Government Invests 29 Billion KRW in Digital Therapeutics... Spotlight on Neorigin

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunseok Yoo] As the government announced an investment of 29 billion KRW in treating depression and dementia through games and VR, game company Neorigin, which is developing digital therapeutics, is gaining attention.

According to the industry on the 16th, the Ministry of Science and ICT announced the day before that from this year through 2024, the government and private sector will invest a total of 29 billion KRW to promote the development of emotional disorder prevention and management platform technologies. The research and development lead institution selected is the team led by Professor Hyungsook Kim of the Department of Intelligence Computing at Hanyang University. The digital therapeutics developed here aim to prevent and manage treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), dementia, epilepsy, and more by utilizing software such as games, VR/AR, chatbots, and artificial intelligence.

Digital therapeutics that treat ADHD and other conditions through games are currently being developed by game companies as well. In May, Neorigin began developing digital therapeutics to treat game addiction through games. The company is jointly promoting the development of digital therapeutics with Chinese game companies and digital healthcare specialists.

The ADHD treatment game helps users strengthen their attention by moving their bodies while watching a monitor. The game addiction treatment game is planned to be developed in a way that lowers depression and aggression and helps improve self-regulation abilities.

The global digital therapeutics market is expected to grow at an average annual rate of 26.7%, reaching approximately 7 trillion KRW by 2025. Kim Sunhyun, CEO of Walden D.T. and Clinical Director of Digital Therapeutics at Yonsei University College of Medicine, who is participating in digital therapeutics development, explained, "We are developing therapeutic programs based on long-accumulated know-how, and this is the first case of Korean and Chinese companies jointly developing digital healthcare therapeutics."