Blue Note Therapeutics, Inc.

Australian researchers have developed an online tool to help cancer survivors manage their fears of cancer recurrence. A research team has made a digital adaptation of a therapist-delivered treatment called ConquerFear, which was originally developed by the Psycho-Oncology Co-operative Research Group, a national cancer clinical trial group under the University of Sydney. The treatment has been found to be effective in paring down post-cancer treatment fears. Dubbed iConquerFear, the digital programme offers strategies and techniques for managing fears of cancer recurrence. It features five modules containing interactive exercises on goal setting, attention training, and mindfulness. WHY IT MATTERS "Getting help to cope with a fear of cancer recurrence is a cancer survivor’s top unmet need, above pain, fatigue and other physical symptoms," claimed research lead Dr Ben Smith. About half of all cancer survivors in the world experience major fear of cancer recurrence, associated with psychological distress, poorer quality of life and greater healthcare use. Dr Smith, who is also a senior research fellow at South West Sydney Clinical School of University of New South Wales-Sydney Medicine & Health, said that "[e]xisting interventions, while effective, are inaccessible to many Australian cancer survivors, particularly those in rural and remote areas". Additionally, the already-strained health system lacks the resources to address such a mental health need. More scalable digital interventions, then, hold a promise to address this gap, according to research co-lead Dr Adeola Bamgboje-Ayodele of the Ingham Institute for Applied Medical Research. While self-guided digital interventions have the potential to meet a cancer survivor's mental health needs, existing digital interventions "either don’t use the cognitive behavioural strategies that we know are particularly effective in reducing fears or haven’t been designed with as much input or feedback from cancer survivors," noted Dr Smith. For this reason, the research team designed iConquerFear to focus on user experience, interactive exercises and personalised feedback to be more accessible and more scalable compared to existing treatments. In a recently conducted study of the online treatment, most of the 54 cancer survivor participants have lessened the severity of their fears during and after an intervention while a quarter reported significant clinical improvements in reducing their fears. "We saw strong initial uptake and engagement and promising reductions in fear recurrence – equivalent in size to what we saw in the face-to-face. It suggests that digital interventions can actually improve access to psychosocial support and facilitate self-management by survivors," Dr Smith added. THE LARGER TREND Ahead of its full-scale rollout in Australia, iConquerFear will be first tested for its effectiveness in a randomised control trial to be conducted in partnership with Ovarian Cancer Australia. Meanwhile, US-based digital therapeutics company Blue Note Therapeutics has licensed both iConquerFear and ConquerFear programmes to develop a counterpart version for the North American market. "We are open to exploring commercial models with partners that would maximise the accessibility and impact of iConquerFear in Australia and beyond," Dr Smith said. In other news, the Australian government has set aside new funding to continue supporting the psychosocial telehealth services of Ovarian Cancer Australia. The non-profit organisation offers this support through its Teal Support Programme, which has assisted over 400 patients with ovarian cancer since it launched in 2019. With the latest funds, the organisation could support 800 more women, especially those from regional areas, with its telehealth services.

Blue Note Therapeutics is a prescription digital therapeutics company singularly dedicated to serving patients suffering from cancer Blue Note Therapeutics Announces New Collaboration for its Prescription Digital Therapeutic Candidate. (Credit: StockSnap from Pixabay.) Blue Note Therapeutics, a prescription digital therapeutics company singularly dedicated to serving patients experiencing cancer, today announced a new collaboration with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) to help advance the development of the company’s prescription digital therapeutic (PDT) candidate to treat fear of cancer recurrence. “We are excited for this opportunity to further our partnership with MSK,” said Geoffrey Eich, CEO of Blue Note Therapeutics. “This new collaboration will give Blue Note access to leading cancer experts to advise and inform the development of our therapeutic, increasing our capacity to reach patients.” The collaborators will come together under MSK’s Innovation Hub, a program that blends health tech innovators and MSK experts with the goal to speed the development of innovative products and businesses that have the potential to make a meaningful impact in the lives of people with cancer and their caregivers. “Nearly all cancer patients face fear and uncertainty following their treatment, and for some, such fear can be distressing, preoccupying, and debilitating,” said Wendy Lichtenthal, PhD, Attending Psychologist at MSK. “This can impact their mental and physical health, experience with medical care, and quality of life. We look forward to collaborating with Blue Note on this important project to help patients cope with their fears of recurrence.” Blue Note holds licensing agreements with several leading cancer centers and universities, including MSK, the University of Miami, and Massachusetts General Hospital, to digitize evidence-based, cancer-specific therapies. To date, Blue Note has raised a total of $31 million in Series A financing, allowing the company to scale the organization and fund a pipeline of evidence-based therapeutics to serve an increasing number of cancer patients. There are about 18 million cancer patients and survivors in the United States today.1 Nearly half of all cancer patients experience psychosocial distress, anxiety, or depression.2 If left untreated, these feelings can lower a cancer survivor’s quality of life and may negatively affect survival.3 The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) has established guidelines for the delivery of mental health care services in oncology, which include screening patients for signs of distress and implementing a treatment plan to address these needs with a mental health care specialist.4 Unfortunately, fewer than half of patients who experience cancer-related distress, which can be defined as any unpleasant feeling, emotion, or experience that affects a patient’s quality of life or ability to cope with cancer diagnosis and treatment, are referred to mental health care specialists.5,6 Prescription digital therapeutics designed to treat cancer-related distress can help close this cancer treatment gap. Source: Company Press Release

The proceeds will help Blue Note to scale the organisation, as well as fund near-term clinical trials of its prescription digital therapeutic Digital therapeutics firm Blue Note has secured $26.25m in Series A financing. (Credit: Emilian Danaila from Pixabay) Digital therapeutics company Blue Note Therapeutics has secured a $26.25m under Series A financing round for its  prescription digital therapeutic (PDT) to treat cancer. The funding round was led by JAZZ Venture Partners and participated by Summer VC. The company will use the proceeds from the financing round to scale the organisation, as well as fund near-term clinical trials of its PDT  to treat cancer. Blue Note will also use the funds for the development of the company’s asset pipeline. The company is working with major cancer research centres and patient communities for the development of clinically validated medical devices to enhance overall cancer outcomes. The products are also expected to help address the specific psychosocial requirements of oncology patients, in addition to reducing comorbidities such as anxiety, depression, and fear of cancer recurrence. JAZZ Venture Partners co-founder and managing director Dr Andrew Firlik said: “Blue Note devices present an opportunity to expand access for all Americans to the standard of care in top cancer centers and solve the acute supply and demand mismatch between patient need and available care providers. “We are pleased to join Blue Note Therapeutics in this Series A round to help bring this promising technology to cancer patients in need.” In June last year, the company secured breakthrough device designation from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for BNT001 to treat symptoms of anxiety and depression related to cancer in adult patients. Blue Note has licencing agreements with various major cancer centres and universities such as the University of Miami, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre for the digitisation of evidence-based cancer-specific therapies. Last year, the company introduced a digital wellness programme called Covid Cancer Care to support adults with cancer cope with stress and anxiety linked to the Covid-19 pandemic.