Digital Therapeutics Pioneer Pear Therapeutics Raises $20M
PEAR is creating a portfolio of prescription digital therapies to enhance medication efficacy and treat disease
Boston, MA and San Francisco, CA (PRWEB) February 03, 2016
Pear Therapeutics (PEAR), the creator of prescription digital therapies called eFormulations™, announced today that it has successfully closed on a $20M equity financing. 5AM Ventures, Arboretum Ventures, and JAZZ Venture Partners led the round, with participation from Bridge Builders Collaborative and several additional investors. The investment will allow PEAR to build and launch a portfolio of eFormulations, including reSET™ and reSET-O™, PEAR’s digital therapies for treating Substance Use Disorder (SUD).
“PEAR is at the forefront of a new field in medicine, digital therapeutics, and we are looking forward to working with the PEAR team, along with our syndicate partners, to pave the way forward for patients globally,” said Andy Schwab, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, at 5AM Ventures.
PEAR is developing digital therapies, called eFormulations, to treat disease and enhance the efficacy of pharmaceuticals. PEAR validates the efficacy of these digital therapies by conducting randomized clinical trials, and ultimately submitting the products for FDA approval. “By combining novel digital interventions with drugs, PEAR has demonstrated the ability to enhance efficacy well beyond anything that is commercially available or in clinical development. eFormulations have the ability to quickly elevate the standard of care for many of the disorders of the brain and beyond,” said Corey McCann, President and CEO of PEAR.
“From mobile applications, to virtual reality, to predictive analytics, PEAR’s digital therapeutics platform directly boosts medication efficacy, well beyond enhanced compliance. The proof is ultimately in the clinical data, and we are incredibly excited to back the PEAR team as they push toward FDA approval, and the delivery of these products to patients,” said Zack Lynch, General Partner at JAZZ Venture Partners.
PEAR’s first products, reSET and reSET-O, are proprietary digital therapies comprised of a patient-facing smartphone application and a clinician-facing web interface that treat SUD. reSET and reSET-O have been tested and validated in 6 randomized clinical studies involving more than 1500 patients with SUD. In a pivotal randomized trial, 399 patients seeking treatment for SUD related to cocaine, alcohol, cannabis, and stimulants across 10 treatment centers received either face-to-face therapy or reSET in lieu of therapist time. Patients receiving reSET in lieu of therapist time demonstrated significantly higher rates of abstinence and higher rates of retention in treatment than patients receiving face-to-face therapy alone. The Company plans to submit the digital therapeutic, reSET, for FDA approval in the first half of 2016. PEAR has also developed reSET-O, an eFormulation that combines the reSET modules with pharmacotherapy for Opiate Dependence. In three separate randomized clinical trials involving over 465 patients, reSET-O has shown the ability to enhance abstinence, enhance retention in treatment, and reduce required clinician intervention time in Opiate Dependence.
“Given the dearth of treatment options for patients suffering from SUD, we are excited to launch reSET and reSET-O. These products have demonstrated clinical data supporting enhanced abstinence, enhanced retention in treatment, enhanced quality measures like Addiction Severity Index (ASI), and significantly reduced clinician intervention time. Enhancing efficacy while reducing costs is the holy grail for healthcare technology,” said Tim Petersen, Managing Director at Arboretum Ventures.
In addition to PEAR’s addiction products, the Company is launching on its platform a pipeline of eFormulations for treating many of the disorders of the brain. The Company’s product targeting schizophrenia has already demonstrated patient usability and clinical efficacy in combination with multiple medications, and is currently being examined in multiple large-scale clinical trials involving patients with schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, and bipolar disorder. PEAR has also developed products enhancing medications for treating chronic pain, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), general anxiety disorder (GAD), major depressive disorder (MDD), and insomnia. These products integrate into the PEAR Platform, a modular and secure cloud-based platform for pushing patient-facing interventions and collecting and displaying data to providers and payors.
About Pear Therapeutics
Pear Therapeutics is a privately held eHealth company with offices in Boston and San Francisco. The Company develops digital therapies to address a broad range of severe conditions including addiction, schizophrenia, pain, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression, and sleep. PEAR’s eFormulation™ platform combines pharmaceutical preparations with user-friendly, customizable, and scientifically validated software applications. PEAR’s patented approach provides better outcomes for patients, smarter engagement and tracking tools for clinicians, and cost-effective solutions for payors. For additional information please visit our website at http://www.peartherapeutics.com.
About Substance Use Disorder (SUD)
SUD is a chronic, relapsing disease, impacting more than 21.6 million US individuals over the age of 12. Every year, SUD results in over 200,000 deaths worldwide, and the downstream consequences of SUD are estimated to cost society more than $400 billion. Only 11% of individuals with SUD in the US receive treatment, with lack of access cited as a major barrier to receiving treatment; more than 96% of US counties lack qualified clinicians to treat SUD. For patients who do receive care, there is significant variability in quality, frequency, and utilization of evidence-based therapies across providers as well as discrepancies between research and real-world adherence to guidelines.
About 5AM Ventures
Founded in 2002, 5AM Ventures actively invests in next-generation life science companies. The firm is currently investing 5AM Ventures IV, L.P., a $250 million venture capital fund that closed in 2013. With $685 million under management, 5AM has invested in over 55 early-stage companies and its successful realizations include DVS Sciences (acquired by Fluidigm), Envoy Therapeutics (acquired by Takeda), Flexion Therapeutics, Ikaria (acquired by Mallinckrodt), Ilypsa (acquired by Amgen), Incline Therapeutics (acquired by The Medicines Company), Marcadia (acquired by Roche), Novira (acquired by J&J), Pearl Therapeutics (acquired by AstraZeneca) and Relypsa. For more information, please visit http://www.5amventures.com.
About Arboretum Ventures
Arboretum Ventures is a venture capital firm specializing in the healthcare sector. Founded in 2002 and located in Ann Arbor, the firm manages $450 million in capital and has invested in more than 35 companies. Arboretum focuses on medical device, diagnostic, healthcare IT, and healthcare service companies that can achieve significant milestones and value creation in a capital-efficient manner. More than simply a financial resource, Arboretum is a collaborative, value-added investor actively engaging our portfolio companies in strategy, operations, recruiting, fundraising, and exit planning. Arboretum’s guiding vision is to identify transformative healthcare companies that are developing improved and less costly solutions that address significant healthcare problems. For more information, please visit http://www.arboretumvc.com.
About JAZZ Venture Partners
JAZZ Venture Partners invests in companies developing experiential technology that improve human performance. At the intersection of digital consumer platforms, such as virtual and augmented reality, and neuroscience, these companies are impacting health, mind-body wellness, peak mental and physical acuity, accelerated learning and training, sports, and entertainment. For more information, please visit http://www.jazzvp.com.
