way patients receive medical care and reach health goals, from doctor visits to pharmacy and ongoing health issue management.

“High-quality obesity care is an important part of it,” he told Cramer. “Patients can’t just receive these medications and be left to their own devices.”

In addition to shipping the GLP-1 drug to a patient’s home, the Ro Body program tracks patients in real-time with remote monitoring. That is facilitated by a cellular-connected smart scale also sent to the patient which tracks weight and sends data to an app so medical professionals can tweak dosages of the drugs to make sure the patient is receiving the right dose to achieve the weight loss results they want. Patients also receive one-to-one coaching with nurses over the year-long period and up to 24 telehealth visits with a doctor.

“The speed with which we can communicate with patients, update their plans and really be there for them and guide them through this experience, and have that serve as a really strong compliment to their overall primary care, is one of the things I think we’re really excited about,” Reitano said in a recent phone interview with CNBC.

Price of these drugs, though, is an issue, with Wegovy costing as much as $1,700 a month without insurance. Reitano said Ro helps guide individuals through the insurance process and to get these drugs at the lowest price, but he conceded in his “Mad Money” interview that pricing in this pharmaceutical niche “can be challenging for patients.”

The Ro Body Program is the latest addition to Ro’s health care offerings. The company, which ranked No. 38 on the 2022 CNBC Disruptor 50 list, started off selling men’s health care products, helping to treat issues such as erectile dysfunction and hair loss, and has since expanded to provide multiple at-home services including pharmaceutical and fertility treatments. 

CNBC is now accepting nominations for the 2023 Disruptor 50 list – our 11th annual look at the most innovative venture-backed companies. Learn more about eligibility and how to submit an application by Friday, Feb. 17.

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Binance secures ‘largest investment ever’ in crypto as Abu Dhabi’s MGX pledges $2 billion

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Binance secures ‘largest investment ever’ in crypto as Abu Dhabi’s MGX pledges  billion

The Binance logo is displayed on a screen in San Anselmo, California, June 6, 2023.

Justin Sullivan | Getty Images

Emirati state-owned investment firm MGX announced a $2 billion investment into Binance, in what marks the cryptocurrency exchange’s first institutional investment and the “single largest investment” ever paird in crypto.

In a joint press release, the firms said the minority stake would be paid for in stablecoins, making it the “largest investment ever” paid in cryptocurrency. Stablecoins are a type of digital asset designed to hold a constant value, typically with a peg to a fiat currency. 

Abu Dhabi launched the MGX investment firm last year with a focus on AI technology. In September, MGX partnered with the likes of BlackRock and Microsoft to launch a more than $30 billion AI fund, but it had yet to invest in the cryptocurrency industry and blockchain sectors. 

“MGX’s investment in Binance reflects our commitment to advancing blockchain’s transformative potential for digital finance,” Ahmed Yahia, managing director and CEO at MGX, said in a statement.

The press release added that “by partnering with the leading industry player, MGX aims to enable innovation at the intersection of AI, blockchain technology and finance.”

Binance and MGX did not immediately comment on the size of the stake or what stablecoin would be used for the payment. Binance has not responded to an inquiry on whether the deal had been completed.

As part of the UAE’s broader ambitions to become a global technology leader, it has been growing into a regional crypto hub

Binance, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world, has grown its Middle East footprint as it faced regulatory hurdles and enforcement measures in other jurisdictions in recent years, 

According to the press release, Binance employs approximately 1,000 of its roughly 5,000 global workforce in the UAE. It adds that it now boasts over 260 million registered users and has surpassed $100 trillion in cumulative trading volume. 

Binance CEO Richard Teng is scheduled to take part in a panel session at CNBC’s CONVERGE LIVE in Singapore at 2:40 p.m. local time (2:40 a.m. ET) on Thursday.

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Meta goes to arbitrator to prevent whistleblower from promoting tell-all book

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Meta goes to arbitrator to prevent whistleblower from promoting tell-all book

This photo illustration created Jan. 7, 2025, shows an image of Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, and an image of the Meta logo.

Drew Angerer | Afp | Getty Images

Meta is seeking to stop the promotion of a new memoir by a former staffer that paints the social media company in an unflattering light, including allegations of sexual harassment by the company’s policy chief. 

An emergency arbitrator ruled Thursday that Sarah Wynn-Williams is prohibited from promoting “Careless People,” her book that was released Tuesday by Flatiron Books, an imprint of publisher Macmillan Books.

The memoir chronicles Wynn-Williams’ tenure at Facebook from 2011 through 2017. During that time, she became a high-level employee who interacted with CEO Mark Zuckerberg, then-COO Sheryl Sandberg and Joel Kaplan, the company’s current policy chief. In the book, Wynn-Williams alleges that Kaplan made a number of inappropriate comments to her, which she then reported to the company as sexual harassment.

“This is a mix of out-of-date and previously reported claims about the company and false accusations about our executives,” a Meta spokesperson previously said about both her book and complaint.

Wynn-Williams also details in her book the company’s various attempts to enter the Chinese market, including building tools that would censor content to appease the Chinese Communist Party. Wynn-Williams addressed some of these China-specific claims in a whistleblower complaint that she filed in April with the Securities and Exchange Commission, NBC News reported.

The emergency arbitrator ruled in favor of Meta after watching a podcast appearance of Wynn-Williams in which she discussed her memoir and her allegations that Meta was attempting to “shut this book down.”

“The Emergency Arbitrator finds that, after reviewing the briefs and hearing oral argument, (Meta) has established a likelihood of success on the merits of its contractual non-disparagement claim against Respondent Wynn-Williams, and that immediate and irreparable loss will result in the absence of emergency relief,” the filing said.

Additionally, the arbitrator ruled that so much as Wynn-Williams can control, she is prohibited from further publishing or distributing the book and from further disparaging Meta and its officers or repeating previous disparaging remarks. The arbitrator also ruled that Wynn-Williams is to retract her previous disparaging remarks.

The company has previously dismissed Wynn-Williams’ claims as “out-of-date” and said that she was fired for “poor performance and toxic behavior.”

Meta spokesperson Andy Stone shared the emergency arbitrator’s ruling in a post on Threads, saying that it “affirms that Sarah Wynn Williams’ false and defamatory book should never have been published.”

“This urgent legal action was made necessary by Williams, who more than eight years after being terminated by the company, deliberately concealed the existence of her book project and avoided the industry’s standard fact-checking process in order to rush it to shelves after waiting for eight years,” Stone said.

Meta alleged that Wynn-Williams violated the non-disparagement terms of her September 2017 severance agreement, resulting in the company filing an emergency motion on Friday. The emergency arbitrator then conducted a telephone hearing involving legal representatives of Meta and Macmillan Books, but not Wynn-Williams who did not appear though she was given notice, the filing said.

Wynn-Williams, Flatiron Books and Macmillan Books did not respond to requests for comment.

WATCH: What’s driving Meta’s stock run

What's driving Meta's stock run

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Intel appoints Lip-Bu Tan as new CEO, stock jumps 12%

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Intel appoints Lip-Bu Tan as new CEO, stock jumps 12%

Lip-Bu Tan appointed chief executive officer of Intel Corporation

Courtesy: Intel

Intel said on Wednesday that it had appointed Lip-Bu Tan as its new CEO, as the chipmaker attempts to recover from a tumultuous four-year run under Pat Gelsinger.

Tan was previously CEO of Cadence Design Systems, which makes software used by all the major chip designers, including Intel. He was an Intel board member but departed last year, citing other commitments.

Tan replaces interim co-CEOs David Zinsner and MJ Holthaus, who took over in December when former Intel CEO Patrick Gelsinger was ousted. Tan is also rejoining Intel’s board.

The appointment closes a chaotic chapter in Intel’s history, as investors pressured the semiconductor company to cut costs and spin off businesses due to declining sales and an inability to crack the booming artificial intelligence market.

Intel shares rose over 12% in extended trading on Wednesday.

Tan becomes the fourth permanent CEO at Intel in seven years. Following Brian Krzanich’s resignation in 2018, after the revelations of an inappropriate relationship with an employee, Bob Swan took the helm in Jan. 2019. He departed two years later after Intel suffered numerous blows from competitors and chip delays. Swan was succeeded by Gelsinger in 2021.

Gelsinger took over with a bold plan to transform Intel’s business to manufacture chips for other companies in addition to its own, becoming a foundry. But Intel’s overall products revenue continued to decline, and investors fretted over the significant capital expenditures needed for such massive chip production, including constructing a $20 billion dollar factory complex in Ohio.

Last fall, after a disappointing earnings report, Intel appeared to be for sale, and reportedly drew interest from rival companies including Qualcomm. Analysts assessed the possibility of Intel spinning off its foundry division or selling its products division — including server and PC chips — to a rival.

In AI, Intel has gotten trounced by Nvidia, whose graphics processing units (GPUs) have become the chip of choice for developers over the past few years.

In January, Intel issued a weak forecast even as it beat on earnings and revenue. The company pointed to seasonality, economic conditions and competition, and said clients are digesting inventory. The prospect of tariffs was adding to the uncertainty, Zinsner said.

Intel said that Zinsner will return to his previous role of CFO. Holthaus will remain in charge of Intel Products.

Intel was removed from the Dow Jones Industrial Average in November and was replaced by Nvidia, reflecting the dramatic change of fortune in the semiconductor industry. Intel shares lost 60% of their value last year, while Nvidia’s stock price soared 171%. At Wednesday’s close, Intel’s market cap was $89.5 billion, less than one-thirtieth of Nvidia’s valuation.

WATCH: Intel appoints Lip-Bu Tan as CEO

Intel appoints Lip-Bu Tan as CEO

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