Carlyle backs Japan medical technology player

CureApp has now raised approximately JPY 13.4bn to date. Beyond Next Ventures was its first backer in 2015. AVCJ Research has records of four subsequent rounds featuring the likes of SBI Investment, Chibagin Capital, Itochu Technology Ventures, Keio Innovation Initiative, Mitsubishi UFJ Capital, Mizuho Capital, Saison Ventures, SMBC Venture Capital, and Toyoshima Corporate Venture Capital.

Founded in 2014 by two physicians, CureApp looks to advanced software technology and medical evidence to treat illnesses. The goal is to leverage technology to provide personalised treatment programmes that take individual user behaviour into account. It has emerged as a leader in Japan’s medical technology industry, specialising in prescription and non-prescription digital therapeutics.

In April, the company received regulatory approval in Japan for a hypertension digital therapeutic, said to be the first of its kind globally. CureApp notes on its website that patients must improve their lifestyles to address hypertension, which in the US alone afflicts 75m people. The digital therapeutic enables health and lifestyle management that is beyond the reach of medical institutions.

CureApp first won regulatory approval for its smoking cessation treatment solution in 2020. The company is also working on digital therapeutics for non-alcoholic fatty-liver disease, alcohol addiction, oncology, and chronic heart failure.

Carlyle will helo CureApp roll out the hypertension digital therapeutic, develop its product pipeline, and deepen its sales and distribution networks and marketing and product development platforms in Japan. Global expansion is a longer-term objective.

“We see tremendous growth opportunities for digital therapeutics in helping to address the growing social needs of Japan’s ageing population, to advance public health access, and to reduce overall healthcare costs through early intervention. CureApp has a distinct competitive market advantage as a leading prescription digital therapeutics company,” said Kazuhiro Yamada, head of Japan at Carlyle, in a statement.

The private equity firm has committed more than JPY 394.4bn of equity to Japan deals to date. Previous investments in the country’s healthcare sector include Sunsho Pharmaceutical, Solasto Corporation, Qualicaps, and Colin Medical Technology.

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• Topics
• North Asia
• Healthcare
• Expansion
• Technology
• Growth capital
• Japan
• The Carlyle Group