comprehensive -WSS

comprehensive

author：explore 2025-09-29 22:54:01 - browse：826

Adobe

A month after announcing it was seeking strategic alternatives, Akili Interactive, maker of a video game designed to treat ADHD, said it will go private in a merger with Virtual Therapeutics. The deal is expected to net Akili’s shareholders $34 million.

Akili made headlines in 2020 when it received Food and Drug Administration clearance for EndeavorRx, a video game designed to treat pediatric ADHD. Akili went public in 2022 in a deal that valued the company at about $1 billion. But despite several strategic pivots, including shifting to direct-to-consumer sales, the company failed to build a sustainable business model. Akili in April announced it would wind down its existing commercial operations and focus on a licensing deal with Japanese pharma company Shionogi while it figured out the best path forward.

Akili is just one of many health tech companies that are struggling following an explosion of investor interest in digital health during the Covid-19 pandemic. In the last month alone, Better Therapeutics, another company making digital treatments, sold its assets for an undisclosed amount after failing to build a business around its app for type 2 diabetes, and Cue Health, a diagnostics startup, shut down after funding interest in its Covid-19 tests evaporated.

STAT+ Exclusive Story

Already have an account? Log in

This article is exclusive to STAT+ subscribers

Unlock this article — and get additional analysis of the technologies disrupting health care — by subscribing to STAT+.

Already have an account? Log in

Monthly

$39

Totals $468 per year

$39/month Get Started

Totals $468 per year

Starter

$30

for 3 months, then $39/month

$30 for 3 months Get Started

Then $39/month

Annual

$399

Save 15%

$399/year Get Started

Save 15%

11+ Users

Custom

Savings start at 25%!

Request A Quote Request A Quote

Savings start at 25%!

2-10 Users

$300

Annually per user

$300/year Get Started

$300 Annually per user

View All Plans

Get unlimited access to award-winning journalism and exclusive events.

Subscribe Log In

Previous article： Drug repurposing or repositioning? The language matters
Next article： Why scientists need input from humanists on sensitive research

WSS

Food as medicine: Medically tailored meals may get standardized

Boston's new lab space is opening empty

WuXi out of biotech trade group, U.S. and China relations to blame

Readout Newsletter: Cardior, Regeneron, Nuvation, Dyne and more

In boost for rare disease push, AstraZeneca to buy Amolyt Pharma

Readout LOUD podcast: ALS dilemma, first MASH drug, and more

hotspot

comprehensive

This article is exclusive to STAT+ subscribers

Unlock this article — and get additional analysis of the technologies disrupting health care — by subscribing to STAT+.

knowledge

Food as medicine: CMS rules hamper 'prescribing' of fruits, veggies

Donor acceptance rates hint at racial, gender bias in heart transplants: study

Dobbs anniversary: the lost opportunity of abortion as health care

HHS secretary Becerra pressed on Change HealthCare cyberattack

The cancer drug shortage isn’t new — and neither are the solutions

There's no autism epidemic. It's an autism diagnosis epidemic

New air purifier tech could be key to improving indoor air quality

Amid AI frenzy, a top HHS official's quest to create safeguards

Wildfire smoke exposes gaps in outdoor worker protections

President Biden's budget: Here's what you might have missed

explore

Bayer exec: U.S. is key in reviving beleaguered pharma’s drug pipeline

Eliminate the waiting period for sterilization covered by Medicaid

Adam's Biotech Scorecard: A closer look at Viking Therapeutics, PDS Biotech

Supreme Court mifepristone arguments center on docs' right to sue

Why the world’s most expensive drug might be worth the price

How many hemophilia patients actually want gene therapy?

knowledge

knowledge

leisure time

hotspot