WEIGHT LOSS BRANDS
Launch a weight loss brand on Tessic Health
Tessic Health runs the clinic behind a weight loss brand. Licensed providers screen and prescribe in all 50 states, GLP-1 fills ship cold at the pharmacy's wholesale price, and patients buy through a storefront with your name on it. The brand owns the patients and the revenue; Tessic charges $25 per completed consult and adds nothing to the medication.
50
States with licensed providers
0%
Markup on every GLP-1 fill
2-8°C
Cold-chain shipping for injectables
$25
Flat per completed consult
CLINICAL
What your weight loss patients get
Every patient follows the same clinical path, run by providers credentialed under your brand. The brand chooses the programs and the prices; providers make every prescribing decision.
01
Online intake and eligibility
Patients report weight, height, health history and current medications. Providers apply the FDA label criteria for GLP-1 weight loss drugs: a BMI of 30 or higher, or 27 or higher with a weight-related condition such as high blood pressure or type 2 diabetes.
02
Safety screening
Patients with a personal or family history of medullary thyroid cancer or MEN 2, a history of pancreatitis, or a current or planned pregnancy are screened out before any prescription is written.
03
Lab work before starting
Providers can order a metabolic panel, A1C and lipid panel through contracted labs. Results post straight to the patient's chart.
04
Slow dose increases
Doses step up on the label schedule, about every four weeks, with a provider check-in before each increase.
05
Help with side effects
Patients message the clinic about nausea or other side effects. Providers can hold or lower the dose or prescribe anti-nausea medication, and they escalate anything serious.
06
Refills at a steady dose
Once a patient reaches a maintenance dose, refills renew on the fill cycle with periodic provider review, timed so the charge, the shipment and the check-in land in the same week.
MEDICATIONS & PROTOCOLS
What your providers can prescribe
Weight loss programs on Tessic start from the medications below. Providers choose among them for each patient after an evaluation.
| Medication | Form | Used for | How it is filled |
|---|---|---|---|
| Semaglutide (Wegovy) | Weekly injection pen | Chronic weight management | Retail or specialty pharmacy, shipped cold |
| Tirzepatide (Zepbound) | Weekly injection, pen or vial | Chronic weight management | Retail pharmacy or the manufacturer's direct program |
| Oral semaglutide (Wegovy tablets) | Daily tablet | Chronic weight management | Retail or mail-order pharmacy |
| Compounded semaglutide or tirzepatide | Weekly injection, vial | Only with a documented, patient-specific medical reason | 503A pharmacy, one named patient per prescription |
| Bupropion-naltrexone (Contrave) | Daily tablet | Chronic weight management | Retail or mail-order pharmacy |
| Metformin | Daily tablet | Insulin resistance; weight support is off-label | Retail or mail-order generic |
| Ondansetron | Tablet, as needed | Nausea while doses step up | Retail or mail-order generic |
Left off the list on purpose
Each of these would put the brand's ad accounts, payment accounts or medical licenses at risk.
Mass-made copies of Wegovy or Zepbound
FDA lists both drugs as no longer in shortage, so pharmacies may not compound copies of them. A compounded GLP-1 is filled only when a provider documents a medical reason the approved product does not suit that patient.
Phentermine and other controlled appetite suppressants
These are Schedule IV controlled substances, and prescribing them by telehealth depends on DEA rules and state law. They sit outside the standard protocol and are added only after a state-by-state review.
Unapproved and research-only GLP-1s
Drugs still in clinical trials, and anything sold as a research chemical, are never prescribed. Every fill comes from a licensed pharmacy.
Every prescription is the treating provider's decision after an individual evaluation, and a listing here does not mean every patient qualifies. Off-label means FDA has not approved the drug for that use; providers may still prescribe it when clinically appropriate.
PHARMACY
How the medicine gets to patients
GLP-1s are expensive, sensitive to heat and closely watched by regulators, so the pharmacy side of a weight loss brand decides both its margin and its risk.
01
Branded GLP-1s at the pharmacy's price
Wegovy, Zepbound and other approved products fill through licensed retail and specialty pharmacies, or through the manufacturer's own cash-pay program where a patient qualifies. The brand pays what the pharmacy charges.
02
Compounding only by exception
When a provider documents a patient-specific medical reason, a state-licensed 503A pharmacy compounds the prescription for that one patient. Nothing is made in advance or in bulk.
03
Cold from pharmacy to door
Injectable GLP-1s ship refrigerated at 2 to 8°C in insulated packaging. A shipment that arrives warm is handled as a clinical incident and replaced.
04
Licensed in every state it ships to
Mail-order pharmacies in the network hold a license for each state they ship into, so a patient anywhere in the 50 states can be filled.
0%
Markup on every fill, on every plan
The brand is billed the pharmacy's wholesale invoice. Tessic adds nothing to the medication and takes no share of what the brand charges patients.
COMPLIANCE & ADVERTISING
The rules for selling weight loss treatment
What regulators and ad platforms check before a weight loss brand can sell and advertise.
What regulators check
01
Pharmacy-made copies need a medical reason
With the semaglutide and tirzepatide shortages over, the window for compounding copies at scale has closed, and FDA has proposed removing both from the list of ingredients outsourcing facilities may compound in bulk. Each compounded prescription needs a documented, patient-specific clinical reason in the chart.
02
Compounded is not FDA-approved
A compounded GLP-1 cannot be called generic Wegovy, the same as Ozempic, or FDA-approved. FDA has sent warning letters to telehealth companies over claims like these, including a round to 30 companies in early 2026.
03
Drug brand names belong to the drugmaker
Wegovy, Ozempic, Zepbound and Mounjaro are trademarks. Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly have sued sellers who used the names or the pen imagery to market compounded products.
04
A real evaluation before every prescription
State medical boards expect a provider to evaluate each patient before prescribing. A checkout that promises a prescription before the evaluation is a red flag for regulators and for LegitScript.
What ad platforms check
01
Careful with before-and-after photos
Meta restricts before-and-after images that promise weight loss results, and weight loss ads must target people 18 and older.
02
Talk about the program, never the viewer
Meta's personal-attributes rule bans copy such as "Struggling with your weight?" Ads can describe the program and the provider evaluation.
03
Typical results, stated plainly
Testimonials that show large losses need to disclose what patients generally lose. Clinical-trial results belong to the drug that was studied, and a compounded product cannot borrow them.
04
Show the full monthly price
An advertised price has to match checkout, medication included. If the price rises with the dose, the ad should say so.
Rules for every category
LegitScript certification
Google, Meta and the major card processors check for LegitScript certification before a telehealth brand can advertise prescription treatment or take card payments. Tessic prepares and files the application as part of setup.
Subscription billing
The Restore Online Shoppers' Confidence Act requires the recurring price and terms to be clear before checkout, the buyer's express consent to the charge, and a simple way to cancel.
Health data and ad pixels
Tracking pixels that pass health information to ad platforms have drawn FTC and HHS enforcement. Conversion tracking on a clinic site has to keep intake answers and diagnoses out of what reaches Meta and Google.
Proof behind every claim
The FTC expects competent and reliable scientific evidence behind health claims, and testimonials have to reflect what typical patients experience.
Rules checked September 2026. A planning summary, not legal advice. Rules change, LegitScript sets its own review schedule, and certification is never guaranteed. The brand's own counsel should review its marketing before launch.
LAUNCH TIMELINE
How fast your clinic opens
Most weight loss brands take their first patients within a week of the discovery call. Paid ads start once LegitScript certification clears.
Day 0
Discovery call
The brand picks its medications, price points and launch states. Tessic confirms which pharmacy routes cover each product.
Days 1-3
Clinic build
Providers are credentialed under the brand, the weight loss intake and eligibility rules are loaded, and the storefront goes up with the brand's name and prices. Tessic prepares the LegitScript application.
Days 3-5
Pharmacy and test orders
Cold-chain shipping is switched on, and test orders run end to end, from intake to a refrigerated delivery.
Days 5-7
First patients
The clinic opens to patients from the brand's own channels: email lists, organic social, creators and referral partners.
After certification
Paid ads
Once LegitScript certification clears, Google and Meta campaigns can run against a clinic that is already taking patients.
Timelines assume the brand's name, domain and pricing are ready at the discovery call.
UNIT ECONOMICS
What one patient is worth
A sample model for one patient on a monthly GLP-1 program at $299 a month. The brand sets the price, medication passes through at wholesale, and Tessic's only per-patient fee is $25 per completed consult.
- Program price, set by the brand
- $299.00
- Semaglutide 1 mg, 4 weeks, at wholesale (assumed)
- −$142.00
- Provider consults: 6 a year at $25, spread monthly
- −$12.50
- Cold-chain shipping (assumed)
- −$15.00
- Card processing (3% of price, assumed)
- −$8.97
- Contribution per patient, monthly40% of price, before marketing
- $120.53
9
Patients to cover the Launch plan's $1,000 monthly fee
17
Patients to cover the Grow plan's $2,000 monthly fee
67
Patient-months to earn back the $8,000 Launch setup fee
$12.50
Tessic's monthly fee on this patient, against $72.50 on a 30% markup and 10% revenue-share model
Illustrative only, not a quote or a forecast. The brand sets its own prices; lines marked assumed are sample costs, and the real pharmacy invoice passes through at 0% markup. Contribution is before marketing, the monthly platform fee and taxes. The comparison model applies a 30% medication markup and a 10% revenue share, within the range commonly seen in white-label agreements.
COMMON QUESTIONS
Questions about launching a weight loss brand
Only where a provider documents a patient-specific medical reason, filled by a state-licensed 503A pharmacy on a prescription for that one patient. FDA has declared both shortages over, so compounding copies of Wegovy or Zepbound at scale is no longer allowed. Branded products fill through licensed pharmacies at the pharmacy's price.
The treating provider, every time. Providers apply the FDA label criteria and screen for conditions that rule a GLP-1 out. The brand sets pricing and marketing; clinical decisions stay with licensed clinicians under the friendly-PC structure.
Injectable GLP-1s ship at 2 to 8°C in insulated packaging from pharmacies licensed in the patient's state. A shipment that arrives warm is treated as a clinical incident and replaced.
After LegitScript certification clears. Tessic prepares and files the application during setup, and the clinic can take patients from the brand's own channels in the meantime. LegitScript sets its own schedule, and certification is never guaranteed.
The plan's flat monthly fee, $25 per completed consult, and nothing on the medication. Tessic takes no revenue share, so a patient paying $299 a month costs the brand the same platform fees as one paying $499.
OTHER CATEGORIES
Launch in another category
Every plan includes every treatment category, so a brand can add a second one later on the same account.