By OPEN MINDS Circle
Pear Therapeutics, Inc. (Pear), which develops and markets prescription digital therapeutics (PDTs) acquired and/or licensed two new digital therapeutic technology assets intended to treat a spectrum of depression conditions. One was obtained from Waypoint Health Innovations, LLC, and the other was obtained from a researcher named Fredrik Holländare of Örebro University. Pear intends to leverage these two new assets to expand its depression product candidate PDT to treat mild, moderate, severe, and treatment-refractory depression.
Pear’s depression product candidate is being developed to be used alone or in combination with other treatments to help consumers with a wide range of depression symptoms. Pear intends to incorporate both newly acquired and licensed assets into its depression candidate PDT. A clinical evaluation will be conducted, and if the results are promising, Pear intends to evaluate it in a clinical trial to support submission to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
The asset acquired from Waypoint Health Innovations, is a digital therapeutic designed for treatment of depression based on structured and proven cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) techniques. The Waypoint asset delivers CBT through the use of standardized symptom assessments, video, interactive tools, and algorithms that dynamically personalize each individual’s experience. Although, the Waypoint asset has been the subject of published, preliminary clinical studies it has not been submitted to the FDA for review. Based on those clinical study outcomes, Pear believes the Waypoint asset has the potential to deliver treatment for depression of varying severity.
The Holländare asset involves internet-based CBT (iCBT) for the treatment of residual symptoms of depression and is aimed at preventing relapse. The treatment has nine modules, including an introduction to CBT and depression module, two modules on behavioral activation, cognitive restructuring, sleep and relaxation, mindfulness, physical activity, reducing anxiety, and defining long-term goals. The Holländare asset has been the subject of a published, preliminary clinical study but has not been submitted to FDA for review. Pear believes this asset has the potential to deliver treatment for relapsing depression.
Pear Therapeutics develops and markets PDTs for multiple therapeutic areas. Three of its PDTs have been authorized by the FDA for commercial use: reSET® and reSET-O® are for addiction treatment and opioid addiction treatment, respectively. Somryst® is a treatment for chronic insomnia. The PDTs are designed to engage consumers in treatment and provide tracking tools for clinical professionals. Its PDTs are designed to collect real world data for use by prescribing clinical professionals and for population health management by payers and health systems.
Pear’s end-to-end platform discovers, develops, and delivers PDTs to consumers. Pear’s platform is designed to be scalable with the ability to host multiple PDTs developed by Pear and potentially by third parties. Pear’s development platform, PearCreate™, is aimed toward the development of PDT candidates, and Pear’s commercial platform, PearConnect™, is aimed toward the commercialization of PDT products.
Contact information: Meara Murphy, Senior Director, Corporate Communications, Pear Therapeutics, Inc., 200 State Street, Boston, MA 02109; Email: meara.murphy@peartherapeutics.com; Website: https://peartherapeutics.com/