The future of Digital Therapeutics (DTx): Perspectives and market projections

by Ana Díaz-Roncero, January 22, 2025

Digital Therapeutics (DTx), clinically evaluated software designed to prevent, diagnose, or treat diseases, are transforming healthcare. These tools offer an innovative approach with the potential to revolutionize treatments by making them more accessible and personalized, while also enabling real-time monitoring. Because of this, healthcare systems are accelerating their implementation, with evidence already available about their benefits, for example, the reduction in costs of medical care, among others.

This integration of DTx into care models is a process that aligns with the increased digitalization of healthcare systems, as is the case in Spain. According to the Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) 2023, Spain has exceeded the European average for digitalization of public services, including the healthcare sector.

This has boosted growth in the market for Digital Therapeutics, which is developing continuously. As it is noted in the article Where is the Digital Therapeutics (DTx) market headed?, and according to the “White Paper del Consorcio DTx”, in 2022 the global DTx market received US$1.5 billion in financing, with the category of health technology having the greatest increase in investment, multiplying almost five times over the past five years. Regarding value and market projections, Market ReseaArch Intellect valued the DTx market at $4.5 billion in 2023, and it is estimated that it will reach US$19.76 billion in 2031, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 29.1% between 2024 and 2031. Additionally, projections for the European market show a 23.4% CAGR, reaching US$10.639 billion in 2028.

With regard to the technology companies that are making the development of these solutions possible, it is estimated that there are more than 220 DTx start-ups worldwide, with 652 million global users. These include important financing agreements in areas like mental health, diabetes and nutrition, musculoskeletal health, oncology, technology for women (femtech), digestive health, and cardiology.

All of this is possible thanks to the advances in regulation that favor access to these tools. In Europe, at the beginning of 2024, more than 100 DTx financing projects were approved by healthcare systems, and it is expected that there will be more over the next few years. Countries like Germany, France, and Belgium already have regulations regarding the evaluation and financing of Digital Therapeutics in their healthcare systems, and other countries are in the process of developing their own regulatory frameworks, as we encouraged in How are Digital Therapeutics (DTx) making headway in the Spanish Health System?. This is the current situation in Italy, Luxembourg, Estonia, Netherlands, and Portugal.

With these market projections, and the increasing number of governments venturing into DTx, these tools are being positioned as one of the most promising solutions in healthcare. To the extent that specific regulatory frameworks are adopted, together with continuous investment in innovation, the expansion of DTx will be facilitated over the next few years, offering a new vision of healthcare in the future.