Pear Therapeutics, a company that offers digital therapy programs by prescription, has let go of 9 percent of its workforce, according to a recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The company mixes cognitive behavioral therapy with patient education to treat such conditions as opioid use disorder and chronic insomnia. Laying off 25 employees, along with other cost reductions, will lower Pear Therapeutics' operating expenses by about $28 million over the next 18 months, the July 25 filing stated. The firm went public in December.
In an emailed statement to Becker's, CFO and COO Chris Guiffres said that while the company is building momentum, it has a long way to go before this type of technology is "ubiquitous." Still, he added, Pear Therapeutics' vision of bringing dozens of prescription digital therapeutics to the market "remains completely unchanged."
"Our commitment to that vision caused us to take significant steps to secure our future in a very difficult period in the capital markets," he stated. "We believe that pausing many of our activities to ensure we have runway until the capital markets rebound is the right thing to do to secure our ability to achieve our long-term mission."
Pearl Therapeutics has previously collaborated with healthcare organizations including Epic, New Hyde Park, N.Y.-based Northwell Health and Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center.