Medical app developer Click Therapeutics will increase its digital reach by obtaining assets from the recently defunct Better Therapeutics, which began winding down its operations in March.
The purchase aims to jump-start Click’s work in obesity, diabetes and chronic cardiometabolic disease. Acquisitions from Better’s portfolio include AspyreRx, which received a de novo clearance from the FDA last year as the first digital therapeutic for Type 2 diabetes.
Click also picked up BT-004, a breakthrough-designated app that was being developed for metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis, also known as MASH, as well as BT-003 and BT-002, which target high cholesterol and high blood pressure, respectively.
“There is immense potential in the cardiometabolic space for next-generation ‘smart’ therapeutics that enhance patient care and provider capabilities,” Rich DeNunzio, Click’s chief commercial officer, said in a statement.
However, Click isn’t heading to app stores just yet. The company said it does not plan to push AspyreRx in its current form—it will first modify the software to work better within Click’s own artificial-intelligence-enabled platform as well as connect it with the company’s previous in-house efforts to develop an obesity app known as CT-181.
By tailoring the diabetes-focused AspyreRx to also address obesity, Click believes that will put it on better footing to address a rapidly growing sector that has come to be dominated by GLP-1 medications—including today’s injectables and future oral drugs—by offering approaches in smart dosing, side effect management and behavioral support.
“Click can immediately strengthen AspyreRx by combining the latest engagement technology from our platform with Better’s therapeutic core,” said Click’s chief technology officer, Han Chiu. “This allows us to efficiently deliver on the added clinical promise needed to support drug-software combination products with enhanced labels.”
The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The new additions will join Click’s previous work in smoking cessation, with its Clickotine app, as well as its recently cleared collaboration with Otsuka in major depressive disorder, Rejoyn. Click has also been working with Boehringer Ingelheim on apps for schizophrenia, as well as developing in-house programs for multiple sclerosis and migraine headaches, among other areas.
“The current one-size-fits-all approach to obesity management can be improved with innovative digital therapeutics that tailor treatments to individual needs, leading to improved patient outcomes and the opportunity to create data-driven contracting models with payers,” DeNunzio said. “By collaborating with pharma, payers, providers and patients to layer these capabilities onto the latest drugs, we can transform obesity care and enable our partners to succeed in what is soon to be a highly competitive market.”