Digital therapeutics company Pear Therapeutics has inked a deal with pharmacy benefits manager (PBM) RemedyOne, allowing the latter to offer and administer benefit coverage for the formers’ prescription-addiction-focused therapies reSET and reSET-O to its customers.
Both reSET and reSET-O have FDA clearances. In fact, reSET was the first software-only therapeutic to get the designation. reSET focuses on treating individuals with substance use disorder and reSET-O was specifically designed to treat individuals with opioid use disorder. In both of the tools, the therapy is delivered by a software that can be accessed on a patient’s smartphone.
WHY IT MATTERS
Since the inception of digital therapeutics, the question of reimbursement was on the table. While they may need a prescription in many cases, the delivery mechanism is very different from an ingestible pill. The other question that this partnership is addressing concerns distribution models.
“This marks an important milestone in increasing access to two products that address the biggest healthcare crisis in America before the pandemic – a crisis that has gotten worse because of the pandemic. We commend RemedyOne for supporting patients on their recovery journey as they are also grappling with isolation, social distancing and increased stress brought on by COVID-19,” Dr. Corey McCann, president and CEO of Pear Therapeutics, said in a statement. “This coverage decision also marks an important milestone in increasing access to PDTs by adding them to a standard formulary so that they can be optimally utilized. Our goal is to ensure that the more than 20 million people in the U.S. living with SUD and OUD have access to reSET and reSET-O.”
THE LARGER TREND
It’s been a rocky road for Pear’s commercialization efforts. Originally Pear teamed up with Sandoz, a division of Novartis, to commercialize reSET and reSET-O. However, in October, news broke that Novartis planned to hand back sole responsibility for the commercialization of the therapeutics back to Pear.
Nevertheless, Pear has continued to be one of the frontrunners in the digital therapeutics space, and is looking to roll out more therapies. In April it took advantage of the FDA loosening up regulations for digital psychiatric-disorders devices during the coronavirus crisis and rolled out its new therapeutic aimed at treating schizophrenia. It also landed clearance for Somryst, a prescription digital therapeutic for chronic insomnia, which was the first to be evaluated through the FDA's Digital Health Software Precertification Program.
