Northwell, Pear Therapeutics Provide New Opioid Treatment Options

Northwell Health and Pear Therapeutics recently collaborated to provide new treatment options for patients with opioid and substance-use disorders. 

Through the collaboration, patients seeking treatments will have access to an innovative FDA-authorized treatment option, called prescription digital therapeutics (PDTs). 

Northwell Health will provide digital care to patients through Pear’s reSET and reSET-O PDTs through substance abuse treatment programs offered through Northwell Health’s behavioral health facility, Zucker Hillside Hospital. 

reSET and reSET-O will give patients 24/7 access to evidence-based tools to complement their remote or in-office addiction therapy provided by their therapist. 

“We are witnessing a substantial increase in substance misuse and opioid overdose death as a result of the social isolation, anxiety, and stress related to COVID-19,” Bruce Goldman, LCSW, director of behavioral health at Northwell Health, said in the announcement.

“Northwell Health has successfully transformed our ambulatory substance use treatment services to a telehealth model. To augment our treatment services, we have made available to our patients this FDA-authorized prescription digital therapeutic proven to increase the retention of patients in outpatient treatment programs,” Goldman continued. 

PDTs are a therapeutic class that uses software to directly treat disease. But unlike traditional standards of care, PDTs collect real-world data for use by prescribing clinicians and for population health management programs. 

Goldman stated that so far, feedback from patients and clinicians has been positive. 

reSET and reSET-O are the first two PDTs to receive market authorization to treat disease from FDA. Both products have already been tested in real-world use and randomized controlled trials. 

The results of these trials were published in the Journal of Current Medical Research and Opinion in November.

In the trials, researchers found that reSET-O is readily and broadly used by patients with opioid use disorder and that real-world therapeutic engagement is positively associated with abstinence and retention in treatment. 

Specifically, 80 percent of patients completed at least 25 percent of core module therapeutic doses. And over 70 percent of patients were retained in reSET-O treatment and continued to use their PDT during the last four weeks. 

Additionally, 91 percent of the patients were responders, which means that 80 percent of their self-reports and urodynamic studies were negative for illicit opioid use.

Overall, both products complement outpatient counseling and provide patients with algorithm-driven cognitive behavioral therapy, fluency training, and contingency management. Simultaneously, therapists can access this data to inform in-office and tele-visits.

“Pear is pleased to work with Northwell to bring suitable patients the latest in evidence-based substance and opioid use treatment options,” said Julia Strandberg, chief commercial officer at Pear Therapeutics. 

“We believe the use of prescription digital therapeutics can provide patients with innovative and convenient care through their mobile devices to complement Northwell’s ambulatory substance use treatment services,” Strandberg continued. 

Substance and opioid use disorders are chronic but treatable. Therefore, patients must seek ongoing treatment and stay engaged in programs. 

According to the CDC, over 83,000 drug overdose deaths occurred in the US over 12 months, from June 2019 to June 2020. This is the highest number of overdose deaths ever recorded in a 12-month period.

Specifically, this number of overdoses is an increase of over 21 percent compared to the previous year.

At the beginning of April, the Biden Administration released new prescription drug policy priorities that focus on addressing the opioid epidemic and reducing drug overdoses. 

The priorities provide guideposts to promote evidence-based public health and public safety interventions. 

Biden’s drug policy priorities also include expanding access to evidence-based treatment, advancing racial equity issues, enhancing evidence-based harm reduction efforts, supporting evidence-based prevention efforts to reduce youth substance abuse, reducing the supply of illicit substances, and expanding access to recovery support services.