Otsuka Precision Health Unveil New App For Treating Depression

The first offering from Otsuka’s digital health division is an app-based major depressive disorder therapy. Rejoyn is an application that can only be obtained with a prescription and is meant to be used in combination to prescription drugs. It is a six-week curriculum that includes tasks for detecting emotions and video sessions centred around cognitive behavioural therapy.

By asking users to recognise and recall emotions from a succession of faces, the app hopes to lessen the symptoms of depression. According to Otsuka, this can help target the neuronal connections in the brain that are necessary for processing emotions.

The FDA granted Otsuka 510(k) approval for Rejoyn in March. Participants who utilised Rejoyn saw a statistically significant increase in the Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale, a 10-item measure that is frequently used by doctors to gauge the extent of depression, in a six-week, randomised, pivotal study compared to a fake app.