Partnership Aims to Study Virtual Treatment for Adolescent Depression

Digital therapeutics company Limbix has struck a partnership with Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) to evaluate a virtual adolescent depression treatment known as SparkRx.

Limbix intends to gather information on SparkRx through a study conducted with Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. SparkRx is a digital therapeutic that provides an adjunct treatment intervention for depression patients aged 13 to 22. The self-guided intervention is based on cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). 

Composed of a group of clinicians, product designers, researchers, and engineers, Limbix centers its efforts on providing effective and accessible mental health services to younger patients.

"At Limbix, we are committed to building digital therapeutics that are easily accessible to patients and give providers a safe and effective treatment option," said Aarthi Padmanabhan, PhD, chief research officer at Limbix and co-principal investigator of the study, in the press release. 

Together, Limbix and CHLA plan to provide teens battling mental health disorders access to the SparkRx treatment. Patients will engage in activities within the app that will allow them to determine the correlation between mood and behavior and identify activities that can help them combat depression. 

"We are especially excited to partner with Children's Hospital Los Angeles to run this research study in specialty care settings to better understand the mental health needs of this patient population," continued Padmanabhan.

The study aims to test SparkRx's efficacy among adolescents with depression that are being treated in the cardiology and gastroenterology programs at CHLA. According to the press release, teenagers with chronic conditions face a higher risk for depression. 

"We're excited about this opportunity to offer our patients a new resource for adolescent depression via a digital therapeutic that could help minimize barriers and increase access to mental health treatment," said Heather Bemis, PhD, licensed clinical psychologist, division of comfort and palliative care, department of anesthesiology critical care medicine at CHLA and principal investigator of the study, in the press release.

SparkRx has yet to receive approval from the US Food and Drug Administration, but during the COVID-19 public health emergency, the treatment is available without a prescription under an emergency guidance.

Increasingly, healthcare stakeholders are turning to virtual treatment methods to bolster access to mental healthcare.

Earlier this summer, experts spoke with mHealthIntelligence about how telehealth can close mental healthcare gaps among pediatric patients. Not only can telehealth help extend the behavioral health workforce, but it can also increase provider collaborations and improve family engagement.

In August, Brave Health and MedArrive announced that they would work together to enhance virtual mental health services for Medicaid patients. Through the partnership, they aim to provide telemental and in-person healthcare by creating an integrated health network.