For those closely watching the evolution of the Digital Therapeutics (DTx) market, here's a note...

For those closely watching the evolution of the Digital Therapeutics (DTx) market, here's a noteworthy update: Following Pear's bankruptcy, their key FDA-cleared apps, reSET and reSET-O, have found new life. These DTx solutions, designed for substance abuse treatment, have been relaunched by PursueCare, a U.S.-based company specializing in online addiction counseling.

While these DTx have demonstrated clinical effectiveness, the challenge of establishing a sustainable business model remains. It will be interesting to see how these therapies perform within a broader platform focused on addiction care.

Reflecting on past experiences — especially for those of us involved in early partnerships (like us at Novartis) — it's clear that we may have been overly optimistic about the potential of DTx to succeed independently, similar to traditional pharmaceuticals. What was obviously underestimated was the significant effort required to generate actual demand for a totally novel therapeutic technology.

If you're currently developing a DTx, I encourage you to keep an open mind about your go-to-market strategy.

For more details, check out the full story on STAT (note: behind a paywall, but worth the read).

https://www.statnews.com/2024/08/22/pear-pursuecare-reset-digital-therapeutic-substance-abuse/