Prime Therapeutics and Pear Therapeutics Announce First Comprehensive Value-based Agreement for Prescription Digital Therapeutics reSET® and reSET-O® for the Treatment of Substance and Opioid Use Disorders

More than 20 million Americans struggle with drug addiction while only 10-20% receive treatment. Prime Therapeutics LLC (“Prime”) and Pear Therapeutics, Inc. (“Pear”) have developed a comprehensive value-based agreement for prescription digital therapeutics (PDTs). This value-based agreement for Pear’s PDTs is the first of its kind to feature three outcome measures (Hospital Inpatient Stay, Total Healthcare Cost, and Physician Product Engagement).

PDTs are a new therapeutic class that uses software to treat disease. Like traditional medicines, PDTs are developed in a good manufacturing practice (GMP)-compliant environment, tested in randomized controlled trials demonstrating safety and effectiveness, authorized by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and used under the supervision of a prescribing clinician. Unlike other digital health solutions, PDTs receive market authorization from FDA and have a product label that addresses safety and effectiveness.

Leveraging Prime’s expertise in integrating medical and pharmacy claims data, Prime and Pear have agreed to value-based terms assessing the impact of Pear’s FDA-authorized PDTs, reSET® and reSET-O®, on Hospital Inpatient Stay, Total Healthcare Cost, and Physician Product Engagement. These two PDTs treat substance use disorder (SUD) and opioid use disorder (OUD), respectively.

The value-based agreement will be available to Blue Cross Blue Shield plans that include reSET and reSET-O on their standard formulary or custom formularies. These Blue Cross Blue Shield plans serve more than 16 million commercial members.

Staying engaged in treatment is critical for people on their recovery journey. According to a new report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, drug overdose deaths rose by close to 30% in the United States in 2020, hitting the highest number ever recorded. Because substance and opioid use disorders are chronic, treatable diseases, it is imperative that patients seek out an ongoing treatment program. reSET and reSET-O offer patients a 24/7, clinically validated therapeutic via their mobile device to complement their remote or in-office addiction therapy provided by their therapist.

“Prime has been a leader at both addressing controlled substances misuse and abuse, and utilizing value-based agreements to drive prescription drug value, for more than a decade,” said Kelly Pokuta, vice president of trade relations and strategy and chief trade relations officer at Prime. “Through our agreement, Prime brought these areas of expertise together to offer members seeking treatment convenient access to innovative, software-based therapeutics through their mobile devices with the potential to improve health outcomes and decrease total cost of care.”

“Prime’s Blue plans can now provide their members seeking treatment for SUD and OUD with access to 24/7 evidence-based tools designed for the way people live today and shown to help keep patients on the path to recovery,” said Julia Strandberg, Chief Commercial Officer of Pear. “This agreement with Prime will help us continue to deliver on our commitment to expand access to people with substance or opioid use disorder, and to make PDTs a mainstream medical treatment.”

reSET and reSET-O have been measured in real-world use and their therapeutic content studied in randomized controlled trials, with results published in peer-reviewed medical journals. Pear recently released publications showing the potential for improved real-world health outcomes and decreased treatment costs for patients using reSET-O. Both products, which are supplemental to outpatient counseling, provide patients with algorithm-driven cognitive behavioral therapy, education, and rewards for completing the training modules, while clinicians receive access to clinical dashboards to inform in-office and tele-visits.