Digital therapeutics in the clinic

Abstract

Digital therapeutics are emerging as a new form of therapeutic interventions. Unlike conventional therapeutics, digital therapeutics deliver interventions directly to patients using an evidence-based, clinically evaluated software to treat, manage, or prevent diseases. Digital therapeutics manifest in diverse forms such as web-based applications, mobile applications on smart devices, virtual reality, and video games. As its own product category for FDA approval, digital therapeutics can function as stand-alone treatments or in combination with conventional therapeutics to improve adherence and/or efficacy. Here, we review the clinical landscape of digital therapeutics. We summarize FDA-approved products and their clinical use, overview >300 ongoing clinical trials, and discuss challenges for their clinical translation and strategies to overcome the same.