DTx Podcast with Eugene Borukhovich

In this episode, we hear from Timothy Aungst, a clinician, academic, public speaker, writer and, of course, pharmacist. In 2016, Tim founded The Digital Apothecary as a blog specifically for pharmacists to provide news and resources related to digital health topics and interests. Tim is also an advisor at HealthXL, a Clinical Writer for GoodRx, a member of the Digital Therapeutics Alliance Healthc...

In this episode, we hear from Andy Molnar, CEO at the Digital Therapeutics Alliance. Andy dives into what they are working on to propel the DTx industry forward, and the international scope of his work in Europe, Asia Pacific and beyond. We also discuss the recent trends with commercial payers and reimbursements - or lack thereof - and much more. Key Takeaway: Be sure to check out the link to the...

We’ve got a very special guest on this episode. In Season 2 of DTx Podcast, we will focus greater attention on the evidence and commercialization of Digital Therapeutics. To bring even more context and insights to these conversations, I'm excited to introduce my partner this season: Dr. Chandana Fitzgerald, or as you’ll hear her own name of choice - "Dr No Craic"! Don't worry, the name will be exp...

In this episode, we officially announce that the Digital Therapeutics Podcast is back for Season 2!  And the good news keeps coming as Eugene Borukhovich resumes his role as the talented host of the series! Eugene is a serial intra- and entrepreneur, executive, venture builder, speaker & board advisor with a focus in digital health. He’s also the COO and co-founder at YourCoach. Health, the leadin...

In this final episode of Digital Therapeutics Edition, Eugene and his journalistic partner, Brian Dolan, reflect on the lessons learned, guest experts, and inspiring stories featured in season one. Brian is a journalist and the founder and lead writer of Exits & Outcomes, and in each episode, he asked the guests a pointed and challenging question about their digital solutions or their outlook on t...

Abhishek Shah, the CEO and founder of Wellthy Therapeutics, is driven by the challenge of improving care delivery and outcomes for serious or chronic diseases like hypertension, type 2 diabetes, and kidney disease. Abhishek decided to start Wellthy after a successful career as an investor; he was inspired by the incredible ideas of other entrepreneurs, and tired of sitting on the sidelines, decide...

Edward Kliphuis says his love for investing in digital health comes from his love of "playing with toys" and imagining the possible benefit to health outcomes if "damn cool" solutions are scaled significantly.  M Ventures backs many impressive companies-- like BioLink, Sonde Health, and Akili. In this episode, Ed talks to Eugene about M Ventures' founding philosophy (how to cut delayed feedback cy...

Will Gibbs came to Octopus Ventures via a circuitous route - which interestingly, included setting up a rare breed pig farm in his native Essex. He landed in venture capital because he loves to build things - especially large-scale solutions for "taboo" or overlooked medical conditions like substance addiction, menopause, and acne.  Will and Eugene peek underneath the hood of venture capital. They...

Ciara Clancy remembers the exact moment she decided to found Beats Medical; it was when she realized her Parkinson’s patient was 20 minutes late for metronome therapy because he was frozen at the door of the hospital, unable to take a single step. The metronome therapy, which helps Parkinson’s patients with their walking and movement, was only available in hospitals and via prescription. So Ciara...

As a former IBS sufferer, Elena Mustatea knows all too well that our standard model of healthcare does not adequately treat or support people with chronic conditions—especially digestive conditions. Elena eventually took matters into her own hands and attended a detox retreat in Thailand, which restored her physical and mental well-being and gave her the idea to start Bold Health. Bold Health is c...

Jonas Duss came to digital therapeutics from a mechanical and chemical engineering background. He landed at Kaia Health after he and his business partner, David Boutellier, realized they all shared a similar mission; to make proven, effective therapies for debilitating chronic conditions more widely accessible through digital platforms. Kaia Health offers people with musculoskeletal conditions vir...

During his conscripted service with the German Navy, Christian Dierks learned that if you’re the person in charge of rules and administration, you can bring about a lot of change. He took this lesson with him to law school and in the creation of his own law and healthcare consultancy firm, Dierks+Company. Christian was instrumental in the creation of Germany’s 2019 Digital Health Care Act (known a...

Chris Wasden came to the digital therapeutics space via a circuitous route through Wall Street, Main Street, and academia. A pro at finding ways to leverage digital solutions in the pharmaceutical industry, he was asked to lead HappifyDTx’s digital therapeutics business after he and his students identified it as the best digital health company in the world. Happify just closed an impressive $73 mi...

Corey McCann says he always wanted to name a company after a fruit, and when he and his team saw an opportunity to “pair” drugs and software to treat serious disease and improve patient outcomes, the name Pear Therapeutics was born. Of course, the other inspiration for the creation of Pear Therapeutics was Genentech, in that Corey and his team wanted to build something big and capitalize on the hu...

Ask Chris Bergstrom what gets him out of bed in the morning, and he says very simply: “scale, scale, scale.” Chris brings a powerful blend of experience in start-ups, large companies, and the life sciences to his role as president of Amalgam Rx, a digital platform that brings providers and life sciences companies together to grow digital health solutions. Chris and Eugene talk about Amalgam’s orig...

As an engineer, Melinda Decker could have designed widgets or Styrofoam cups or even gone into winemaking. But her passion for improving patient outcomes led her to digital therapeutics, and eventually to Mymee, a direct-to-consumer platform that helps people with autoimmune disorders manage their symptoms. Mymee recognizes that behavior change is hard, so they combine a user-friendly app and data...

When Peter Hames struggled with insomnia, he couldn’t get access to any treatment other than sleeping pills. Out of “desperation,” he said, Peter self-administered a cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) course and within weeks was sleeping like a baby. That experience led to the development of Sleepio, an app which uses artificial intelligence to deliver digital cognitive behavioral therapy to impro...

There are two kinds of people in the world, says Brent Vaughan — those who prefer to make incremental changes with a lower likelihood of failure, and those who aspire to fix (seemingly) intractable problems that have stymied others. Brent falls in the latter category. A serial entrepreneur, former venture capitalist, and current CEO of Cognito Therapeutics (a DTx company that specializes in neurod...

In this episode, I speak with Ed Cox, who is an Executive Vice President of Strategic Alliances and Global Head of Digital Medicines at EVERSANA. In our conversation, we focus on his journey through Dthera and the many lessons learned.  But before we dive in: Those of you who know Ed, will agree, he is a memorable guy, and therefore I am super surprised I can not even remember where we first met b...

In the last episode, I had the pleasure of speaking with Eddie Martucci, CEO and Founder of Akili Interactive - the creators of EndeavourRx, which is the first and only prescription treatment delivered through a video game. Imagine that! In this episode, I continue my DTx journey with yet another early trailblazer, David Klein, CEO and co-founder of Click Therapeutics. I first met David at Frontie...

On the last episode, I got to know Anand Iyer, Chief Strategy Officer at WellDoc, who was instrumental in getting the Digital Therapeutics Alliance up and running. In this episode, the focus on the early trailblazers of the DTx industry continues with Eddie Martucci. Eddie is the CEO and founder of Akili Interactive, which has taken a super interesting go to market approach. I very briefly met Edd...

In this episode, we speak with another one of the early trailblazers of the DTx industry, Anand Iyer, the Chief Strategy Officer of Welldoc. I briefly met Anand at a Health XL event in New York City early in 2019, even though Welldoc has been around since 2008. I'm not even sure how we did not run into each other before, but it was great to connect with Anand for this podcast and get to know him a...

In this episode, we speak with one of the founding members of the Digital Therapeutics Alliance ('DTA'), Pierre Leurent. Pierre is the CEO and founder of Voluntis, which is the first publicly listed DTx company on Euronext in Paris. Pierre co-founded Voluntis in 2001 with the mission to improve patients’ experience with their treatment thanks to digital technologies. Now, 20 years later, they have...

In the previous episode in this two-part deep dive inside the Digital Therapeutics Alliance, I spoke to Megan Coder, the Executive Director for the DTA. In this episode, I'm excited to chat with Jessica Shull, European lead for the DTA. I met Jessica and Sitges, Spain near Barcelona at a HIMSS EU Health 2.0 event. Jessica struck me as sharp, composed and super knowledgeable, and of course, a great...

In the previous episode, Brian Dolan and I discussed the definition of digital therapeutics. The term 'digital therapeutics' has been used since about 2012, and in 2017 the Digital Therapeutics Alliance, aka DTA, came on the scene. In this two-part deep dive we go inside the DTA and in this episode, we start with Megan Coder, the Executive Director. I remember meeting the energetic, polished, and...