Otsuka/Click’s global-first adjunctive digital therapy for depression marks another step by pharmaceutical firms going digital for psychotherapy through collaborations.

This week, Abbott, Click and Otsuka, Prenosis won the FDA nod respectively for an in vitro diagnostic to evaluate patients for concussion, the first prescription digital therapeutic to treat major depressive disorder and a software to predict sepsis. Also on the regulatory front, the FDA will now take 513(g)s forms via its eSTAR framework. In Europe, the debate of what personal information can be shared continues. 

The family-owned German firm's legacy lies in the cardiometabolic space but it has been building a pipeline across a range of neuropsychiatric diseases. The collaboration with Sosei Heptares, which has been sealed with a upfront payment of €25m, will focus on schizophrenia.

Click Therapeutics and Indivior will develop a digital solution for treating substance use disorders, starting with opioid use disorders. Click already signed partnership deals with Otsuka and Verily and Boehringer Mannheim to co-develop digital therapeutics for patients with schizophrenia and major depressive disorder.