Akili Interactive on Tuesday announced it will lay off 46% of its staff and evaluate strategic alternatives amid sluggish sales of its prescription video game treatment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. The announcement comes ahead of the company’s first-quarter earnings release on May 14.
Akili’s hunt for options follows dismal outcomes for other prescription digital therapeutics companies that have thrown in the towel after failing to build sustainable businesses. Earlier this year, Better Therapeutics, developer of an FDA-cleared app for the treatment of type 2 diabetes shut down operations. And almost exactly a year ago, Pear Therapeutics sold off its assets at bankruptcy auction.
Founded in 2011, Akili Interactive made waves in 2020 when it received Food and Drug Administration clearance for EndeavorRx, its treatment for young people with ADHD. After failing to gain traction with insurers and other possible customers for the prescription app, the company tried marketing EndeavorOTC, a non-prescription version of the app for adults, which had better, but still modest, traction. Last year, Akili announced it would shift the whole business to marketing non-prescription treatments directly to consumers.
