Digital therapeutics (DTx) are becoming more prominent offerings in healthcare. Questions are now arising around which stakeholders will pay for these products and how accessible they’ll be for patients.

Learn what exactly digital therapeutics are and how they will change the face of healthcare in the future. "In Other News," we examine the strength of United Healthcare's offerings and Google's new health services search feature. Tune in to the discussion with our analyst Rajiv Leventhal.

The US is ready for gamified therapy: Video game-based digital therapeutic pioneer Akili is set to go public later this year. We detail why it won’t be the last of its kind to do so as the number of gamers grows in the US.

VR’s potential in digital therapeutics is muted thanks to barriers like cost and unclear efficacy: On the back of VR DTx startup MindMaze’s $125M, we detail the operational barriers stymieing it and its peers from making a wide scale impact in healthcare anytime soon.

Digital therapeutics (DTx) were gaining popularity as tools to help slash the US’ $3 trillion annual spending on chronic disease, and the pandemic has vaulted digital therapies into the spotlight. Now, the Teladoc-Livongo megamerger is heating up competition in the DTx space as players race to capture a slice of a market slated to reach $56 billion by 2025.

Digital MSK vendors like Kaia Health and Limber Health have already hopped on the hybrid car train—which means it won’t be long before other digital therapy competitors implement a similar strategy to retain customers.

In July 2021, it received the first ever FDA breakthrough device designation for a digital therapeutic for managing heart failure (BiovitalsHF). And this past February, it launched Biofourmis Care—an AI-powered specialty care platform that uses RPM and virtual care to target chronic condition management.

And both Sanofi and Boehringer Ingelheim poured funds into digital therapeutics (DTx) company Click Therapeutics’ previous raises. Not to mention, Sanofi recently inked a $30 million multiyear contract with DTx entrant DarioHealth to commercialize digital therapies for conditions like diabetes, hypertension, musculoskeletal health, and mental health.

That adds to its digital therapeutics offerings via its Livongo acquisition. Hims & Hers acquired teledermatology startup Apostrophe last June. This added to its mental health, reproductive health, pharmacy, and primary care services. Plus, earlier this year, it partnered with primary care disruptor Carbon Health to grow its primary care presence.

The news: Virtual reality (VR)-based digital therapeutics (DTx) startup AppliedVR teamed up with noninvasive neuroimaging startup Kernel to study how brain activity changes after VR treatment for chronic pain. How it works: AppliedVR and Kernel are conducting a clinical study examining how users’ brain activity changes before, during, and after the VR treatment.

The news: UnitedHealthcare (UHC) partnered with digital therapeutics startup Kaia Health to launch a new virtual physical therapy program for UHC’s self-funded employer health plans, according to a press release shared with Insider Intelligence. Here’s how it works: Eligible members recovering from surgery or injury can receive a referral to virtual physical therapy through Kaia Health’s app.

Mount Sinai partnered with digital maternity care startup Oula in May. Maven Clinic was valued at over $1 billion after its $110 million Series D funding round in August 2021. Digital therapeutics firm Happify Health expanded its chronic care platform to include services for women experiencing menopause in August 2021.

Telehealth stands stronger with DTx than alone: Amwell is acquiring digital mental health therapeutics company SilverCloud and automated virtual care firm Conversa Health, signalling a new chapter in telehealth.