Morphine Sulfate

Bicycle Health, a company that offers virtual opioid disorder treatment, announced it secured $16.5 million in funding. Existing Questa Capital led the round with participation from other existing investors, including Frist Cressey Ventures, SignalFire, Hustle Fund, Valeo Ventures, City Light Capital and InterAlpen Partners. New investor JSL Health also joined the round. The Boston-based company touts that it reached profitability in Q4 2024 and, in December, appointed Manu Kuppalli as its new chief financial officer and Andy Thomas as chief operating officer. WHAT IT DOES Bicycle Health offers virtual opioid use disorder treatment, including medication-assisted therapeutic options like Suboxone, a medication that treats dependence on opioid drugs like heroin and morphine. Patients can set up an introductory call with the startup to determine if Bicycle's treatment would work for them. They then schedule a virtual appointment to set a care plan and discuss medication-assisted treatment. Patients can also access health coaching and online support groups. The company says it will use the new round of funding to expand access to its care model through partnerships with payers and health systems, hire additional addiction medication specialists, expand its offerings to high-risk patients such as adults in custody and build out its technology offerings. "Our mission has always been to help as many people as possible access the treatment they need to achieve long-term recovery," Ankit Gupta, founder and CEO of Bicycle Health, said in a statement. "Millions of people struggle with opioid use disorder and tens of thousands of people die from opioid use every year. Our virtual care model is proven to keep patients in treatment longer, reduce overdose rates, and improve access to treatment for people who need it. We're grateful to continue to provide lifesaving care to patients across the country, and plan to expand to more patients and families who need support in 2025." MARKET SNAPSHOT Last year, teletherapy company Talkspace launched the Behavioral Health Consortium, an offering allowing clinicians to refer insured members with high-acuity needs to in-network specialty-care providers for alcoholism, substance use and eating disorder treatments. The network included Bicycle Health, outpatient mental health support company Charlie Health and alcohol use treatment organization Ria Health. Months prior, Bicycle and Talkspace announced a partnership to expand access to virtual care for patients of both companies. Talkspace patients would have access to Bicycle's opioid use disorder specialty care, and Bicycle Health will be able to connect with Talkspace therapists via chat and speak to mental health providers in areas outside of substance use disorder, such as marriage and family therapists. In 2023, supermarket chain Albertsons and Bicycle Health partnered to allow the telehealth company's providers to prescribe buprenorphine monthly injections for opioid use disorder that can be filled inside Albertsons pharmacies across 17 states. Buprenorphine is an opioid used to treat opioid use disorder as well as acute and chronic pain. It has been shown to reduce the risk of death after an opioid overdose. In 2022, Bicycle secured $50 million in a Series B funding round, bringing its total Series B raise to $83 million. It also announced a partnership with emergency telehealth provider Tele911 to connect patients to continuing care after an overdose or health crisis. The company announced a $27 million Series A funding round a year before.