Obesity is no longer just a lifestyle conversation. It’s a global health crisis, and the numbers reflect that. The market for weight loss medications alone is expected to reach nearly $87.72 billion by 2035, from its estimated $16.65 billion in 2026. This kind of expansion is attracting serious investment, serious science, and a new generation of businesses that are reconsidering the true nature of weight loss.
The companies on this list are neither selling meal replacement shakes nor are they offering inspirational retreat programs. They’re building medical devices, digital health platforms, pharmaceutical treatments and AI-powered tools that target obesity at a biological and behavioural level. Here are five that are currently the most active and reliable.
1. Oviva
Location: UK | Focus: Digital behaviour change for obesity and type 2 diabetes
Not all weight-loss companies are seeking the next drug. Oviva has decided to do things differently, with a focus on behavioural change and not biological change. The company is digitizing the management of Type 2 Diabetes and obesity using a behaviour change platform consisting of personalized dietary recommendations, a digital application, and individualized support to facilitate targeted dietary changes. Oviva has received a total of $127.5 million in funding so far and is operating mainly in Europe.
The good thing about Oviva is that they make clinically validated dietary support available to those people who are unable to access such services owing to long wait times or because of the high costs associated with consulting a registered dietitian.
As an obese individual, if you have other metabolic problems, then we would strongly suggest that you track your health parameters such as a lipid profile calculator along with a proper diet plan for obtaining a full-fledged view of what is actually happening inside the body.
The business model of Oviva is based on the same concept wherein instead of focusing only on obesity numbers, a holistic approach towards the metabolism of an individual is considered. So far, the firm has managed to raise $127.5 million in investment due to confidence in their approach by the investors.
2. Allurion Technologies
Location: USA | Focus: Swallowable gastric balloon and AI-powered virtual care
The company saw one of its most important milestones in February 2026, as the US Food and Drug Administration granted approval for the Allurion Gastric Balloon System, including the Allurion Smart Capsule, enabling Allurion Technologies to access some 80 million people in America that suffer from obesity. This is definitely a major milestone for a company that has been striving for this for years.
Allurion is different from the traditional methods of bariatrics mainly because it is non-invasive. Unlike traditional methods that include surgical insertion of an instrument, the Allurion Smart Capsule can be swallowed, without any need for a procedure, anaesthesia, or endoscopy. In combination with the Allurion Virtual Care Suite, consisting of AI technology-enabled behaviour modification programs and individual follow-ups from physician’s staff, patients can lose 14% of their body weight using one balloon cycle, and 20% using two balloon cycles.
In addition to this, the company provides patients with a connected scale and a mobile application. Thus, patients are provided not just with an implant, but with a continuous process of support and tracking, that is especially useful for those patients who cannot or do not want to undergo bariatric surgery.
3. Rivus Pharmaceuticals
Location: USA | Focus: Metabolic accelerators for obesity and cardiometabolic disease
Rivus Pharmaceuticals is working on a class of drugs that most people haven’t heard of yet, but probably will soon. The company is developing what it refers to as Controlled Metabolic Accelerators, or CMAs, which are oral drugs intended to increase the body’s resting metabolic rate so it burns more fat for energy without the need for exercise or dietary restriction.
The fact that Rivus focuses on what happens to muscle mass during weight loss—a problem that has become more apparent with the rise of GLP-1 medications—is one of the things that makes it unique.
Currently approved GLP-1 receptor agonists are associated with a substantial loss of lean muscle mass, with muscle accounting for 20 to 40% of total weight loss instead of fat. Rivus’s medications are specifically made to prevent that.
RV-8451, its top obesity candidate, is the first oral non-peptide GLP-1 agonist that preserves muscle and is intended to provide superior, fat-selective, and long-lasting weight loss. This is a business that should be closely monitored. It could drastically alter the standard of care for treating obesity if its candidates perform in human trials as well as they have in preclinical research.
4. Form Health
Location: USA | Focus: Medically supervised telehealth weight loss
Form Health is a telehealth platform that offers weight loss programs under the supervision of a physician completely online. The approach is quite simple—the patients receive assistance from a doctor and a registered dietician who develop an individualized treatment strategy that may include behavioral therapy, lifestyle modification, and pharmacological intervention.
Where Form Health stands out among other telehealth platforms is the degree of clinical management. Patients will not only fill a form and get a prescription but also receive continuous care and monitoring of the process. This kind of ongoing attention is typically not provided by regular weight loss programs because of their limited time frame.
In total, the company has already received funding for $64.3 million and continues to grow its presence in the country. As the number of people who need weight loss under medical supervision grows with the increasing popularity of GLP-1 drugs, the role of Form Health as a provider of this clinical structure becomes even clearer.
5. Vivtex
Location: USA | Focus: Next-generation oral weight loss drugs
Although Vivtex is the newest brand on this list, it is expanding quickly.
The Cambridge-based company, which was founded by scientists at MIT, developed a high-tech system known as a “GI tract on a chip” that uses robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) to test how drugs pass through the human digestive system. This system can quickly test thousands of drug formulations and predict how people will absorb them, far more accurately than traditional lab methods.
The Danish pharmaceutical behemoth behind Wegovy, Novo Nordisk, was drawn to that technology. In order to develop the next generation of oral medications for diabetes and obesity, Novo Nordisk announced a partnership with Vivtex. Vivtex will be entitled to royalties on future product net sales of up to $2. 1 billion.
The value of Vivtex’s platform technology to the industry is demonstrated by this remarkable deal for a startup. In the grand scheme of things, oral medications for weight loss are the next big front in the fight against obesity. Although injectable GLP-1s, such as Wegovy and Zepbound, have revolutionized patient outcomes, many people are hesitant to self-inject. Vivtex’s technology is made to help get there more quickly, and an effective oral alternative would open the market to a whole new group of patients.
Final Word
The science created by these five companies develops very fast and for those who suffer from obesity, this is good news indeed.
A swallowable device, a supervised telehealth program, a behavior change platform, a next-generation medication that preserves muscle, and a platform technology that could speed up everything that follows are all real options for the first time in a long time.
The days of advising people to “eat less and move more” and leaving it at that are slowly but surely coming to an end.
