Our guest today, Anand Parikh, General Counsel and Head of Business Development at Virta Health, joins the podcast for the first part in our series on Innovation in Chronic Disease Management. Anand began his career as Senate Fellow for the California State Senate and a clerk for the United States District Court. He then practiced at Morrison & Foerster LLP before joining Virta in 2015 as the company’s Chief of Staff, and 5th employee, and moving into his current role in 2016.
Virta is a treatment that safely and sustainably reverses type 2 diabetes without medications or surgery. Virta achieves this through innovations in nutritional biochemistry, data science, and digital tools combined with clinical expertise to shift the diabetes treatment paradigm from management to reversal. The company’s mission is to reverse type 2 diabetes in 100 million people by 2025 and they have some exciting clinical evidence and proven patient results to support that goal.
A big thanks to the team at FundRx, an early stage healthcare & life science VC firm, for their help in arranging this interview. Their online platform at FundRx.com is an end-to-end sourcing, screening, and investment tool for their community of Venture Partners, composed of leading physicians, scientists, industry executives, and entrepreneurs looking to fund and support high-potential early stage startups.
In this episode, we cover:
Anand’s background and his career and what led him to Virta
The evidence that existed behind what Virta was trying to achieve when he joined the company
The story of how the company came to be, how it was founded, and where the original business model came from
Anand’s main responsibilities as General Counsel and Head of Business Development
How the Virta Health model works from a diet and coaching perspective
How Virta’s technology platform has evolved over time
How Virta leverages the data collected to iterate on the platform
How Virta has taken something like diabetes treatment, which is inherently a high-touch and personal, and added a technology layer while ensuring not only patient buy-in but compliance
The uses of behavioral economics Virta Health employs to drive patient change
Anand tells us about the exciting results of Virta Health’s recent 1 Year Clinical trial
The main goals of Virta’s recent fundraise
Connect with Anand:
Connect with Virta
Effectiveness and Safety of a Novel Care Model for the Management of Type 2 Diabetes at 1 Year
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