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Akili Turns Heel, Goes ‘All In’ On OTC Model For ADHD Digital Therapeutics

“We're taking destiny into our own hands,” says CEO Eddie Martucci.

 
• By Barnaby Pickering and Ryan Nelson

The Boston, MA-based company says the pivot away from Rx will enable it to pursue a significantly larger market and remove “key friction points” that have prevented patients from accessing its game-based digital ADHD treatment. The company is targeting year-over-year cost savings of $8m-$18m after investments to juice up its direct digital marketing program.

It seems reimbursement headwinds ultimately proved too much for prescription digital medicine company Akili, Inc., which announced on 13 September that it would convert to a non-prescription direct-to-consumer model to get its game-based ADHD treatment into the hands of more patients.

“We've been running a prescription model that has dependencies on healthcare stakeholders who we don't solve a direct problem for. Friction here was honestly more than we anticipated

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