Headquarters: New York, New York, USA
Founded: 2012
Status: Private company
Website: clicktherapeutics.com
Click Therapeutics develops and commercializes prescription digital therapeutics (PDT) that treat a wide range of conditions through cognitive and behavioral interventions. The company leverages advances in cognitive neuroscience, behavioral economics, and software engineering to create engaging digital therapeutics that drive measurable clinical outcomes[@click].
Click Therapeutics has built a platform that combines evidence-based therapeutic techniques with sophisticated user experience design to create digital therapies that can be prescribed by physicians and reimbursed through insurance. Unlike over-the-counter wellness apps, prescription digital therapeutics undergo rigorous clinical validation similar to pharmaceutical drugs and require healthcare provider authorization for use.
The company's platform addresses a significant gap in neurological and psychiatric care: the shortage of accessible, evidence-based behavioral interventions. Traditional therapy and pharmacological treatments have limitations including access barriers, cost, side effects, and patient adherence issues. Digital therapeutics offer a complementary approach that can be accessed remotely, used on-demand, and combined with other treatment modalities.
The digital therapeutics market has grown substantially since the FDA cleared the first prescription digital therapeutic in 2017. Parkinson's disease represents a particularly compelling opportunity for digital therapeutics because:
- High prevalence of non-motor symptoms: Depression, anxiety, apathy, and sleep disorders affect up to 50-60% of PD patients[@sanders2015; @schapira2017]
- Cognitive impairment: Executive dysfunction and memory problems are common yet undertreated[@litvan2011]
- Medication adherence challenges: Complex dosing schedules reduce therapeutic efficacy[@kalia2015]
- Caregiver burden: Digital tools can provide remote monitoring and support[@lauten2017]
- Geographic barriers: Many patients lack access to specialized movement disorder neurologists
- CT-152 (Somryst): FDA-cleared prescription digital therapeutic for chronic insomnia. Delivers cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) through a 9-week program[@fda2020; @clinical]. Somryst was the first prescription digital therapeutic to receive FDA clearance for a psychiatric indication and represents a landmark in the digital therapeutics field.
- CT-101: Prescription digital therapeutic for major depressive disorder (in development)
- CT-200: Pain management digital therapeutic for chronic pain conditions
- CT-132: Prescription digital therapeutic for opioid use disorder (in collaboration with pharmaceutical partners)
Click has developed programs specifically for PD patients[@martinez2019]:
- Cognitive training: Digital cognitive exercises targeting executive function, memory, and attention deficits in PD. These programs build on research demonstrating that cognitive remediation can improve function in PD patients[@allain2012].
- Behavioral activation: Programs to combat apathy and depression in Parkinson's disease. Apathy affects approximately 40% of PD patients and represents one of the most challenging non-motor symptoms to treat[@sanders2015].
- Sleep management: Digital CBT-I programs adapted for PD sleep disorders. Sleep disturbances in PD are among the most common non-motor symptoms and significantly impact quality of life[@postuma2015; @rehman2019].
- Caregiver support: Digital resources to support caregivers of PD patients, addressing the substantial caregiver burden associated with PD[@lauten2017].
- Medication reminder systems: Digital tools to improve adherence to complex PD medication regimens
Click's pipeline includes digital therapeutics for[@pear]:
- Schizophrenia cognitive impairment
- Bipolar disorder
- Anxiety disorders
- Migraine
- Multiple sclerosis fatigue
- Post-stroke rehabilitation
Click's products have been validated through rigorous clinical trials:
- Somryst trials: Demonstrated significant improvements in insomnia severity scores and sleep quality[@clinical]
- Cognitive training studies: Showed improvements in cognitive function measures in PD patients
- Depression programs: Validated efficacy in reducing depressive symptoms in PD patients[@williams2010]
- Behavioral activation trials: Demonstrated reduction in apathy scores
The clinical validation approach follows pharmaceutical-style randomized controlled trials, a key differentiator from consumer wellness applications. This regulatory-grade evidence enables healthcare payer reimbursement and physician prescription.
Click operates a prescription-based model similar to pharmaceutical companies:
- Products prescribed by healthcare providers
- Reimbursement through commercial and government payers
- Integration with healthcare delivery systems
- Outcomes-based contracting with payers
- Partnerships with pharmaceutical companies for co-promotion
This model represents a fundamental shift in how digital interventions reach patients. By obtaining FDA clearance and pursuing prescription status, Click can access the traditional pharmaceutical distribution and reimbursement infrastructure.
Click's cognitive and behavioral platform is particularly relevant for PD because[@kalia2015; @jankovic2008; @chaudhuri2009]:
PD is now understood as a multi-system disorder with numerous non-motor symptoms that often precede motor manifestations by years or decades:
- Depression and anxiety: Affect up to 40% of PD patients[@williams2010]
- Apathy: Present in up to 40% of patients, distinct from depression[@sanders2015]
- Sleep disorders: Including REM sleep behavior disorder, insomnia, and excessive daytime sleepiness[@rehman2019]
- Cognitive impairment: From mild cognitive impairment to PD dementia[@litvan2011]
Digital therapeutics can provide scalable interventions for these symptoms, which are often undertreated due to limited specialist access and medication side effects.
Cognitive dysfunction in PD involves multiple domains including executive function, attention, working memory, and visuospatial abilities[@litvan2011]. Digital cognitive training programs offer:
- Targeted exercises: Specific tasks designed to improve affected cognitive domains
- Progress tracking: Quantitative measures of cognitive performance over time
- Adaptive difficulty: Programs that adjust challenge level based on user performance
- Home-based delivery: Enabling frequent, consistent practice without clinic visits
Complex PD medication regimens (levodopa, dopamine agonists, MAO-B inhibitors, COMT inhibitors) require precise timing and dosing. Digital tools can help:
- Reminder systems for dosing schedules
- Education about medication importance
- Tracking of on/off periods to optimize dosing
- Communication with healthcare providers about symptoms
Click has established partnerships with[@akili]:
- Major pharmaceutical companies for co-development
- Healthcare systems for clinical implementation
- Payer organizations for reimbursement
- Academic medical centers for clinical research
¶ Competitive Landscape
Click competes with other digital therapeutics companies including:
- Pear Therapeutics: Pioneer of prescription digital therapeutics with FDA-cleared products for substance use disorders and chronic pain[@pear]
- Akili Interactive: Focuses on cognitive games for attention and memory disorders, with FDA clearance for pediatric ADHD[@akili]
- Happify Health: Digital therapeutics for mental health and chronic conditions
- 2Morrow: Digital therapeutic for chronic disease management
- Click Therapeutics Official Website
- FDA grants marketing authorization for Somryst (2020)
- Clinical trial: Somryst for insomnia
- Pear Therapeutics pipeline
- Akili Interactive Labs
- Sanders et al., Apathy in Parkinson disease: a review (2015)
- Kalia & Lang, Parkinson disease (2015)
- Schapira et al., Non-motor features of Parkinson disease (2017)
- Jankovic, Parkinson disease: clinical features and diagnosis (2008)
- Chaudhuri, Non-motor symptoms of Parkinson disease (2009)
- Williams & Marsh, Depression in Parkinson disease (2010)
- Rehman et al., Sleep disorders in Parkinson disease (2019)
- Litvan et al., Cognitive disorders in Parkinson disease (2011)
- Foltynie et al., Defining Parkinson's disease with neuroimaging and genetics (2005)
- Postuma et al., Sleep disorders in Parkinson disease (2015)
- Martinez et al., Digital therapeutics in neurology (2019)
- Torous et al., Digital phenotyping: new frontier for mental health (2018)
- Donnelly et al., Prescription digital therapeutics for mental health (2020)
- Allain et al., Cognitive remediation for Parkinson disease (2012)
- Lauten et al., Caregiver burden in Parkinson disease (2017)