Hi there,

Healthcare’s got a BIG scaling issue.

It’s been plaguing healthcare systems for decades and is only getting worse. One might call it a chronic issue…

That’s right. I’m talking about chronic disease management.

By 2030, chronic diseases are expected to account for 70% of total global deaths and 56% of the global burden of disease.

On top of that, there is a global physician shortage and current solutions — such as traditional medication and surgery — aren’t cutting it.

Sounds like an opportunity for innovation. In fact…

Earlier this month we surveyed our audience for 2022 healthcare predictions, and we asked, “Where is the biggest opportunity for disruption/innovation in 2022 in healthcare?” The response was clear: a third of you (33%) picked “Chronic care management.”

Enter digital therapeutics

Digital therapeutics (DTx) offer a powerful solution to healthcare’s chronic disease management problem.

These software-driven therapies — which are used to prevent, manage, or treat diseases — are delivered through a variety of technologies, such as mobile apps, virtual reality, and connected devices.

With an abundance of such devices in patients’ hands today, DTx could fill the care delivery gaps our providers cannot reach.

The highly fragmented market has exploded with new and existing vendors targeting a variety of chronic conditions — from diabetes to smoking cessation to musculoskeletal issues. 

And it's not just investors showing interest in the tech. In fact, business relationships between DTx companies and healthcare stakeholders — including pharma, payers, and providers — have increased as well.

What do these collaborations mean for the future of the DTx space? Clients can find out here.

The road ahead

We’ve spent a lot of time thinking about digital therapeutics here at CB Insights. Below is a sample of our additional DTx research reports:

• Digital Therapeutics Outlook: The Tech Transforming The Way We Treat And Manage Disease
• State Of Digital Therapeutics Q3’21

Want to go deep on the best DTx vendors in diabetes and musculoskeletal disorders? Check out our evaluations of each market below:

• Diabetes Digital Therapeutics For Healthcare Payers — ESP Vendor Matrix
• Musculoskeletal Digital Therapeutics For Healthcare Payers — ESP Vendor Matrix

Here are a few additional opportunities and challenges for DTx that we’ll be tracking in the coming year: 

• Building standardized reimbursement models for wider patient adoption
• Expansion of clinical evidence to support efficacy
• Digital therapeutics’ role in bringing healthcare delivery into the home

Stay healthy,
Amanda DiTrolio

P.S. Thank you to Max for your help compiling the newsletter this week!

P.P.S. Are you looking for the best place to write data-driven healthcare research? We are hiring for a senior analyst on our healthcare team.

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NEWS

Pfizer bets on DTx. Pfizer is teaming up with digital therapeutics (DTx) startup Alex Therapeutics to provide evidence-based digital therapeutics to patients in Germany. The DTx platform leverages software-driven cognitive behavioral therapy to treat nicotine addiction.
Cision

At-home ophthalmology. Home health company MedArrive announced its partnership with tele-ophthalmology startup Spect. MedArrive will use Spect’s AI-enabled mobile imaging device to perform at-home eye screenings for diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, and age-related macular degeneration. 
Fierce Healthcare

Early FDA approvals. Medtronic received FDA approval for its spinal cord stimulation therapy Nevro, which aims to treat chronic pain resulting from diabetic peripheral neuropathy. The approval comes a full year before analysts’ expectations.
MedTech Dive

Siri takes blood tests. Digital diagnostics company PocDoc will launch the first smartphone-based test for cardiovascular disease this spring. Users will be able to perform a full 5-marker lipid panel — the gold standard for cardiovascular assessment — in just 6 minutes, compared to the traditional days- to week-long timeline.
Med-Tech Innovation News

DEALS
 

Glooko acquires xBird IO. Virtual diabetes platform Glooko acquired digital biomarkers startup xBird IO to expand its product offerings. xBird’s AI-enabled analytics platform uses data collected from sensors and wearables — digital biomarkers — to identify future health risks for diabetes patients.
 

LatAm dollars. Virtual care platform Nilo Saude raised a $10M Series A round led by Global Founders Capital and SoftBank Latin America Fund. The fresh funds will help improve and expand features of its telemedicine platform.
 

Blood mutation money. Precision medicine company TenSixteen Bio launched with a $40M Series A round from Foresite Capital and GV. The company is leveraging clonal hematopoiesis (CHIP) methods to address somatic mutations in the blood, which have implications across various cancers and cardiovascular diseases.
 

D2C drug delivery. Digital pharmacy Alto Pharmacy secured a $200M Series E financing from SoftBank’s Vision Fund. Since its last equity round 2 years ago, the company has grown its revenue to over $700M ARR (up 100% in the last 12 months) and expanded across 12 markets.
 

More DTx SPACs? Digital therapeutic video game developer Akili Interactive Labs announced it will be taken public through a SPAC merger. This is the third DTx company to enter the public markets via SPAC, following Pear Therapeutics’ and Better Therapeutics’ Q4’21 announcements.

PERSPECTIVES
 

The domino effect for at-home testing. The Omicron variant has increased demand for at-home rapid Covid tests, but antigen kits are just the beginning of a diagnostic revolution. Yonatan Adiri — founder and CEO of smartphone-based diagnostics startup Healthy.io — discusses the opportunities and challenges at-home testing solutions face in the future, including improved efficacy and reduction in costs.

STAT News
 

Precision medicine unlock. There’s a lot of talk around the future of precision medicine, but what needs to happen to get there? In this article, CIOs highlight key investment categories and technologies — such as next-gen sequencing tools, pharmacogenomics, and data infrastructure — that will make precision medicine a reality.

Healthcare IT News