The digital therapeutics (DTx) market has grown rapidly, particularly since the outbreak of Covid-19, and companies are increasingly developing video games like DTx.
However, people need to change negative views on video games first to spur the growth of the video game-based DTx market, a report said.
According to the Korea Insurance Research Institute (KIRI)'s report on the utilization of video games as DTx, companies are developing more video games to treat various diseases.
More specifically, video game-based DTx products aim to treat central nervous system diseases such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children and adolescents and Alzheimer's disease in the elderly, and chronic diseases including diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
Video game-based DTx is known to be more effective than traditional therapies in CNS disease treatment because they are customized to stimulate a patient’s specific brain neural circuits directly.
Some video games obtained regulatory nod as a prescription treatment in the U.S. and the U.K.
EndeavorRx, a video racing game treating pediatric ADHD developed by U.S. company Akili Interactive Labs, helps improve attention function by activating the prefrontal cortex of the brain, which plays a key role in cognitive function.
The game won the FDA’s first approval as a prescription DTx in June.
British firm BfB Labs developed a game called Lumi Nova to help children with anxiety disorder. The company received approval from the U.K.’s Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) in September 2020.
In Korea, university hospitals are collaborating with AI-based gaming startups to build market infrastructure.
The government is also searching for ways to use video games as DTx and investing in developing related technologies.
However, the KIRI report said consumers’ negative perceptions about gaming should be changed to promote video game-based DTx.
The report noted that the nation also needs to discuss reimbursement rates for video game-based DTx as prescribed treatments.
“In the future, the video game-based DTx market is expected to grow further thanks to improved consumer perception of contactless healthcare services and the DTx’s low possibility of adverse reactions compared to drugs,” the report said.
However, there were still negative views on gaming, and even the WHO defined gaming addiction as a disorder, the report said.
“So, if companies want to utilize games as DTx, they will have to improve consumers’ perception of gaming first,” it said.
People also need to discuss whether or not to grant health insurance benefits for video game-based DTx and how to establish medical reimbursement system for such products in detail, it added.