Novartis and Pear Therapeutics will develop new treatments for patients with schizophrenia and multiple sclerosis, with Pear’s prescription digital therapeutics that are made to deliver clinically-proven treatments, such as cognitive behavioral therapy, to patients through mobile and desktop applications.
Once approved, they may be prescribed alongside drug therapies and have the potential to be developed to treat a range of diseases.
Novartis has entered into a collaboration with Pear Therapeutics to develop novel prescription digital therapeutics, which is a part of its strategy to work with digital health players to drive the next wave of medical innovation.
Jay Bradner, President of the Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research, said that with widespread adoption of digital devices, prescription digital therapeutics could play an important role in future treatments for a range of diseases.
Novartis will work with Pear on clinical development of its THRIVE digital therapeutic for patients with schizophrenia. THRIVE has shown potential usability, retention and preliminary efficacy in patients with schizophrenia in early clinical studies, Novartis noted. The companies will also work on new therapeutic application for helping mental health burden in patients with multiple sclerosis.
Corey McCann, President and CEO of Pear pointed out that the collaboration further supports the clinical viability of prescription digital therapeutics as an emerging treatment modality and we are poised to execute on that opportunity.
Pear is a leader in developing prescription digital therapeutics, gaining the first FDA clearance, in September 2017, for a software application with a safety and efficacy label to treat patients. Novartis invested in Pear’s Series B round of financing announced in January 2018.