Pear Therapeutics files for bankruptcy, CEO leaves company

Pear Therapeutics, a maker of prescription digital therapeutics, announced today that it has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and intends to sell the business or assets. While the company is seeking a sale, it will continue to operate curtailed in Chapter 11, and Pear will use the cash it has to fund its operations and make post-inquest expenses. “Today is a difficult day for Pear Therapeutics. Pear has announced that it has voluntarily filed for Chapter 11 and is looking to sell assets through a sale process. Downsizing, including myself, is certainly not the outcome I envisioned when I founded Pear in 2013,” said Boston-based CEO Cory McCann, referring to the filing on LinkedIn. He thanked the departing Peer employees for bringing some of the first prescription digital therapeutics to market. He noted the market conditions the company and other growth-stage businesses have faced over the past two years. “This is the future of digital medicine that we’ve worked so hard to create,” McCann said. Month Peer said it is exploring “strategic options,” including a company sale, merger or acquisition. It has hired a financial advisor to look at actions that “could maximize shareholder value,” including a potential sale, M&A, asset divestment, licensing or other strategic transactions. Without a transaction, Peer The company said it would pursue a reorganization, reorganization or other type of restructuring. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Peer withdrew its fiscal 2022 and 2023 revenue and operating guidance. It did not include a call for fourth-quarter and full-year earnings. The publicly traded company is one of several in the digital health sector. It has not been immune to layoffs: In November, Pear said it would cut 59 employees, or about 22 percent of the company’s workforce. In July, it laid off about 25 employees, about 9% of its workforce. Still, in the past year, the company has formed several partnerships to expand access to Reset and Re-SET-O offerings focused on treating substance abuse and opioid use disorders, including collaborations with the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, Spero Health and the California Department of Health Care Services. . The company also announced plans to offer prescription digital therapy through telehealth providers. Darren Mann, Kathryn Cutler, and Dr. Peter Haug will provide more details in the HIMSS23 session, “Improved Patient Care with Real-Time Collaborative Clinical Decision Support.” For Thursday, April 20, 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm CT in South Building Level 1, Room S105 C.