未上市可穿戴设备公司 Whoop 任命前 FDA 委员会主席为首席医疗官

Whoop Inc., the maker of popular screenless fitness trackers, tapped a former FDA committee chair to be its next chief medical officer after a recent tussle with the federal regulator.

The executive, Dr. Ami Bhatt, is a board-certified cardiologist and was the inaugural chair of the US Food and Drug Administration’s Digital Health Advisory Committee, whose purview includes technologies such as wearables, artificial intelligence and virtual reality.

Bhatt started at Whoop last week, Chief Executive Officer Will Ahmed said in an interview. She will be involved in discussions with the FDA and publishing research. “Now is the right time to bring on a chief medical officer,” he said, noting that the company has been more intentional about investing in health and medical capabilities over the last few years.

Boston-based Whoop is making the addition during a period of rapid growth. The company reached a $10 billion valuation earlier this year and has said it plans to increase its staff by as much as 75% in 2026 as it prepares for a likely public listing.

Whoop, which introduced its first fitness tracker more than a decade ago, initially catered to a niche audience of elite athletes, but has since expanded its focus to mainstream consumers. A key part of this strategy has been adding more health-tracking features.

The Blood Pressure Insights tool offered on its Whoop MG tracker initially drew ire from the FDA, which sent the company a warning letter arguing that the MG was operating as an unauthorized medical device. Whoop refused to remove the feature and the FDA dropped its complaint last month. A Whoop representative said that Bhatt was not involved in the warning letter during her time at the FDA.

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Whoop has since said it made modifications to the tool and its labeling. In an interview, Bhatt said she is eager to delve into the area of continuous data tracking, something she said was not available to her when treating patients who could usually not quantify what had happened between visits.

In addition to her role as an FDA committee chair, Bhatt previously served as chief innovation officer of the American College of Cardiology and director of outpatient/telecardiology at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Whoop had been without a chief medical officer since late 2022, when it appointed Dr. Patrick Carroll, only for him to return a month later to his previous employer, Hims & Hers Health Inc.