Telehealth platforms could become the lifeline for struggling DTx players

The background

Digital therapeutics startups have experienced massive hype in recent years. From 2015 to 2019, the amount of venture capital invested in them increased almost tenfold.

The hype is not unfounded. After all, digital health applications—especially in the mental health field—promise cost-effective, scalable alternatives to traditional forms of treatment.

But most players struggle with commercialization. This became especially evident during the announcement of Pear Therapeutics' SPAC, which is targeting a valuation of $1.6 billion—with just $4 million in revenue expected in 2021, or a multiple of 400!

The rationale

The most important barrier to commercialization are the physicians. Currently, only 5% of physicians in the U.S. are exploring or prescribing digital therapeutics to their patients, according to a market analyst in Business Insider.

This is where telehealth platforms come in. They have built up large user bases, with nearly 25% of American adults having had virtual doctor appointments in the past month. Instead of convincing thousands of individual doctors, now DTX players only have to partner with one large platform aggregating thousands of doctors.

The bigger picture

Obviously, this logic also applies to other forms of medical treatment, making telehealth platforms potentially extremely relevant stakeholders for providers in the future.

For the telehealth players, in turn, proprietary digital therapeutics can be a route to differentiation and deeper monetization. Therefore, one can expect both M&A deals in the field to happen, along with a closer merging of the telehealth and digital therapeutics verticals.