CureApp's first digital therapeutic covered by Japan’s public healthcare insurance

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 1 -- CureApp Inc has announced that CureApp SC Nicotine Addiction Treatment App and CO Checker (CureApp SC) – a treatment app (digital therapeutic) targeting nicotine addiction – is now covered by Japan’s public healthcare insurance system, following a period of clinical trials and regulatory approval.

This marks the first case of a digital therapeutics application being covered by the insurance, as well as the first time a digital therapeutic in the field of smoking cessation treatments has been covered by a country’s national health insurance system in the world.

Patients diagnosed with nicotine addiction at a medical institution are eligible for insurance reimbursement when a doctor prescribes CureApp SC. Under this scheme, patients spend less than 30 per cent of the cost of this product.

According to a statement, Japan has a universal health insurance system giving all residents the freedom to choose treatment locations, enabling them to receive the same level of healthcare at a low cost. However, due to the broad scope of such a system – with coverage provided for all residents – the criteria applied for digital therapeutics and other new forms of treatments to receive approval as insured treatments are particularly strict. Therefore, a new treatment to receive such approval has been thought to be significantly difficult compared to do so from private insurance companies. Amidst these circumstances, the leading digital therapeutics company, CureApp has succeeded in leveraging its unique strengths to usher in a new era of treatment, and the achievement has been widely reported by Japanese media.

-- BERNAMA