Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (Otsuka) and Jolly Good Inc. (Jolly Good) will launch FACEDUO, a social skills training (SST) program for schizophrenia patients, as the first step in a virtual-real-based (VR) mental healthcare joint project. Applications for use of FACEDUO will be accepted beginning October 17, 2022.

This VR program reproduces in VR images realistic experiences of patients in everyday situations such as convenience stores and workplaces. This makes real-life scenes easier for patients to understand and facilitates smoother situation sharing between patient and their supporters. In addition, advice for patients is displayed in the VR images, allowing high-quality SST to be conducted regardless of the expertise or length of experience of patients' supporters.

All VR contents are produced under the supervision of Dr. Ayako Kanie, a psychiatrist and senior medical advisor to Jolly Good, and supervised by the SST Promotion Association.

The contents of FACEDUO will be expanded, with classifications for inpatients, patients attending day care, and patients preparing for employment. This will provide SSTs that are consistent with phase to phase patient developments to medical and welfare facilities across Japan. A further aim is to build regional mental health platforms for facilities to work with collaboratively.

Makoto Inoue, president and representative director of Otsuka, commented, "Otsuka Pharmaceutical continues to develop our global pharmaceutical business in psychiatric and neurological disorders as core therapeutic areas. In recent years, major changes in the environment, including technological advances, have led to a rapid shift to digitalization in healthcare. FACEDUO will be launched at this opportune time of change, and we will continue to support patients' reintegration into society by providing valuable medicines, digital tools, and information to all stakeholders in the field of psychiatry and neurology.