Cipla taps Wellthy for digital therapeutics expertise

Indian pharma company Cipla has made another play in the digital medicine category by taking a near-12% stake in start-up Wellthy Therapeutics. Under the terms of their agreement Wellthy and Cipla – which is India’s third-biggest pharma company – will work together on combined drug and digital therapies for type 2 diabetes as well as for patients with cardiovascular disease. Cipla is paying around 105 million rupees ($1.5 million) for its stake in Wellthy. The aim is to offer “a multi-lingual clinically-validated digital disease management platform” to patients living with these conditions via “doctors’ clinics or co-packaging on select Cipla brands.”
Wealthy's claim to fame is that it has developed India’s first prescribable digital therapeutic, a smartphone-based app that it says can help people with type 2 diabetes reduce their levels of hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), a marker of blood sugar control over time, without the need for additional drug treatment. The Wealthy Care app is described as a personal care coach that can “help you manage diabetes, chronic kidney disease (CKD) and other such chronic conditions” by introducing lifestyle changes to reduce blood sugar and blood pressure and help weight loss.