Technology area

Digital therapeutic

104 funded awards, $66.1M total, FY2023-FY2025.

Data current as of 2026-05-11

Pattern read

Digital therapeutic is a small tag at 104 records / $66M, and the concentration tells the story: the top three recipients account for 15.4% of records. NIDA leads (27), reflecting substance-use-disorder treatment apps, with NIMH (21) and NIA (17) trailing. R44 at 67 dominates over R43 at 19; this is a tag where the Phase II awardee pool is small but recurrent. Median award is $598K. STTR is minimal (R41 at 9). If you're building a prescription digital therapeutic with an active FDA pathway, the historical data shows a fairly narrow set of recurring funders and a small number of repeat awardees.

Fit indicators

  • NIDA and NIMH together hold 46% of the tag. Substance use and mental health have been the dominant indications.
  • High median award ($598K) and R44 dominance suggest most volume comes from Phase II continuations.

Watchouts

  • Concentration is high (15.4% top three). A handful of digital-therapeutic firms have been repeat awardees; new entrants compete against established programs.
  • Tag overlaps with behavioral_health. Reviewers familiar with both expect a clear distinction between supportive intervention and active therapeutic.

Where the money sat, by Institute / Center

IC funding decisions are set by portfolio priorities, NOFO scope, and program-officer judgment. These are funded records, not predictions of future funding.

ICNameRecordsMedian award
DA (NIDA) National Institute on Drug Abuse 27 $805,212
MH (NIMH) National Institute of Mental Health 21 $480,049
AG (NIA) National Institute on Aging 17 $499,963
MD (NIMHD) National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities 5 $299,573
NS (NINDS) National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke 5 $1,326,588
HD (NICHD) Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development 5 $863,909
GM (NIGMS) National Institute of General Medical Sciences 4 $851,583
CA (NCI) National Cancer Institute 4 $898,424
EB (NIBIB) National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering 3 $893,313
AT (NCCIH) National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health 3 $324,568
ES (NIEHS) National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences 3 $796,881
HL (NHLBI) National Heart Lung and Blood Institute 2 $969,791
DK (NIDDK) National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases 1 $306,872
NR (NINR) National Institute of Nursing Research 1 $383,159
TR (NCATS) National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences 1 $1,064,194
LM (NLM) National Library of Medicine 1 $293,978
AA (NIAAA) National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism 1 $275,550

FOA / NOFO routes

Opportunity number prefixes: PA = Parent Announcement (broad, omnibus, multiple ICs), PAR = Parent with Special Review, PAS = Parent with set-aside funds, RFA = Request for Applications (targeted, single-IC, fixed budget). Status unknown means the pipeline has not verified whether the FOA is currently posting awards; the SBIR omnibus has been in reauthorization gap during this window. See the glossary for full definitions.

OpportunityStatusRecords
PA-23-231 unknown 11
PAS-22-196 unknown 9
PA-21-261 unknown 7
PA-22-177 unknown 7
PA-23-230 unknown 6
RFA-DA-23-021 unknown 6
PAR-20-244 unknown 4
RFA-DA-23-018 unknown 4
PA-22-179 unknown 4
RFA-DA-22-001 unknown 4
RFA-DA-19-019 unknown 4
PAS-19-316 unknown 4
PAR-21-266 unknown 3
RFA-CA-22-017 unknown 3
PA-24-246 unknown 3
PA-22-176 unknown 3
PA-20-272 unknown 3
PAR-22-073 unknown 3
PA-24-245 unknown 2
PAR-21-114 unknown 2
PA-24-253 unknown 2
PA-18-566 unknown 2
RFA-MD-23-002 unknown 1
RFA-MD-22-004 unknown 1
PA-24-247 unknown 1
RFA-DA-21-015 unknown 1
PA-19-273 unknown 1
PA-20-262 unknown 1
RFA-NS-20-010 unknown 1
PA-22-178 unknown 1

Comparable funded projects

ApplIDFYICTitleOrganizationAmount
10923432 2025 MD MiREA, a mHealth intervention to Reduce Health Disparities by Improving Equitable Access to Mandated College Students with Problematic Alcohol and Marijuana Use MHEALTH SYSTEMS, INC $296,519
10991402 2025 AG The BRAIN App: Building Relationships using Artificial Intelligence and Nostalgia HOPEFUL AGING LLC $772,490
11006975 2025 DK Electromagnetic reprogramming of systemic metabolism for the treatment of type 2 diabetes GEMINII, INC. $306,872
11035041 2025 DA Building a Contextually Triggered Just-in-Time Intervention for Opioid UseDisorder: Stakeholder Evaluation and User Centered Design KSANA HEALTH, INC. $406,451
11066734 2025 AG Zinnia All Day: An application for mobile devices and connected TVs to assist care partners promote routine in activities of daily living in persons with Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias ZINNIA TECHNOLOGIES INC. $499,898
11067951 2025 DA A Digital Intervention to Reduce Youth Cannabis Use MOBILE HEALTH INTERVENTIONS LLC $280,207
11068372 2025 NR Development of an accessible Cognitive Behavioral Therapy digital therapeutic for individuals with Long COVID TOIVOA, INC $383,159
11069277 2025 AG SynG: a Music-Based Intervention for Alzheimer's and Mild Cognitive Impairment OSCILLOSCAPE, LLC $467,538

Review panels that have appeared on these records

Panel names use NIH's Center for Scientific Review (CSR) format: a 2-4 letter study-section code plus a meeting-cycle number in parentheses (e.g. ISB (12) = Instrumentation and Systems Development, cycle 12). SBIR/STTR review groups are temporary, meeting-specific bodies. The names below describe panels that have appeared on the cited funded-project records, not where future applications get assigned. NIH assigns panels at the time of submission based on the application content.

Limitations

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