ICBT marketplace Phase 1

The overall aim of this innovation project is to perform a Market and Economic Feasibility Study for commercialising our market disruptive internet-assisted treatment system based on Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (ICBT). Current ICBTs solutions are often similar to books or attempt to resemble psychotherapy. They are just a web page with content or Apps designed according to the principle of "one-size-fits-all". As Apps require high technical skills to be developed and updated, mental health professionals and other practitioners cannot create Apps by themselves without external support and, once created, Apps are rigid structures that cannot be easily modified for the specific needs of different groups of patients. Annually 25% of the EU population suffer from depression or anxiety, with higher rates for women than men. Neuropsychiatric disorders account for 26% of the burden of disease and up to 40% of years lived with disability, with depression as the main cause in the EU. Besides, up to 50% of chronic sick leaves are due to depression/anxiety. As a result, the cost of mood disorders and anxiety in the EU is about €170bn per year and on the rise: between 1990-2013 the number of people suffering from depression and/or anxiety increased by nearly 50%. Our novel ICBT marketplace has been developed to the TRL6 stage where it is ready for further testing under real environment conditions. We therefore propose a Feasibility Study to verify the technical, regulatory, commercial and economic viability of its exploitation, which will lead us to the formulation of an elaborated business plan, anticipating an application for Phase 2 of the SME Instrument.