The Age of Digital Therapeutics is Upon Us: EMulate Therapeutics, Inc.

“…after many years of hard work and initial skepticism, our technology is at last ready for commercial presentation. Clinical results in patients with brain cancer are extremely encouraging, and recent pre-clinical results in validated pain management and mental health models are very exciting.”

EMulate Therapeutics is a clinical-stage therapeutic device company utilizing its patented proprietary radio frequency energy (RFE) technology, targeted at the low and ultra-low ends of the RFE spectrum (ulRFE^®), to provide safe and effective therapeutic treatments for numerous unmet medical needs. The company has completed feasibility clinical trials in patients afflicted with glioblastoma and diffuse midline glioma with very encouraging results and is planning pivotal (phase III) trials for each indication in the near future. Recently, the company generated encouraging pre-clinical data in validated pre-clinical pain management and mental health models, and it has demonstrated effects in treating health conditions in animals (pets) and in bio-agricultural diseases, as well.

EMulate Therapeutics was founded in 2002 and is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington, having moved recently from Seattle.

Chris E. Rivera, President and CEO of EMulate^®, spoke exclusively to The Silicon Review about how his company-built product suite is modernizing disease treatment.

EMulate Therapeutics | Synopsis

EMulate Therapeutics: Innovating “Digital Therapeutics” for the Treatment of Some of the World’s Most Serious Diseases

Great change can only happen when someone takes the lead and the risk. EMulate Therapeutics is one such firm that was founded to bring about a revolutionary change in the therapeutic sector. The company is committed to modernizing disease treatment by pioneering groundbreaking medical technology, on the forefront of the “digital therapeutics” revolution. There is a need for safe, effective, and affordable treatments for cancer and other serious diseases. EMulate Therapeutics is taking the responsibility to develop and provide these treatments to patients around the world using radio frequency energy. The concept of “radiofrequency energy” had been used for decades in health care, but typically referring to energy on the high energy/ionizing end of the electro-magnetic energy spectrum. The company’s founders believed that the ultra-low and low ends of the RFE spectrum could also have a beneficial biological effect. They just had to prove it. This was when EMulate began to use its proprietary radio frequency energy (RFE) technology targeted at the ultra-low and low ends of the spectrum (ulRFE^®) to provide safe and effective therapies to those suffering from serious diseases such as cancer, acute and chronic pain, and mental health conditions.

To date, EMulate has been issued 41 patents world-wide, with others pending, protecting its proprietary ulRFE technology used to emulate the specific effects of drugs and other chemistries, with or without a drug or chemical being present.

Using Modern Approach to Treat Cancer and Beyond

EMulate Therapeutics’ initial focus has been on treating patients with brain cancer who are not well served by the conventional standard of care therapies, including chemotherapies that have difficulty getting past the blood-brain-barrier, often resulting in poor outcomes and devastating side effects. Results in ~150 patients are very encouraging for adults with glioblastoma and for children with diffuse midline gliomas. Additional pre-clinical work is focusing on exploring new applications for treating other tumor types. Recently the company generated very exciting pre-clinical data, together with first in human experiences, in acute and chronic pain models, as well as in mental health models for the potential treatment of anxiety, PTSD and epilepsy among other conditions.

Chris E. Rivera stated, “It feels like after many years of hard work and initial skepticism, our technology is at last ready for commercial presentation. Clinical results in patients with brain cancer are extremely encouraging, and recent pre-clinical results in validated pain management and mental health models are very exciting. In addition, we developed a technique to help speed up the onset of the technology’s effects and with greater impact, in both humans and animals. Much of these data were generated at contract research organizations (CROs), with validated, proprietary pre-clinical animal models recognized by the pharmaceutical industry. As a result, the company can develop new treatments at a fraction of the time and money it would take to develop a new drug — another potential advantage of our ulRFE technology: time and money.”

“Our business model has also evolved over the past few years, in part due to the effects of COVID and the general business environment. In 2019, we founded a consumer, wearable technology company called Hapbee Technologies, Inc. (TSXV:HAPB), focused on non-medical lifestyle uses of EMulate’s technology. This company provided an opportunity to put the technology into the hands of those with an interest in general wellness and a healthy lifestyle rather than a specific medical treatment. With Hapbee’s success as an EMulate “spin-out,” we have created other vertical market business units for oncology, pain management and mental health conditions. There will likely be other verticals developed over time, as well. Likely they will be separately run companies with EMulate as the technology lynchpin, each focused on the disease areas described. EMulate is truly a platform technology company,” Mr. Rivera further stated.

Committed to Provide Safe, Effective, and Affordable Treatments

There is a need for safe, effective, and affordable treatments for cancer and other serious diseases. EMulate Therapeutics is taking the responsibility to develop and provide these treatments to patients around the world. The company’s primary goal is to provide technologies and treatments that are non-toxic, non-invasive, non-ionizing, safe, affordable, and effective.

“We believe that initially our products may be used in combination with standard of care (drugs) and as monotherapy for patients who cannot tolerate certain drugs. This could potentially reduce costs and side effects and provide better efficacy,” extols Mr. Rivera.

The Road Ahead

“By establishing Indolor Therapeutics, Inc. (for pain management), Mensana Therapeutics, Inc. (for mental health indications), and Cellsana Therapeutics, Inc. (focused on cancer treatments), a small company like EMulate can rapidly develop multiple products for multiple indications very quickly, either independently or in partnerships with others. We hope to have our first product for medical use on the market in 2023, or shortly thereafter,” said Mr. Rivera.

The Visionary Leader Upfront

Chris E. Rivera is the President, Chief Executive Officer, and Chairman of the Board of EMulate Therapeutics. He brings over 30 years of experience in the biotechnology industry. Under his leadership, EMulate Therapeutics was named in Top 10 Digital Health Providers, 2021. Also, Chris was the Founder and CEO of Hyperion Therapeutics, which was acquired by Horizon Pharma in 2015. Mr. Rivera was also SVP at Genzyme and Tercica, where he was instrumental in each company’s success. Besides Hyperion, he also founded several other companies as well as Hapbee, Indolor, Mensana, and Cellsana.

Chris holds a master’s degree from the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, a bachelor’s degree from Northwestern Oklahoma State University, and studied marketing and management at the Albers Graduate School of Business and Economics at Seattle University.

“We believe that initially our products may be used in combination with standard of care (drugs) initially and as monotherapy for patients who cannot tolerate certain drugs. This could potentially reduce costs and side effects and provide better efficacy.”