Pear Therapeutics PDT- Any lessons for the industry?

Posted on April 26, 2023  •  2 minutes  • 229 words

Pear Therapeutics, one of the innovator companies in the space of Prescription Digital Therapeutics (PDT) last week declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy. PDTs are software-based medicines, designed to directly treat diseases. They are tested for safety and efficacy through randomized clinical trials just like drug products before approval. Pear Therapeutics has 3 FDA-approved prescription DTX on the market; reSET®, reSET-O®, and Somryst®. These however could not secure the financial position of the company. In a statement released on its official website, the company stated that ‘Our hope is that our business and/or products will be purchased so that another company can provide them to patients. Pear Therapeutics is not accepting new prescriptions for its products’. Link to full statement. Pear Therapeutics Files for Chapter 11 and Will Seek to Sell Assets Through Sales Process - Pear Therapeutics (US) The experience of Pear Therapeutics reinforces 2 important factors at the heart of producing and commercializing assets in the digital health space.

• Charting a sustainable reimbursement pathway after approval – It is not sufficient to only receive approval for these assets, but to sync it into the current healthcare system to allow for reimbursement.
• Accurately forecasting the market potential despite the uncertainties surrounding PDT – It is important to not fall into the trap of over-estimating the market potential available for new innovations especially in the healthcare space which evolves relatively slowly.