
Challenge
Approximately 20% of people suffer from chronic pain. Chronic pain reduces the quality of life for people affected by it. It also stops them from living their normal lives and reduces their ability to contribute to society.
Current treatment of pain consists primarily of medication: paracetamol, NSAIDs (e.g. ibuprofen, naproxen). Other therapies are physiotherapy, acupuncture or surgery. These treatments are medical, require a healthcare professional or are invasive.
Opportunity
Pain is a widespread problem, and the market for current solutions very large (50B+). There is a significant unmet consumer need for effective, safe pain relief options that can be applied at home by the patient themselves.
Solution
We have agreed to build a venture with Philips that brings several solutions to market for effective, at-home Pain Relief. It offers patients pain relief through three propositions: PulseRelief, InfraRed and BlueTouch. All three options are non-invasive, perfectly safe for at-home use with no to limited guidance of a care professional.
Pulse Relief offers relief through transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) therapy. InfraRed consists of several products that offer relief through infrared light. BlueTouch offers a highly promising and new-to-the-world method for relief using blue light, with potentially break-through clinical benefits.
Status
InfraCare and PulseRelief are expected to launch in 2022 and 2023 respectively. BlueTouch’s innovative therapy is expected to demonstrate its effectiveness in a clinical trial starting in two years.