ADHD is a neurodevelopmental disorder that can affect about one in 20 children, with a slightly lower rate in adults.Jenny Kane/The Canadian Press
Telehealth provider Maple Corp. is acquiring New Brunswick-based startup Beyond ADHD to meet what the companies call a major unmet need for Canadians who have – or suspect they have − attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
Beyond ADHD, founded in 2022 by emergency physician Hanif Chatur, provides virtual appointments with nurse practitioners for ADHD assessments, diagnoses and treatments, with follow-up sessions as needed.
ADHD is a neurodevelopmental disorder that can affect about one in 20 children, with a slightly lower rate in adults, according to the Centre for ADHD Awareness, Canada.
Common symptoms include not being able to pay attention for a long period of time, being easily distracted and fidgeting, according to the non-profit group.
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Dr. Chatur said he started Beyond ADHD out of a difficulty in accessing public services for ADHD for one of his four children.
He also found that long wait times between medical appointments and rigidity on schedules made it even more challenging for patients like his child to get the most out of their care.
“I quickly realized that the ADHD brain is not compatible with the health care system as it currently functions,” he said in an interview.
Services through Beyond ADHD are not covered by public insurance and can be paid for by private insurance or out of pocket. Sessions range in price from $79 to $279 depending on the service.
Brett Belchetz, co-founder of Maple and also an emergency doctor, said that, based on the estimated prevalence of ADHD, there could be up to two million Canadians living with it.
He said that Beyond ADHD had already treated 20,000 patients, and hoped many more would be able to access these services now that the company was part of Maple.
“Combining forces is really critical in order for us to lend scale to the Beyond ADHD enterprise, so that we can help a lot more people,” Dr. Belchetz said in an interview.
He also said that by combining services, those who are assessed and found not to have ADHD can be connected with services to help with other possible conditions, such as anxiety or depression.
Private insurance companies have noted the rise in claims related to ADHD. A 2023 report from Manulife Financial Corp. said there was a 24.5 per cent increase in unique adult claimants for ADHD medication according to their data.
A report released last week by Innovative Medicines Canada, a group that represents pharmaceutical companies, said a class of drugs covering “antidepressants, antipsychotics, and ADHD treatments” was the third most-common class of drugs for which claims were made to private insurance in 2024. It said 11.2 per cent of all drug claims fell in that category.
Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.