Carlyle to Acquire a Significant Minority Stake in CureApp, a Leading Prescription Digital Therapeutics Provider in Japan

• Strategic growth investment in CureApp to support the rollout of its hypertension app and advance its new development pipeline, as digital therapeutics gain traction in Japan

Tokyo, Japan, August 16, 2022 – Global investment firm Carlyle (NASDAQ:CG) today announced a strategic partnership with CureApp, Inc., a leading Japanese medical technology (“MedTech”) company and prescription digital therapeutics provider, through an acquisition of a significant minority stake in the company.  The investment is part of CureApp’s Series G funding, whereby Carlyle will be investing JPY 7 billion in the company. This brings the total amount of capital raised by CureApp to approximately JPY 13.4 billion. Carlyle will have one board seat as part of the transaction.

Founded in 2014 by two physicians, CureApp is one of Japan’s fastest-growing MedTech companies specializing in the research and development of prescription and non-prescription digital therapeutics. Its hypertension prescription digital therapeutic (“PDT”) received regulatory approval in Japan in April 2022 and is the first-of-its-kind globally; while its smoking cessation treatment app was the first to receive regulatory approval in Japan in 2020. CureApp is dedicated to advancing medicine with digital technology and its digital therapeutics pipeline is currently focused on the areas of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, alcohol addiction, oncology, and chronic heart failure.  

The strategic growth investment by Carlyle will help support CureApp in the rollout of its hypertension PDT app and enable the company to advance its digital therapeutics development pipeline. The CureApp management team will also be able to leverage the strength of Carlyle’s global healthcare sector experience as it looks to deepen its sales and distribution network and strengthen its marketing and product development platforms in Japan, and expand globally in the future.

Kazuhiro Yamada, Managing Director and Head of Carlyle Japan, said: “We see tremendous growth opportunities for digital therapeutics in helping to address the growing social needs of Japan’s ageing population, to advance public health access, and to reduce overall healthcare costs through early intervention. CureApp has a distinct competitive market advantage as a leading prescription digital therapeutics company. We are excited to partner with its co-founders for Carlyle Japan’s second strategic growth investment and to help advance digital health solutions in Japan.”

Genta Saito, Director at Carlyle Japan, said: “The CureApp management team impressed us with its strong capabilities across the medical, technology and regulatory fields, and we are honored to be chosen as partners. We look forward to working with the management team and supporting its ambitions to drive new standards of medical care through digital health solutions.”

Kohta Satake, M.D. MBA, MPH, and Representative Director and CEO of CureApp, said: “As a leading company for digital therapeutics, we are strongly committed to our mission of ‘evolving therapeutics with software’ and are dedicated to improving access to healthcare for everyone. We are very grateful for Carlyle’s investment and partnership as we continue to work to meet the expectations of patients, medical professionals, insurers, the government, employees, and shareholders.”

Carlyle has invested more than JYP 394.4 billion of equity in deals in Japan to-date; and has well-established experience investing in the healthcare sector in the country, with investments in Sunsho Pharmaceutical Co., Solasto Corporation, Qualicaps Co., and Colin Medical Technology. Globally, Carlyle has invested more than US$19.5 billion of equity in over 75 deals in the healthcare sector as of June 30, 2022.

***

About Carlyle

Carlyle (NASDAQ: CG) is a global investment firm with deep industry expertise that deploys private capital across three business segments: Global Private Equity, Global Credit and Global Investment Solutions. With $376 billion of assets under management as of June 30, 2022, Carlyle’s purpose is to invest wisely and create value on behalf of its investors, portfolio companies and the communities in which we live and invest. Carlyle employs more than 1,900 people in 26 offices across five continents. Further information is available at www.carlyle.com. Follow Carlyle on Twitter @OneCarlyle.

About CureApp, Inc.

CureApp, Inc. is a MedTech venture that conducts research and development into the creation of medical device programs, which apply advanced software technology and medical evidence to treat illnesses, with the intent of manufacturing and distributing them. The Company is hard at work developing “PDT” - apps used to treat illnesses - in order to become the first in Japan to establish a new healthcare service centered on “producing a therapeutic effect to treat illnesses using an app”. In August 2020, CureApp was the first to receive medical device regulatory approval for a PDT in Japan in the form of a nicotine addiction PDT app, which was later reimbursed under national health insurance in December of the same year. CureApp is involved in a number of healthcare areas such as nicotine addiction, hypertension, NASH (non-alcoholic steatohepatitis), alcohol addiction, oncology, and chronic heart failure. For further information, please see http://cureapp.co.jp/.

Media Contacts

Carlyle

Lonna Leong

Tel: +852 9023 1157

Email: lonna.leong@carlyle.com

Minako Otani / Kaya Tanabe (Kekst CNC)

Tel: +81 03 5156 0190 / +81 03 5156 0102

Email: carlyle@kekstcnc.com

CureApp

Nanako Daime

Tel: +81 070 4473 3944

Email: pr-team@cureapp.jp