Pear Therapeutics announced today that MassHealth intends to cover the company’s prescription digital therapeutics (PDTs).
MassHealth, Massachusetts’ Medicaid program, notified Pear of its plans to cover the FDA-authorized reSET and reSET-O PDTs for treating substance use disorder and opioid use disorder, respectively. The decision remains subject to certain customary conditions, including federal and state approvals as well as sufficient funding on both levels.
“We applaud MassHealth for their leadership in introducing PDTs to their Medicaid population to provide safe and effective treatment options for patients in recovery,” Pear Therapeutics president & CEO Dr. Corey McCann said in a news release. “Pear is proud to help fight addiction in Massachusetts, especially at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic is exacerbating the addiction crisis in America with national drug overdose deaths increasing by almost 30% in 2020.”
Boston-based Pear’s reSET and reSET-O represent the first and only PDTs authorized by the FDA for treating substance and opioid use disorder. Recent real-world data demonstrated that the reSET-O treatment is associated with improved outcomes, high levels of treatment retention and fewer hospital encounters compared to 12 weeks of the treatment.
The company also develops Somryst for treating chronic insomnia, making it the third product, after the reSET therapeutics, to win FDA clearance.