Better Therapeutics Strengthens Financial Position Through Amendment to Debt Facility and Implementation of Cost Reductions
Savings Expected to Extend Cash Runway Sufficiently to Demonstrate Commercial Traction with AspyreRx in Type 2 Diabetes
SAN FRANCISCO, November 28, 2023--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Better Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: BTTX), a pioneer in developing prescription digital therapeutics (PDTs) to treat cardiometabolic diseases, today disclosed several initiatives aimed at extending the company's cash runway sufficiently to demonstrate commercial traction with its lead product, AspyreRx. The company launched AspyreRx in October of this year, after receiving U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorization in July for the treatment of adults with type 2 diabetes.
Better Therapeutics successfully negotiated an amendment to its debt facility with Hercules Capital,Inc., granting the company the opportunity to extend the Interest Only (IO) period until mid-2024, redeem up to $2.5 million of debt without prepayment penalties, and potentially eliminate the minimum cash covenant. The amendment also grants the Company an option to convert a portion of the debt into equity, under certain conditions.
In addition, to further strengthen its financial position and maintain investments to support the commercial launch of AspyreRx, the company is implementing various cost-saving measures, including company-wide salary reductions for the first quarter of 2024. These measures, along with other operational plans, are expected to improve the company’s financial position by approximately $5 million through the first quarter of 2024.
Frank Karbe, President and Chief Executive Officer at Better Therapeutics, expressed confidence in the company's trajectory, stating, "We recognize the importance of prudent financial management and are confident that these measures will position Better Therapeutics for sustained success. With healthcare providers now prescribing AspyreRx and patients actively undergoing treatment, we expect to be able to demonstrate commercial traction over the next few months. In parallel, we continue to advance partnering discussions and evaluate all financing options available to us."
About AspyreRx
AspyreRx (formerly BT-001) was granted marketing authorization by the FDA in July 2023 as the first prescription-only digital therapeutic to treat adults with type 2 diabetes (T2D). AspyreRx is backed by robust data demonstrating clinically meaningful and sustained reduction in A1c as well as improvements in other markers of cardiometabolic health when used up to 180 days. Using proven techniques that target the underlying psychological, behavioral, and cognitive factors that sustain or worsen T2D, AspyreRx is a self-paced, engaging experience that patients can access from their smartphone. It is prescribed by a healthcare provider in 90-day increments, with proprietary CBT delivered digitally in a weekly step-by-step process. Through interactive therapy lessons, skill-building modules, weekly goal setting and tracking, patients connect changes in behavior to improvements in blood sugar and other biometrics. Each step in the experience builds on the prior to enable and reinforce cognitive restructuring, building the emotional resilience and acceptance needed to make enduring changes.
Indications for Use
AspyreRx is a prescription-only digital therapeutic device intended to provide cognitive behavioral therapy to patients 18 years or older with type 2 diabetes. The device targets behavior to aid in the management of type 2 diabetes in patients who are under the care of a healthcare provider. AspyreRx provides cognitive behavioral therapy as a treatment that should be used adjunctively with standard of care.
About Better Therapeutics
Better Therapeutics is a prescription digital therapeutics company developing a novel form of cognitive behavioral therapy to address underlying factors that sustain or worsen cardiometabolic diseases. The Company has developed a proprietary platform for the development of FDA-regulated, software-based solutions for T2D, heart disease and other conditions. The CBT delivered by Better Therapeutics’ PDTs is designed to enable changes in neural pathways of the brain so lasting changes in behavior become possible. Addressing the underlying causes of these diseases has the potential to dramatically improve patient health while lowering healthcare costs. Better Therapeutics’ clinically validated mobile applications are intended to be prescribed by physicians and reimbursed like traditional medicines.
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Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements made in this press release are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions under the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as "plan," "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "intend," "outlook," "estimate," "forecast," "project," "continue," "could," "may," "might," "possible," "potential," "predict," "should," "would" and other similar words and expressions, but the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. The forward-looking statements in this press release include, but are not limited to, statements regarding Better Therapeutics’ expectations related to the efficacy and potential benefits of PDTs, including AspyreRx and CBT, and their potential treatment applications and their ability to improve clinical outcomes, expectations regarding the amendment to the Hercules debt facility and the outcome and success of cost saving initiatives, including salary reductions, and operational plans and their impact on Better Therapeutics’ financial position and cash runway, and expectations regarding the commercial traction of AspyreRx and partnering discussions, among others. These forward-looking statements are based on the current expectations of the management of Better Therapeutics and are inherently subject to uncertainties and changes in circumstances and their potential effects and speak only as of the date of such statement. There can be no assurance that future developments will be those that have been anticipated. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties or other assumptions that may cause actual results or performance to be materially different from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements including: risks related to Better Therapeutics’ business, such as the willingness of the FDA to authorize PDTs, for commercial distribution and insurance companies to reimburse their use, market acceptance of PDTs, including AspyreRx, the risk that the results of previously conducted studies will not be interpreted favorably by the FDA or repeated or observed in ongoing or future studies involving Better Therapeutics’ product candidates and other risks and uncertainties included under the header "Risk Factors" in Better Therapeutics’ quarterly report on Form-10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended September 30, 2023 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") on November 09, 2023, and those that are included in any of the Company’s subsequent filings with the SEC.
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Contacts
Investor Relations and Media Enquiries:
Emma Williams
info@bettertx.com
