Akili Interactive’s EndeavorRX is the first video game that can actually be prescribed as medicine in the US, according to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
This FDA decision allows doctors to prescribe EndeavorRX, which is an iOS game that can be played on the iPhone and iPad, for kids with ADHD between the ages of eight and 12 years old.
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The story behind the first FDA-approved video game
EndeavorRX has gone through seven years of clinical trials, studying over 600 children to determine what kind of affect the game would have. According to the company, one-third of kids treated “no longer had a measurable attention deficit on at least one measure of objective attention” after playing the game for 25 minutes a day, five days a week over the course of four weeks.
"Improvements in ADHD impairments following a month of treatment with EndeavorRx were maintained for up to a month," the company cited. Side effects included frustration or a headache.
Despite the FDA's approval, the disclosures included in the study state that the results "are not sufficient to suggest that AKL-T01 should be used as an alternative to established and recommended treatments for ADHD."
However, a video game making it this far is great news for the future of gaming and other possible virtual medicines.
If you're interested in EndeavorRX, you can go to the company's website and join a waitlist.
