Medifast Initiates Business Transformation by Entering the Medically Supported Weight Loss Market through Collaboration with LifeMD, a Virtual Primary Care Provider, and Adjusting its Capital Allocation Policy

Medifast (NYSE: MED), the health and wellness company known for its habit-based and coach-guided lifestyle solution OPTAVIA, today launched the first phase of its business transformation, as part of its commitment to providing comprehensive health and wellness solutions to customers across the United States. The company will expand into the medically supported weight loss market through a collaboration with LifeMD, Inc. (Nasdaq: LFMD), a leading provider of virtual primary care. This collaboration brings together OPTAVIA’s personalized habit-based, coach-guided approach with medical expertise from board-certified affiliated LifeMD clinicians and access to weight loss medications, including GLP-1s. This establishes Medifast’s entrance into the medically supported weight loss market, which is expected to reach up to $100 billion by 2030.*

"This is a pivotal moment in our business as we begin an aggressive transformation, committing more resources than ever before to our OPTAVIA brand and driving growth in this evolving health and wellness landscape,” said Dan Chard, Chairman and CEO of Medifast. “Millions of people are seeking a solution that I believe we are uniquely positioned to provide. Together, Medifast and LifeMD expect to deliver a comprehensive approach to health starting with weight management, built around a powerful model of support that includes an independent OPTAVIA Coach and a board-certified affiliated clinician. As a physician-founded company with a long-standing scientific and clinical heritage, we remain committed to helping even more people make living a healthy lifestyle second nature.”

Strategic Collaboration with LifeMD

Medifast has committed to make a $20 million investment in LifeMD, including an expected $10 million in contributions to support the collaboration, funding enhancements to LifeMD’s platform, operations and supporting infrastructure along with the purchase of $10 million of LifeMD’s common stock. In connection with Medifast’s investment, LifeMD has agreed to customary demand and piggyback registration rights which may expire no later than five years from December 11, 2023, and granted Medifast board observer rights, allowing for participation, without voting rights, in LifeMD’s Board meetings. The collaboration between Medifast and LifeMD is intended to create a comprehensive health solution to combat the escalating obesity crisis, including addressing the growing demand for medically supported weight loss by integrating clinician care with one-on-one OPTAVIA Coach support, community support, clinically proven plans and scientifically developed products, and a proprietary Habits of Health Transformational System.