Blue Note Therapeutics Announces New Collaboration for its Prescription Digital Therapeutic Candidate
SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Blue Note Therapeutics, a prescription digital therapeutics company singularly dedicated to serving patients experiencing cancer, today announced a new collaboration with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) to help advance the development of the company's prescription digital therapeutic (PDT) candidate to treat fear of cancer recurrence.
"We are excited for this opportunity to further our partnership with MSK," said Geoffrey Eich, CEO of Blue Note Therapeutics. "This new collaboration will give Blue Note access to leading cancer experts to advise and inform the development of our therapeutic, increasing our capacity to reach patients."
The collaborators will come together under MSK's Innovation Hub, a program that blends health tech innovators and MSK experts with the goal to speed the development of innovative products and businesses that have the potential to make a meaningful impact in the lives of people with cancer and their caregivers.
"Nearly all cancer patients face fear and uncertainty following their treatment, and for some, such fear can be distressing, preoccupying, and debilitating," said Wendy Lichtenthal, PhD, Attending Psychologist at MSK. "This can impact their mental and physical health, experience with medical care, and quality of life. We look forward to collaborating with Blue Note on this important project to help patients cope with their fears of recurrence."
Blue Note holds licensing agreements with several leading cancer centers and universities, including MSK, the University of Miami, and Massachusetts General Hospital, to digitize evidence-based, cancer-specific therapies.
To date, Blue Note has raised a total of $31 million in Series A financing, allowing the company to scale the organization and fund a pipeline of evidence-based therapeutics to serve an increasing number of cancer patients.
Researchers at MSK, including Dr. Lichtenthal, developed and have interests associated with intellectual property that MSK licensed to Blue Note. MSK has intellectual property and other financial interests related to Blue Note.
About Cancer-Related Distress
There are about 18 million cancer patients and survivors in the United States today.1 Nearly half of all cancer patients experience psychosocial distress, anxiety, or depression.2 If left untreated, these feelings can lower a cancer survivor's quality of life and may negatively affect survival.3 The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) has established guidelines for the delivery of mental health care services in oncology, which include screening patients for signs of distress and implementing a treatment plan to address these needs with a mental health care specialist.4 Unfortunately, fewer than half of patients who experience cancer-related distress, which can be defined as any unpleasant feeling, emotion, or experience that affects a patient's quality of life or ability to cope with cancer diagnosis and treatment, are referred to mental health care specialists.5,6 Prescription digital therapeutics designed to treat cancer-related distress can help close this cancer treatment gap.
About Blue Note Therapeutics
Blue Note Therapeutics is a prescription digital therapeutics company singularly dedicated to serving patients suffering from cancer. We aim to make treatment accessible to any cancer patient, at any time, by merging deep scientific and clinical expertise, neuroscience, and digital innovation. Working closely with cancer research and patient communities, we are developing a pipeline of clinically validated prescription digital therapeutics to help reduce anxiety, depression, and other forms of cancer-related distress. For more information, visit www.bluenotetherapeutics.com.
About Prescription Digital Therapeutics (PDTs)
Prescription digital therapeutics (PDTs) are a therapeutic class of medical devices that use U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approvable software to treat diseases and conditions, such as anxiety and depression related to cancer diagnosis and treatment. Similar to prescription medicines, PDTs must demonstrate safety and efficacy in randomized clinical trials prior to their approval by the FDA.
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References
1 American Cancer Society. Cancer Facts & Figures 2020. https://www.cancer.org/content/dam/cancer-org/research/cancer-facts-and-statistics/annual-cancer-facts-and-figures/2020/cancer-facts-and-figures-2020.pdf.
2 Mehnert A, Hartung TJ, Friedrich M, et al. One in two cancer patients is significantly distressed: Prevalence and indicators of distress. Psychooncology. 2018;27:75-82.
3 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Anxiety and Depression Medicine Use Among Cancer Survivors. https://www.cdc.gov/cancer/dcpc/research/articles/anxiety_dep_med_survivors.htm.
4 National Comprehensive Cancer Network. Distress Management, Version 3.2019, NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology. https://jnccn.org/view/journals/jnccn/17/10/article-p1229.xml.
5 OncoLink. What is Cancer Related Distress? https://www.oncolink.org/support/practical-and-emotional/coping-communication-concerns/what-is-cancer-related-distress.
6 American Cancer Society. Cancer Treatment & Survivorship Facts & Figures 2019-2021. https://www.cancer.org/content/dam/cancer-org/research/cancer-facts-and-statistics/cancer-treatment-and-survivorship-facts-and-figures/cancer-treatment-and-survivorship-facts-and-figures-2019-2021.pdf.
SOURCE Blue Note Therapeutics, Inc.
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