Helius Launches UpScript Telehealth e-Commerce Site, Making it Easier for Americans with Multiple Sclerosis to Access Neurotech that can Improve their Ability to Walk
New Partnership with UpScript Provides Access to Care, Delivers PoNS Devices to Doorsteps
NEWTOWN, Pa., Jan. 03, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Helius Medical Technologies (NASDAQ: HSDT) launched a new e-commerce site that makes it easier for Americans experiencing issues with their gait to obtain the company’s innovative Portable Neuromodulation Stimulator (PoNS®). When combined with an exercise regimen supervised by a physical therapist, the PoNS device improves gait impairment in people with MS.
This is the first time that Helius, a neurotech company focused on neurological wellness, has made PoNS available online via telehealth. The UpScript Platform makes it possible for people with MS to have a PoNS device delivered directly to their doorstep – a potential game-changer for someone facing walking challenges.
Accessed via ponstherapy.com, the site is powered through a new partnership with UpScript, a leading telehealth company focused on making medications and devices available direct-to-consumer. UpScript’s platform provides for 1) online health evaluations with qualified medical providers, 2) fulfillment of prescriptions required for PoNS Therapy™ and 3) shipping of PoNS devices directly to the homes of eligible patients in the United States.
“People want to remove the barriers keeping them from walking their best walk; we want to provide the tools and technology that can help them achieve that goal. That’s what this new telemedicine partnership is all about,” said Helius President and Chief Executive Officer Dane Andreeff. “Our UpScript partnership simplifies and shortens the process of accessing healthcare providers and getting a PoNS device into the hands of people motivated to improve their walking. And it speaks to our commitment to help patients take the fight against MS into their own hands.”
Although the ability to access quality healthcare providers and the PoNS device through telemedicine and without leaving home is new, the other critical component of PoNS Therapy remains unchanged. Device buyers still must work with a trained physical rehabilitation therapist. During the first two weeks of therapy, these experts work in-person with users, guiding them through therapeutic exercises designed to maximize the effectiveness of the device; for the following 12 weeks users continue the therapy at home, under their therapist’s supervision.
“People that have difficulty walking often face many challenges but leveraging cutting-edge neurologic technology that can improve their day-to-day life shouldn’t be one of them,” Andreeff said. “With our new telemedicine partnership, the journey to better walking now can start with just a few keystrokes. And both Helius and UpScript are committed to serving them as they move along that journey through customer support, as well.”
About Helius Medical Technologies, Inc.
Helius Medical Technologies is a leading neurotech company in the medical device field focused on neurologic deficits using non-implantable platform technologies that amplify the brain’s ability to compensate and promote neuroplasticity, improving the lives of people dealing with neurologic diseases. The Company’s first commercial product is the Portable Neuromodulation Stimulator (PoNS®). For more information, visit www.heliusmedical.com.
About the PoNS Device and PoNS Therapy
The Portable Neuromodulation Stimulator (PoNS) is an innovative non-surgical medical device, inclusive of a controller and mouthpiece, which delivers electrical stimulation to the surface of the tongue to improve balance and gait. The PoNS device is indicated for use in the United States as a short-term treatment of gait deficit due to mild-to-moderate symptoms from multiple sclerosis (“MS”) and is to be used as an adjunct to a supervised therapeutic exercise program in patients 22 years of age and over by prescription only. Helius is advancing PoNS post-approval research in MS through a recently launched Therapeutic Experience Program (TEP).
PoNS is also authorized for sale in Canada for two indications: (i) PoNS is authorized as a short-term treatment (14 weeks) of chronic balance deficit due to mild-to-moderate traumatic brain injury (“mmTBI”) and is to be used in conjunction with physical therapy; and (ii) PoNS is authorized for use as a short term treatment (14 weeks) of gait deficit due to mild and moderate symptoms from MS and is to be used in conjunction with physical therapy. PoNS is also authorized for sale in Australia for short term use by healthcare professionals as an adjunct to a therapeutic exercise program to improve balance and gait. For more information visit www.ponstherapy.com.
About UpScriptHealth
UpScriptHealth provides a fully compliant direct-to-consumer Telehealth platform for pharmaceutical companies and consumer products companies. This unique platform allows for convenient access to high quality health care including state of the art medicines. In 2002 UpScript was the first company in the US to be licensed to write prescriptions on the internet through an online physician consultation. Since then, we’ve treated more than a million patients in all fifty states. Learn more at www.UpScriptHealth.com.
Cautionary Disclaimer Statement
Certain statements in this news release are not based on historical facts and constitute forward-looking statements or forward-looking information within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and Canadian securities laws. All statements other than statements of historical fact included in this news release are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements are often identified by terms such as “believe,” “continue,” “expect,” “will,” “goal,” “aim to” and similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements include, among others, statements regarding the success regarding the telemedicine partnership with UpScript Platform.
There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company’s expectations include uncertainties associated with the Company’s capital requirements to achieve its business objectives, availability of funds, the ability to find additional sources of funding, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, manufacturing, labor shortage and supply chain risks, the Company’s ability to train physical therapists in the supervision of the use of the PoNS treatment, the Company’s ability to secure contracts with rehabilitation clinics, the Company’s ability to obtain national Medicare coverage and to obtain a reimbursement code so that the PoNS device is covered by Medicare and Medicaid, the Company’s ability to build internal commercial infrastructure, secure state distribution licenses, build a commercial team and build relationships with Key Opinion Leaders, neurology experts and neurorehabilitation centers, market awareness of the PoNS device, future clinical trials and the clinical development process, ongoing government regulation and other factors, and other risks detailed from time to time in the “Risk Factors” section of the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021, its Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended March 31, 2022, June 30, 2022 and September 30, 2022 and its other filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and the Canadian securities regulators, which can be obtained from either at www.sec.gov or www.sedar.com.
The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statement. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date of this news release and the Company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from such statements except to the extent required by law.
Investor Relations Contact
Lisa M. Wilson, In-Site Communications, Inc.
T: 212-452-2793
E: lwilson@insitecony.com
