BALTIMORE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--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.

巴尔的摩--（商业新闻短讯）--Medifast（纽约证券交易所代码：MED），一家以其基于习惯和教练指导的生活方式解决方案OPTAVIA®而闻名的健康与健康公司，今天启动了其业务转型的第一阶段，作为其向美国各地客户提供全面健康与健康解决方案的承诺的一部分。

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.

该公司将通过与领先的虚拟初级保健提供商LifeMD，Inc.（纳斯达克股票代码：LFMD）的合作，扩展到医疗支持的减肥市场。这项合作将OPTAVIA基于个人习惯、教练指导的方法与董事会认证的附属LifeMD临床医生的医学专业知识结合在一起，并提供包括GLP-1在内的减肥药物。

This establishes Medifast’s entrance into the medically supported weight loss market, which is expected to reach up to $100 billion by 2030.*.

这为Medifast进入医学支持的减肥市场奠定了基础，预计到2030年，该市场将达到1000亿美元。*。

'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.

Medifast董事长兼首席执行官丹·查德（DanChard）表示：“这是我们业务中的一个关键时刻，因为我们开始了积极的转型，为OPTAVIA品牌投入了前所未有的资源，并推动了这一不断发展的健康和福祉领域的增长。”。“数百万人正在寻求一种解决方案，我认为我们有独特的优势来提供。

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.”.

Medifast和LifeMD希望共同提供一种从体重管理开始的全面健康方法，该方法围绕一个强大的支持模型构建，该模型包括一名独立的OPTAVIA教练和一名董事会认证的附属临床医生。作为一家拥有长期科学和临床遗产的医生创办的公司，我们仍然致力于帮助更多的人使健康的生活方式成为第二天性。”。

Strategic Collaboration with LifeMD

与LifeMD的战略合作

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.

Medifast已承诺向LifeMD投资2000万美元，其中预计将有1000万美元用于支持合作，为LifeMD平台、运营和支持基础设施的改进提供资金，并购买1000万美元的LifeMD普通股。关于Medifast的投资，LifeMD已同意习惯性要求和附带登记权，该登记权可能自2023年12月11日起五年内到期，并授予Medifast董事会观察员权利，允许其参加LifeMD的董事会会议，但无表决权。

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..

Medifast和LifeMD之间的合作旨在创建一个全面的健康解决方案，以应对不断升级的肥胖危机，包括通过将临床医生护理与一对一的OPTAVIA教练支持、社区支持、临床证明的计划和科学开发的产品相结合，解决日益增长的医学支持减肥需求，以及专有的Habits of Health®变革系统。。

Medifast selected LifeMD as its partner following a successful pilot program focused on providing personalized care to support holistic health rather than weight loss alone. Independent research commissioned by Medifast revealed that most individuals interested in weight loss medications are looking for support beyond prescriptions, including clarity on how to incorporate components of healthy living, such as proper nutrition and exercise, into their lifestyles while utilizing these medical solutions.

Medifast选择LifeMD作为其合作伙伴，这是一个成功的试点项目，重点是提供个性化护理，以支持整体健康，而不仅仅是减肥。Medifast委托进行的独立研究表明，大多数对减肥药物感兴趣的人都在寻求处方之外的支持，包括明确如何在利用这些医疗解决方案的同时将健康生活的组成部分（如适当的营养和锻炼）纳入其生活方式。

LifeMD brings a robust and scalable technology platform, which allows for a highly tailored and streamlined coach and clinician-driven model, and has invested in building a clinical team anchored by full-time employed clinicians licensed to practice in all 50 states. This patient-centric care model creates significant opportunity for future collaborations that result in better support for individuals looking to reach their health goals at any point within their journeys..

LifeMD带来了一个强大且可扩展的技术平台，该平台允许高度定制和简化的教练和临床医生驱动的模型，并已投资建立一个由在所有50个州获得执业许可的全职临床医生组成的临床团队。这种以患者为中心的护理模式为未来的合作创造了重要机会，从而为希望在旅途中的任何时候实现健康目标的个人提供更好的支持。。

“A shared philosophy of prioritizing holistic care and focus on lifelong health makes this a natural collaboration between our two companies,” said Justin Schreiber, Chairman and CEO of LifeMD. “Medifast’s investment in LifeMD is affirmation of our differentiated virtual care platform and clinical care model that provides tremendous value for our partners, addressing the unique health goals of our combined customer bases across multiple healthcare sectors and conditions.

LifeMD董事长兼首席执行官贾斯汀·施雷伯（JustinSchreiber）表示：“优先考虑整体护理和关注终身健康的共同理念使这成为我们两家公司之间的自然合作。”。“Medifast对LifeMD的投资是对我们差异化虚拟护理平台和临床护理模式的肯定，它为我们的合作伙伴提供了巨大的价值，解决了我们跨多个医疗保健部门和条件的综合客户群的独特健康目标。

LifeMD is pleased to partner with Medifast to deliver a new model that has the ability to significantly transform the weight management industry.”.

LifeMD很高兴与Medifast合作，推出一种能够显著改变体重管理行业的新模式。”。

This month, Medifast launched two new product bundles designed specifically for those utilizing medically supported weight loss: “OPTAVIA Nutrition Kit for Medically Supported Weight Loss” and “OPTAVIA Muscle Health Kit for Medically Supported Weight Loss”. Evidence suggests that the loss of lean body mass can range from 20-50% of total weight loss for those on medically supported weight loss medications.** With the inclusion of these product bundles, OPTAVIA provides the tools to make healthy eating - and a healthy lifestyle - second nature, both at the start of a medical weight loss journey and while transitioning off medication..

本月，Medifast推出了两个专门为那些利用医学支持减肥的人设计的新产品包：“用于医学支持减肥的OPTAVIA营养试剂盒”和“用于医学支持减肥的OPTAVIA肌肉健康试剂盒”。有证据表明，对于那些服用医学支持的减肥药物的人来说，瘦体重的减轻可能占总体重减轻的20%至50%。*通过纳入这些产品包，OPTAVIA提供了使健康饮食和健康生活方式成为第二天性的工具，无论是在医学减肥旅程的开始还是在停止服用药物的过程中。。

Investment in Growth and Capital Allocation

增长投资和资本配置

The company has updated its capital allocation priorities following a thorough review. Medifast’s Board of Directors has elected to discontinue the company’s quarterly cash dividend, effective immediately. The Board of Directors believes that discontinuing the dividend at this time is in the best interest of the company and its stockholders, as it allows the company to redirect capital to invest in technology and growth initiatives.

经过彻底审查，该公司更新了其资本配置优先事项。Medifast董事会决定停止公司的季度现金股息，立即生效。董事会认为，此时停止派息符合公司及其股东的最佳利益，因为它允许公司将资本重新用于投资技术和增长计划。

This is intended to improve customer acquisition and customer experience, which the company expects will generate higher long-term stockholder returns, as well as allow for stock repurchases when management and the Board deem it appropriate. The investments include a new marketing campaign designed to increase brand awareness and drive customer adoption..

这旨在改善客户获取和客户体验，公司预计这将产生更高的长期股东回报，并在管理层和董事会认为合适时允许回购股票。这些投资包括一项旨在提高品牌知名度和推动客户采纳的新营销活动。。

“The LifeMD collaboration is just one of several major growth initiatives we plan to capitalize on in the years ahead, and we believe investing in our business will deliver the most compelling long-term return for our stockholders. Discontinuing the dividend provides the flexibility needed to continue evolving our model as we enter an exciting new chapter for our independent OPTAVIA Coaches, customers, employees and stockholders,” added Chard..

“LifeMD合作只是我们计划在未来几年利用的几个主要增长计划之一，我们相信投资我们的业务将为我们的股东带来最引人注目的长期回报。停止股息提供了继续发展我们的模式所需的灵活性，因为我们的独立OPTAVIA教练cu进入了令人兴奋的新篇章斯托默斯、员工和股东，”查德补充道。。

Conference Call Information

电话会议信息

A conference call to discuss the collaboration is scheduled for today, Wednesday, December 13, 2023, at 10:00 AM EST. The call will be broadcast live over the Internet, hosted on the Investor Relations section of Medifast’s website at www.MedifastInc.com or directly at https://viavid.webcasts.com/starthere.jsp?ei=1647146&tp_key=8c4bcb15e1 and will be archived online and available through March 13, 2024.

定于2023年12月13日（星期三）美国东部时间上午10:00召开电话会议，讨论合作事宜。该电话将通过互联网直播，由Medifast网站的投资者关系部分（www.medifastnc.com）主持，或直接在https://viavid.webcasts.com/starthere.jsp?ei=1647146&tp_key=8c4bcb15e1并将在线存档，到2024年3月13日可用。

In addition, listeners may dial (877) 451-6152 to join via telephone. A telephonic playback will be available from 2:00 PM EST, December 13, 2023, through December 20, 2023. Participants can dial (844) 512-2921 and enter access code 13743024 to hear the playback. Slides describing the announcement are available at https://ir.medifastinc.com/events..

此外，听众可以拨打（877）451-6152通过电话加入。电话回放将于2023年12月13日美国东部时间下午2:00至2023年12月20日提供。参与者可以拨打（844）512-2921并输入访问代码13743024来收听播放。有关此次发布的幻灯片，请访问https://ir.medifastinc.com/events..

About Medifast

关于Medifast

Medifast (NYSE: MED) is the health and wellness company known for its habit-based and coach-guided lifestyle solution OPTAVIA®, which provides people with a simple, yet comprehensive approach to help them achieve lasting optimal health and wellbeing. OPTAVIA's lifestyle plans deliver clinically proven health benefits as well as evidence-based tools, including scientifically developed products and a framework for habit creation reinforced by independent Coaches and Community support.

Medifast（纽约证券交易所代码：MED）是一家健康与保健公司，以其基于习惯和教练指导的生活方式解决方案OPTAVIA®而闻名，它为人们提供了一种简单而全面的方法，帮助他们实现持久的最佳健康和福祉。OPTAVIA的生活方式计划提供了临床证明的健康益处以及基于证据的工具，包括科学开发的产品和由独立教练和社区支持加强的习惯创造框架。

As a physician-founded company with a 40+ year history, Medifast is a leader in the U.S. weight management industry. Through a collaboration with the national virtual primary care provider LifeMD, OPTAVIA customers have access to board-certified affiliated clinicians and medications, such as GLP-1s, that support treatment plans for obesity and other health conditions.

作为一家拥有40多年历史的医生创办的公司，Medifast是美国体重管理行业的领导者。通过与国家虚拟初级保健提供者LifeMD的合作，OPTAVIA客户可以获得董事会认证的附属临床医生和药物，如GLP-1，以支持肥胖和其他健康状况的治疗计划。

The company continues to innovate and build upon its scientific and clinical heritage to fulfill its mission of offering the world Lifelong Transformation, One Healthy Habit at a Time®. Medifast was recognized in 2023 by Financial Times as one of The Americas' Fastest Growing Companies and in 2022 as one of America's Best Mid-Sized Companies by Forbes.

该公司继续创新，并在其科学和临床遗产的基础上再接再厉，以实现其为世界提供终身变革、一次一个健康习惯的使命®。2023年，《金融时报》将Medifast评为美国增长最快的公司之一，2022年《福布斯》将其评为美国最好的中型公司之一。

For more information, visit MedifastInc.com and OPTAVIA.com and follow @Medifast on X..

有关更多信息，请访问medifastnc.com和OPTAVIA.com，并在X上关注@Medifast。。

For further information: Public Relations: Jessica Oring, Jessica.Oring@medifastinc.com; Investor Relations: Steven Zenker, Steven.Zenker@medifastinc.com

更多信息：公共关系：杰西卡·奥林，jessica.oring@medifastinc.com；投资者关系：Steven Zenker，steven.zenker@medifastinc.com

Forward Looking Statements

前瞻性声明

Please Note: This release contains 'forward-looking statements' within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These forward-looking statements generally can be identified by use of phrases or terminology such as 'expect,' “believe,” “anticipate,” or other similar words or the negative of such terminology.

请注意：本新闻稿包含《1995年私人证券诉讼改革法案》、经修订的《1933年证券法》第27A节和经修订的《1934年证券交易法》第21E节所指的“前瞻性声明”。这些前瞻性陈述通常可以通过使用短语或术语来识别，例如“期望”，“相信”，“期望”或其他类似的单词或此类术语的否定词。

Similarly, descriptions of Medifast's objectives, strategies, plans, goals, outlook or targets contained herein are also considered forward-looking statements. These statements are based on the current expectations of the management of Medifast and are subject to certain events, risks, uncertainties and other factors, including, among others: risks associated with Medifast's direct-to-consumer business model; the success of collaborations entered into to bring Medifast’s products to additional customer demographics; planned investments; disruptions in Medifast's supply chain; Medifast's inability to continue to develop new products; effectiveness of Medifast's advertising and marketing programs, including use of social media by independent OPTAVIA Coaches; Medifast's inability to maintain and grow the network of independent OPTAVIA Coaches; the departure of one or more key personnel; Medifast's inability to protect against product liability claims; Medifast's planned growth into domestic and international markets; adverse publicity associated with Medifast's products; fluctuations of Medifast's common stock market price; the prolonged effects of COVID-19 on consumer spending and disruptions to Medifast's distribution network, supply chains and operations; increases in competition or litigation; and the consequences of .

同样，本文中对Medifast的目标、战略、计划、目标、前景或目标的描述也被视为前瞻性陈述。这些声明基于Medifast管理层当前的期望，并受到某些事件、风险、不确定性和其他因素的影响，其中包括：与Medifast直接面向消费者的商业模式相关的风险；成功的合作将Medifast的产品带到了更多的客户人口统计中；计划投资；Medifast供应链中断；Medifast无法继续开发新产品；Medifast广告和营销计划的有效性，包括独立OPTAVIA教练使用社交媒体；Medifast无法维持和发展独立OPTAVIA教练网络；一名或多名关键人员离开；Medifast无法防范产品责任索赔；Medifast计划进军国内和国际市场；与Medifast产品相关的负面宣传；Medifast普通股市场价格波动；新型冠状病毒肺炎对消费者支出的长期影响以及对Medifast分销网络、供应链和运营的破坏；竞争或诉讼增加；以及的后果。

*Terence Flynn, Framing the Mounjaro bull case in diabesity, Morgan Stanley Research, 9/14/23

*特伦斯·弗林（Terence Flynn），在《恶魔》（diabesity）一书中描述了Mounjaro公牛案，摩根士丹利研究院（Morgan Stanley Research），9/14/23

**Sargeant JA, Henson J, King JA, Yates T, Khunti K, Davies MJ. A Review of the Effects of Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonists and Sodium-Glucose Cotransporter 2 Inhibitors on Lean Body Mass in Humans. Endocrinol Metab. 2019;34(3):247-262. doi: 10.3803/EnM.2019.34.3.247.

**Sargeant JA，Henson J，King JA，Yates T，Khunti K，Davies MJ。胰高血糖素样肽-1受体激动剂和钠-葡萄糖协同转运蛋白2抑制剂对人体瘦体重影响的综述。内分泌代谢。2019年；34（3）：247-262。doi:10.3803/EnM.2019.34.3.247。