March 17 Quick Takes: Digital play Pear seeking alternatives 

Difficulties Pear Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:PEAR) had securing third-party reimbursement for its cognitive behavioral therapy-based prescription digital therapeutics could have contributed to its decision to explore strategic alternatives, which the company announced on Friday. Pear reported $3.5 million in product revenue for 3Q22, $83.6 million cash on Sept. 30, 2022, and a nine-month operating loss of $94.2 million. The company’s FDA-approved products, which it warned in an SEC filing “only a limited number of healthcare insurers have agreed to reimburse,” are reSET, reSET-O and Somryst, to treat substance use disorder, opioid use disorder, and insomnia, respectively. Pear fell $0.20 (34%) to $0.39 on Friday. 

U.K. life sciences companies avoided what could have been a major loss in government support after the U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt announced in the government’s Spring Budget that companies that spend over 40% of operating costs on R&D will get a much less severe cut to their R&D tax relief rate than previously proposed. The Autumn Budget announced last fall had called for a nearly 50% reduction in the R&D tax relief rate from 33% to 18% in an attempt to combat fraudulent claims, but in doing so risked materially reducing the level of capital U.K. biotechs could claim back and re-invest in R&D. Under the new budget announced earlier this week, R&D intensive companies are eligible for a 27% R&D tax relief rate, a much smaller reduction and a 50% increase over the 18% rate that will be applicable for companies that don’t meet the R&D investment criteria. ...