Akili Interactive, the maker of a Food and Drug Administration-cleared video game to treat ADHD, has long been bullish on the tremendous potential of its technology to reach wide swaths of the population. The difficulty of realizing that dream was laid bare in the company’s freshly filed paperwork as it looks to go public.
In January, Akili announced that it would enter the markets via a merger with Social Capital Suvretta Holdings Corp. I, a special purpose acquisition company run by venture capitalist and former Facebook executive Chamath Palihapitiya. The deal valued the company at about $1 billion. On Monday, the companies filed an S-4 with the Securities Exchange Commission detailing the merger and giving the first good look at Akili’s finances and a thorough accounting of the hurdles that the company – and some of Akili’s competitors – could face.
Akili is one of the pioneering companies pushing the idea that software can be prescribed by a doctor to treat medical conditions. Its lone cleared product, EndeavorRx, is among the very first software products to test the market on prescription software. Despite clinical evidence of efficacy and clear investor enthusiasm, the S-4 reveals the many challenges Akili must navigate before its novel approach to treatment is widely accepted by the health care system. Here’s a few preliminary takeaways from the company’s filings.
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