Outro Announces $7M in Funding to Expand Access to Safe Deprescribing, Starting With Antidepressants

Outro Announces $7M in Funding to Expand Access to Safe Deprescribing, Starting With Antidepressants

The new capital will accelerate Outro’s mission to close America’s deprescribing gap across medication classes, and advance novel research in partnership with leading academic institutions.

Outro, the first neuroscience-based platform helping Americans safely discontinue psychiatric medications, today announced $7 million funding across pre-seed and seed rounds, with participation from Listen Ventures, Cake Ventures, Jason Calicanis’s LAUNCH, Actions Capital, Hannah Grey VC, SemperVirens, Brock Recovery Group, Pave Health Ventures, and more.

Approximately one in six Americans take an antidepressant. The average duration of use has surpassed five years, while the drugs were approved by the FDA based on 8-12 week studies. After more than three decades on the market, the wider healthcare system still lacks clear, science-based methods to help patients discontinue antidepressants safely.

Research from Outro co-founder, Dr. Mark Horowitz, found that four in five long-term antidepressant users were unable to stop their antidepressants due to withdrawal symptoms.

Deprescribing is largely absent from medical training, and current guidelines lack a clear scientific basis–leaving both doctors and patients stuck navigating withdrawal alone. The result is a major gap in mental health care: millions of Americans want more support making informed decisions about whether, when, and how to come off medication.

Deprescribing has recently come into focus on a national level. This year, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has prioritized the development of evidence-based deprescribing guidelines, collaborating with organizations like the American Psychiatric Association (APA) and American Society of Clinical Psychopharmacology (ASCP). These developments reinforce that safe and supported medication discontinuation is a necessary part of high-quality longitudinal care.

"Only a few years ago, it was considered taboo to even talk openly about mental health," says Brandon Goode, co-founder and CEO of Outro. "Today, patients are asking a different question: if starting medication deserves support, why does stopping often happen without it? We’ve built the on-ramp for medications. Now it is time to build the off-ramp."

"With approximately 50 million Americans taking antidepressants, the lack of safe, effective, accessible ways to stop remains an overlooked healthcare gap," says Ellen Wilcox, Partner at Listen Ventures. "At Listen, we invest by listening to consumers first, and we're hearing a clear demand for patients to have more choice and clinical guidance in managing their medications. Outro is building the infrastructure, therapeutic options, and support for deprescribing, starting with antidepressants — a model we believe will become a standard part of modern healthcare."

"Deprescribing guidance has existed in countries like the U.K. for years," says Dr. Mark Horowitz, Outro's co-founder and one of the world's leading researchers on safely stopping psychiatric medications. "Yet in America, where antidepressant use is widespread, tapering support is very hard to come by, so millions of patients are left without support when they are ready to come off. As someone personally impacted by a lack of tapering guidance, I am proud to be building a service to bridge this gap."

Outro is building the infrastructure to make safe, clinically-supported deprescribing possible at scale. Starting with antidepressants, the company combines specially-trained clinicians, evidence-informed tapering protocols, patient monitoring, psychosocial support, and technology designed specifically for deprescribing. Its model is built for one of the most clinically complex parts of mental healthcare, where risk, safety, and personalization are exactly why specialized infrastructure is needed.

This funding will support the growth of Outro's deprescribing clinician network, further the application of AI to deprescribing-specific workflows, expand the company’s tapering model into additional drug classes, and grow existing partnerships with leading universities and advocacy groups.

Learn more about Outro and its program at outro.com.

About Outro

Outro is building the first integrated deprescribing network to help people safely stop unnecessary medications—starting with antidepressants. Co-founded by health tech entrepreneur Brandon Goode and Dr. Mark Horowitz, the world-leading researcher on the practice of deprescribing, Outro’s flagship Taper Management program is currently available in 14 states. The company is headquartered in New York. Learn more at outro.com.

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