Shots:
- HLTH Europe 2026 brought together healthcare leaders, innovators, and policymakers to explore the future of healthcare delivery, digital transformation, patient engagement, and value-based care. Among the key topics discussed was the growing role of GLP-1 therapies and how data-driven care models are reshaping chronic disease management.
- Withings Health Solutions is helping advance this transformation through connected care programs that combine remote monitoring, patient engagement, and real-world data to improve adherence and long-term health outcomes. The company advocates for integrating medication, digital tools, services, and data to create more effective and sustainable healthcare pathways.
- PharmaShots welcomes Antoine Pivron, Vice President, Health Solutions at Withings, who shares insights on GLP-1 innovation, value-based reimbursement, patient engagement, AI-powered healthcare, and the evolving role of connected health technologies in improving outcomes.
Aditya: At Health Europe, discussions around GLP-1 therapies are expanding beyond weight management toward chronic disease prevention. How do you see GLP-1s reshaping the broader preventive care landscape over the next few years?
Antoine: GLP-1 therapies are transforming healthcare. With the growing consumerization of healthcare, people are becoming more informed about their health, collecting their own data, and actively participating in treatment decisions. This marks a significant shift from a physician-led model to a more patient-driven approach.
Historically, healthcare awareness meant marketing to prescribers. Today, it increasingly means engaging consumers who may eventually become patients. Companies that fail to adapt to this shift risk becoming irrelevant in the coming years.
I strongly believe in partnerships that bring together complementary expertise. For example, we recently announced a partnership with Novo Nordisk. A few years ago, it would have been difficult to imagine a technology company and a pharmaceutical company collaborating so closely. Today, we are combining data, digital solutions, and therapeutics to improve outcomes.
This combination of medication, digital tools, services, and data should become the new standard of care.
Aditya: Withings Health Solutions supports more than one million patients through remote monitoring programs. What insights are emerging from real-world patient data that traditional clinical measures may be overlooking in GLP-1 treatment journeys?
Antoine: A significant portion of our business focuses on obesity care, particularly supporting patients using GLP-1 therapies. Today, we monitor more than half a million GLP-1 patients through connected devices and caregiver-supported programs.
The data clearly demonstrates the value of combining medication with services and digital monitoring. At six months, retention rates for patients using GLP-1 therapies are 50%. In contrast, when medication is combined with services and data-driven support, we see 97% retention after six months and 93% after 12 months..
This is more than a product metric. It represents the difference between a treatment that succeeds and one that fails. The key is creating a confidence loop for patients through education, engagement, and ongoing support, helping them stay committed to their health goals.
Aditya: Weight loss often dominates the conversation around GLP-1 therapies. Why is it important for healthcare providers and payers to focus on broader indicators such as body composition, cardiovascular health, and long-term outcomes?
Antoine: One of the biggest misconceptions is linking GLP-1 therapies solely to obesity. The goal is not simply losing weight; it is losing the right weight.
While monitoring weight is important, body composition is far more meaningful. Healthcare providers need to understand whether patients are losing fat mass rather than muscle mass.
Beyond reaching a target weight, maintaining health outcomes is equally important. Continuous monitoring of key biomarkers helps assess risks related to cardiovascular disease, hypertension, sleep apnea, and other conditions.
You cannot improve what you do not measure. Tracking these indicators enables care teams to guide patients effectively and personalize interventions related to nutrition, physical activity, and lifestyle.
Aditya: Europe is often viewed as following the U.S. in adopting innovative healthcare models, but with more complex reimbursement structures. What lessons can European healthcare systems learn from the U.S. experience with GLP-1 therapies and value-based care?
Antoine: One challenge in many European healthcare systems is that providers are often compensated based on activity rather than outcomes. In many cases, incentives are tied to the number of appointments rather than patient health improvements.
I believe there is much Europe can learn from value-based care models in the U.S. While the U.S. system is not perfect, it offers important lessons around aligning incentives with outcomes.
In our experience working with payers in the U.S., they are willing to invest when they can clearly measure patient engagement, retention, and health outcomes. By sharing relevant data, we help demonstrate the value being delivered and support continued reimbursement.
We have reached a point where many payers no longer view digital health solutions as a cost but as a means of reducing long-term healthcare expenditures. This mindset is particularly relevant as healthcare systems face growing numbers of chronic disease patients and shortages of healthcare professionals. Success should increasingly be defined by outcomes rather than services delivered.
Aditya: Many stakeholders are shifting the discussion from treatment costs to outcome value. How do you envision outcome-based reimbursement models changing the way GLP-1 therapies are evaluated and funded?
Antoine: This aligns closely with the broader transition toward value-based care. Future reimbursement models will increasingly focus on measurable outcomes, patient engagement, treatment adherence, and long-term health improvements, rather than simply funding access to therapies. Data will play a critical role in demonstrating value and supporting sustainable reimbursement decisions.
Aditya: Looking ahead, what distinguishes successful obesity and chronic disease management programs from those that simply prescribe medication without leveraging continuous patient engagement and healthcare data?
Antoine: The value of combining medication with engagement and data is no longer a theoretical concept. It has been demonstrated through measurable outcomes and return on investment.
Our 93% six-month retention rate is based on data from more than half a million patients, not a small clinical study. This allows us to clearly demonstrate both the benefits for patients and the economic value for payers.
The challenge today is not technology. The technology already exists. The real challenge is ensuring patients have access to these tools and creating systems that effectively connect stakeholders and data sources.
The next major focus will be designing healthcare systems that integrate data, technology, and care delivery in a way that improves efficiency and outcomes.
Aditya: As AI continues to evolve, how do you see its future in healthcare, and how are you utilizing AI within your organization?
Antoine: AI is having an impact across every part of our organization, from operations and automation to research and product development. It has significantly accelerated our R&D roadmap.
For example, within the next few months, we plan to launch risk-scoring capabilities that can assess cardiovascular risk factors through a connected scale. Users will be able to receive insights related to conditions such as hypertension and diabetes simply by stepping on the scale. AI has made it possible to develop these capabilities much faster than would have been possible otherwise.
At an organizational level, we encourage every employee to adopt AI in their daily work. AI is not about replacing people; it is about changing how people work. Organizations that fail to embrace AI risk falling behind.
What makes this moment particularly interesting is that everyone is learning simultaneously. There is no established playbook. The only way to understand AI’s potential is through active experimentation and adoption. Companies must remain focused on discovering new ways to work and collaborate effectively.
About Antoine Pivron
Antoine Pivron serves as Vice President, Health Solutions at Withings, where he leads the company’s B2B healthcare business across the US and Europe. Reporting directly to Founder and CEO Eric Carreel, he oversees the development and deployment of patient-centric digital health solutions that empower care teams and improve patient outcomes. Since helping launch the Health Solutions division in 2019, Antoine has played a pivotal role in bridging consumer technology with clinical care, supporting more than one million patients through collaborations with over 300 healthcare partners worldwide. He holds a double degree in International Business and is passionate about advancing accessible, efficient, and personalized healthcare through innovation.
