Headspace Health lays off 4% of staff and more digital health briefs

Headspace Health lays off 4% of staff and more digital health briefs unknown

Headspace Health confirmed it has laid off 50 workers, or about 4% of its workforce.

First reported by Bloomberg, the cuts at the meditation and mental health company are the latest in a spate of layoffs at digital health and health tech companies this year.

Calm, another meditation app that has been expanding with clinical mental health offerings,  laid off 20% of its staff in August.

Click Therapeutics announced Friday it had received FDA Breakthrough Device Designation for a prescription digital therapeutic for episodic migraine.

CT-132 is under development as an adjunctive preventive treatment for episodic migraine in adult patients. The Breakthrough Device Designation isn’t a marketing approval from the FDA, but it aims to accelerate review of products that could help treat debilitating or life-threatening conditions.

Click said it has completed or started three clinical studies on the migraine therapeutic. It will use the data from those trials to submit to the FDA for regulatory clearance.

"We are thrilled to receive this Breakthrough designation as it will facilitate collaborative discussions with the FDA and help expedite the process of bringing a first-in-class migraine digital therapeutic to patients," Austin Speier, chief strategy officer of Click Therapeutics, said in a statement. "This is also powerful recognition of the innovative work led by our in-house science and development teams to create a new approach to treating migraine, one supported by early, promising clinical data."

Earlier this year, the company secured a $15 million loan from Silicon Valley Bank, which would go toward retiring an existing loan and advancing its product pipeline. It raised $52 million in Series B funding in 2021.

Texas-based Superior HealthPlan announced a home care partnership this week with MedArrive and virtual behavioral health provider Brave Health.

The program will use MedArrive's paramedics, EMTs and other providers to offer in-home diagnostics, health assessments and preventative care. If patients have higher acuity needs, home providers can connect with physicians via telehealth. They can also help with transportation problems, mobility issues and nutrition assistance as well as offer access to mental healthcare through Brave.

The program will initially be offered to about 40,000 Superior plan members.

"We're proud to partner with MedArrive and Brave Health on this initiative, which will expand our abilities to provide quality healthcare to many of our members," Dr. David Harmon, chief medical director at Superior HealthPlan, said in a statement. "This new collaboration paves the way for hands-on, personalized and integrated services provided by MedArrive and Brave Health, and we believe our members will greatly benefit from this new relationship."

Digital musculoskeletal (MSK) health company IncludeHealth is teaming up with Yale New Haven Health System to offer a hybrid MSK care model for the system's patients.

The model combines Yale New Haven's in-person services with virtual physical therapy provided at home using IncludeHealth's Musculoskeletal Operating System. The partnership began early this year at Yale New Haven Hospital, and offerings will now scale across the health system.

"We are grateful to partner with such a well-respected clinical organization as Yale New Haven Health," Ryan Eder, CEO of IncludeHealth, said in a statement. "We are strong believers in a hybrid model of care, putting our technology in the hands of a patient’s trusted provider to strengthen the patient-clinician relationship. We look forward to the impact this will have on patient access and outcomes."

According to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, IncludeHealth raised $10.7 million earlier this year.