Pear Therapeutics to Undergo Another Round of Layoffs

Pear Therapeutics, a specialist in prescription digital therapeutics (PDTs), is going through another round of layoffs after posting 3Q22 earnings. The Boston, MA-based company said it is cutting about 22% of its staff - impacting 59 employees.

Although Pear grew its revenue 24% quarter-over-quarter to $4.1 million – which was slightly higher than the consensus of $4 million, it said it was making the cuts to reduce operating expenses in 2023.

“Pear is making strong and steady progress toward our mission of making PDTs mainstream medicine,” said Corey McCann, MD, PhD, president and CEO of Pear Therapeutics. “Once again, we delivered significant quarter-over-quarter revenue growth. We continue to break down the barriers to patient access for PDTs, evidenced by our increasing payment rate and new coverage decisions. In addition, we’ve taken significant steps to reduce operating expenses in 2023, including the difficult decision to reduce our workforce. We thank the talented and mission-driven employees impacted by today’s reduction in force, and we wish them the very best in their future endeavors. Pear’s long-term commitment to developing and commercializing many PDTs through our platform remains unchanged, but our near-term commitment is to grow revenue while reducing our reliance on fundraising next year.”

The first round of layoffs occurred in July. At the time the company said it was laying off 9% of its staff or 25 employees.

Pear was one of the first medtech companies to go through the special purpose acquisition corporation merger wave in 2021. BTIG analysts have also routinely called the company a trailblazer in PDTs because it has three commercial FDA-authorized PDT products and expanding reimbursement coverage.

Reimbursement will be key for the company, said Marie Thibault, an analyst with BTIG.

“ … The novel nature of PDTs means broad coverage is expected to be secured gradually,” Thibault wrote in research notes. “Existing prescribers, repeat users, and clinical data are all supporting more acceptance of and payment for Pear’s PDTs. For now, we think access agreements and state Medicaid coverage wins will be most important for Pear's near-term revenue."