AppliedVR Receives NIDA Grant to Study Virtual Reality as an Opioid-Sparing Tool for Pain

More than $2.9 million in funding will support clinical trials to study virtual reality platforms as a therapeutic alternative for acute and chronic pain

LOS ANGELES–(BUSINESS WIRE)–AppliedVR, a leading pioneer of the next generation of digital medicine, today announced that it has been awarded two multi-year grants totaling more than $2.9 million from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), to study virtual reality as an opioid-sparing tool for acute and chronic pain. The grants will enable the company to advance two clinical trial programs respectively with Geisinger and Cleveland Clinic, studying two of its virtual reality therapeutic platforms, RelieVRx™ and EaseVRx™. The NIDA funded trials will help inform the Company’s regulatory pathway with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

“We are grateful to NIDA for its confidence in our vision and ability to execute a novel opioid-sparing treatment option,” said Beth Darnall, Chief Science Advisor to AppliedVR. “Novel opioid-sparing treatment options are necessary in addressing the opioid epidemic, and we plan to leverage these grants and our existing expertise to address this unmet need in pain management.”

The grants are a result of AppliedVR’s following applications, both of which were respectively awarded in September 2019.

• Virtual Reality as an Opioid Sparing Intervention for Acute Postoperative Pain Management, award number R44DA049640

• Virtual Reality as an Opioid Sparing Treatment for Chronic Pain, award number R44DA050231

Matthew Stoudt, AppliedVR Chief Executive Officer, stated, “We are honored to receive these awards from NIDA/NIH, which we believe will not only help forge clinical and regulatory pathways to approval, but more importantly, offer new tools that address the major opioid epidemic. Beyond advancing this novel intervention, this represents an important milestone in advancing therapeutic virtual reality as a new standard of care.”

About AppliedVR

AppliedVR is pioneering the next generation of digital medicines to deliver safe and effective virtual reality therapeutics (VRx) that address unmet needs and improve clinical outcomes for patients with serious health conditions. Its evidence-based, non-invasive treatments immerse and engage patients to help drive measurable clinical outcomes. As the most widely used and deeply researched therapeutic VR platform, AppliedVR is the first company to make VR therapeutics widely available in clinical care, having immersed more than 30,000 patients in over 200 hospitals. AppliedVR has established world-class research and commercial partnerships and continues to build the infrastructure to accelerate the mass adoption of VRx. To learn more about AppliedVR, Inc., visit: https://appliedvr.io/

About Geisinger

One of the nation’s most innovative health services organizations, Geisinger serves more than 1.5 million patients in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The system includes 13 hospital campuses, a nearly 600,000-member health plan, two research centers and the Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine. A physician-led organization, with approximately 32,000 employees and more than 1,800 employed physicians, Geisinger leverages an estimated $12.7 billion positive annual impact on the Pennsylvania and New Jersey economies. Repeatedly recognized nationally for integration, quality and service, Geisinger has a long-standing commitment to patient care, medical education, research and community service. For more information, visit geisinger.org or connect with us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter.

Contacts

May Xiong

612.808.5799

MXiong@W2OGroup.com