09/03/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 09/03/2024 10:47
Key takeaways:
The Rejoyn app is a prescription-only digital therapeutic. It's FDA-cleared to help reduce depression symptoms in adults ages 22 or older who are already taking an antidepressant.
For it to be effective, you should use the Rejoyn app regularly for 6 weeks. During this time, you'll complete various activities that help strengthen and balance certain brain connections. This can potentially help improve your emotional processing and decrease your depression symptoms.
In clinical studies, people who used the Rejoyn app noticed decreased depression symptoms in as little as 2 weeks. They continued to see improvements throughout the full 6 weeks of using the app.
Digital health is a growing area of healthcare. This broad field aims to find ways to improve people's well-being with technology. But digital therapeutics take it a step further. In digital therapeutics, there is clinical evidence that a technology can help treat or manage a health condition. And there's been a lot of interest in developing digital therapeutics for mental health conditions, such as depression.
In April 2024, the FDA cleared a prescription digital therapeutic called Rejoyn to reduce symptoms of major depressive disorder (MDD, or "depression"). Rejoyn is an app for a smartphone or mobile device. It's compatible with both Apple and Android devices.
But how can an app help with depression? And how long might it take the Rejoyn app to work for you?
Review your options. There is no "best" way to treat depression for everyone. Our experts review the available treatment options for depression.
What antidepressants are available? The Rejoyn app should be combined with an antidepressant. Here, pharmacists review the top types of antidepressants and why some are preferred over others.
Learn all about CBT. The Rejoyn app includes cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) lessons. Read about what CBT is and why it's expert-recommended for many mental health conditions.
The Rejoyn app is a prescription-only digital therapeutic treatment for depression symptoms. It's not intended for long-term use. If it's prescribed for you, use the Rejoyn app regularly for 6 weeks. After 6 weeks, you'll continue to have access to the app for an additional 4 weeks to review content, if desired. After that point, your access to the Rejoyn app will end.
The Rejoyn app is FDA-cleared to reduce depression symptoms in adults ages 22 and older. This digital therapeutic is cleared as an "add-on" treatment. You shouldn't use the Rejoyn app by itself for depression. It should be combined with antidepressants.
Yes. As mentioned above, the Rejoyn app should only be prescribed to adults who are currently taking antidepressants. It can also be combined with various forms of therapy.
Examples of antidepressants you can combine with the Rejoyn app include:
Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), such as fluoxetine (Prozac) or sertraline (Zoloft)
Serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs), such as duloxetine (Cymbalta) or venlafaxine (Effexor XR)
Atypical antidepressants, such as bupropion (Wellbutrin XL) or Auvelity (dextromethorphan / bupropion)
Tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs), such as amitriptyline or nortriptyline (Pamelor)
Monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs), such as selegiline (Emsam patches)
The Rejoyn app works by providing cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) lessons, along with Emotional Faces Memory Task (EFMT) exercises. These are thought to target parts of the brain that are involved in emotional processing. Over the 6 weeks you use the Rejoyn app, these lessons and exercises may help strengthen and balance certain brain connections. And this can potentially help reduce your depression symptoms.
Lessons generally take about 3 to 4 minutes to complete. And exercises may take between 10 and 25 minutes to finish. But some people may take more or less time.
It's recommended to use the Rejoyn app 6 days per week for 6 weeks. But if this doesn't work with your lifestyle, there's an alternative schedule you can follow where you'll typically complete activities 3 to 4 days per week most weeks. After using the Rejoyn app for 6 weeks, you can continue to review any of the lessons or exercises you completed for an additional 4 weeks.
In the clinical trial that earned the Rejoyn app FDA clearance, people using it noted reduced depression symptoms 2 weeks after starting. Continued benefits were seen throughout all 6 weeks that participants used the Rejoyn app. What's more, people experienced additional reduction of depression symptoms during the final 4 weeks, where they had access to the app but weren't required to use it.
The Rejoyn app is currently the only FDA-cleared digital therapeutic for depression. There isn't an alternative that offers similar features.
A possible alternative you and your mental healthcare team may discuss is deprexis. Deprexis is an online, 12-week CBT program. It uses artificial intelligence to customize a CBT program based on your responses to questions during treatment.
There are also other therapy options your healthcare team may suggest instead of or in addition to your current treatments, such as:
Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy
Psychodynamic therapy
Supportive therapy
The Rejoyn app is a prescription-only digital therapeutic. It's FDA-cleared as an add-on treatment to help reduce depression symptoms in adults ages 22 or older. The Rejoyn app is meant to be used only if you're already taking an antidepressant. For it to be effective, you need to use the Rejoyn app regularly for 6 weeks.
The Rejoyn app works by combining cognitive behavioral therapy lessons with Emotional Faces Memory Task exercises. These activities help strengthen and balance certain brain connections. The Rejoyn app can help you process emotions better, which may reduce your symptoms of depression. In studies, people noticed a decrease in depression symptoms in as little as 2 weeks.
Clinical Practice Guideline for the Treatment of Depression. (2019). Depression treatments for adults.
Digital Therapeutics Alliance. (n.d.). DTx product profile: deprexis.
Gavidia, M. (2022). Stakeholders address how digital therapeutics can bridge unmet needs in behavioral health care. The American Journal of Managed Care.
Hoch, M. M. (2019). Initial evidence for brain plasticity following a digital therapeutic intervention for depression. Chronic Stress.
Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc. (2024). Otsuka and Click Therapeutics announce the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance of Rejoyn™, the first prescription digital therapeutic authorized for the adjunctive treatment of major depressive disorder (MDD) symptoms.
Otsuka Precision Health, Inc. (2024). Rejoyn: Clinician brief summary.
Otsuka Precision Health, Inc. (2024). Rejoyn: Patient instructions for use.
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