DiGA
Jul 24, 2023
Pfizer supports the company Selfapy in the market launch and marketing of the app "Selfapy's Online Course for Chronic Pain": On April 18, the digital health application (DiGA) was approved by the BfArM and included as a certified medical product in the preliminary DiGA directory of the BfArM. Dr. Sabine Gilliam, Country President of Pfizer Germany, presented the application at a press conference on April 25 at the Berlin Pfizer Headquarters and spoke with Nora Blum, CEO of Selfapy, and pain specialist Dr. Eva Bartmann about the benefits of digital support in patients' daily lives. The launch of the app is not only another success story for the cocreation approach of the Pfizer Healthcare Hub. With the Selfapy app, Pfizer also brings its world's first reimbursable DiGA to market.
Digital Therapy for Chronic Pain
23 million people suffer from continuous or recurrent pain in Germany alone, mainly in the back. Not always can a physical cause be identified and treated. Pfizer addresses these patients with the app "Selfapy's Online Course for Chronic Pain." The reimbursable 12-week online course can help with back pain and chronic pain with psychological and somatic components through video, text, and audio content. Study results show a reduction in pain intensity of 26 percent and an increase in quality of life of 20 percent. "With the help of the digital course, affected individuals learn to activate their own resources. This can help regain sovereignty so that pain no longer defines everyday life," says psychologist Nora Blum, founder of Selfapy. "DiGA play an important role in the treatment path of patients and are already a fixed part of healthcare. We are happy to take the opportunity to work together with others on digital solutions that can make a real difference in care,” says Dr. Sabine Gilliam.
Marketing Support from Pfizer
The cooperation between Selfapy and Pfizer combines the strengths of two experienced companies: Selfapy is one of the largest providers of DiGA in the German market and a professional in developing digital applications. Pfizer has many years of expertise in pain treatment. "We are pleased that we can support an innovative startup like Selfapy with our expertise and our network of experts in this cooperation,” says Thorsten Mintel, Director of Strategic Innovation at Pfizer Pharma GmbH. As the head of the Pfizer Healthcare Hub in Germany, he is responsible for startup collaborations and initiated this partnership. "This will help ensure that the groundbreaking program helps people with chronic pain as quickly as possible."
Support from the expert network of Pfizer comes regarding market launch and marketing. The benefits of digital therapy should be communicated partly through direct patient marketing, for example, via the own landing page leben-mit-schmerz.de, but also through the Pfizer network to doctors and medical associations. “As a pharmaceutical company, Pfizer has the necessary access to doctors who are crucial for prescribing Selfapy products. Through the cooperation, Selfapy can conserve important resources, use the available funds sensibly, and reach even more people with chronic pain,” says Nora Blum. Paulina Achter leads the Selfapy project as Junior Manager of Innovation Engagement at Pfizer: “We use innovative channels and allow our learnings to flow directly into targeted adjustments of marketing measures, for example, with the support of the omnichannel and analytics team,” says Paulina Achter. These learnings should serve as a blueprint for future digital projects in the company.”
The Pfizer Healthcare Hub as the First Point of Contact for Pharma-Startup Collaborations
The marketing collaboration with Selfapy originated as part of the Humboldt Project to test digital health applications at Pfizer and was initiated by the Pfizer Healthcare Hub. “A hub is in the startup world the place in the company where innovations are discovered, tested, and scaled. For this, we rely on collaborations with digital companies,” says Maja Hoock, who heads the Pfizer Healthcare Hub in Berlin. “We are very proud to have supported Pfizer's first DiGA market launch – and will make our experiences usable for future digital collaborations, even in a global context,” says Maja Hoock.
(Photo: ©Selfapy)