July 26, 2022   |   7 minute read

Fitness-style alcohol monitoring wearable, SOBRsure™, could revolutionize Alcohol Use Disorder care and the $38 billion alcohol rehabilitation industry

Denver, CO, July 26, 2022SOBR Safe, Inc. (Nasdaq: SOBR) (SOBRsafe™ or the Company), providers of game-changing alcohol monitoring solutions, today announced the launch of SOBRsure™, an alcohol monitoring band for alcohol treatment programs. SOBRsure is intended to help accelerate intervention and reduce relapse rates, potentially improving patient quality of life and decreasing the financial burden to insurers.

The wearable wristband will be pioneered by North-Star Care, Inc. (North-Star Care), an innovative in-home, comprehensive medical treatment program.  SOBRsafe and North-Star Care announced their partnership agreement today.  North-Star Care’s physicians, nurses, navigators, and behavioral health team meet with patients virtually through telehealth.  Their Peer Guides, highly trained individuals with lived experience, meet with patients in Virtual Reality (VR) moderating group support services.  North-Star Care has submitted a purchase order for an initial 1,150 white label bands and intends to deploy them through the end of the year and anticipates up to 7,500 patients in the first 2 years of the program to help patients achieve their goals. North-Star Care’s co-founder Dr. Amanda Wilson’s prior enterprise in the opioid addiction treatment space has provided care to over 110,000 patients.

Together, using advanced and innovative technologies including real time alcohol monitoring along with VR for group peer support, SOBRsafe and North-Star Care are ushering in a new era of effective, patient-centered alcohol rehabilitation care. SOBRsure is an effective alcohol monitoring system designed specifically for immediate patient feedback. The fitness-style, privacy-forward wearable alcohol monitoring wristband provides continuous remote monitoring for continuous positive patient reinforcement.  For the first time, patients now have a streamlined, modern solution to proactively monitor their progress so they can achieve their goals, while telehealth professionals are provided with added insight into the optimal treatments needed – all virtually, and all in real time.

“We are thrilled to launch our wearable wristband for alcohol treatment programs, empowering patients to safely regain control over their alcohol use.  Early treatment and proactive personalized clinical care improves patient outcomes, while reducing insurance costs…and most importantly saves lives,” said Michael Watson, Chief Revenue Officer of SOBRsafe. “When patients in treatment use SOBRsure they are able to use their own data to help them moderate their behavior and achieve their goals.  North-Star Care is using immediate patient feedback to improve clinical outcomes, demonstrating that new wearable technologies play a vital role in improving alcohol treatment.”

Approximately 28 million Americans struggle with Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD), and less than 10% of these people receive any treatment or intervention. While insurance providers were projected to spend $280 billion across all substance use disorder and mental health spending in 2020 –  a $109 billion increase over the past ten years – it is estimated that after standard treatment, ~90% of individuals with AUD return to uncontrolled drinking.  Current treatment models do not address the neurological, medical, and nutritional needs that set up patients for clinical success.  Peer support and counseling are incredibly important tools used today to support patients, but alone they do not address the underlying clinical issues that imperil patient success.

Breaking from the traditional rehabilitation model with the first entirely virtual AUD rehabilitation program in the country, North-Star Care leverages digital technologies including virtual reality, physician led clinical support through telehealth, personalized genome-specific medical treatments and nutrient support dramatically improve treatment outcomes. SOBRsure will now be added to this toolset, offering North-Star Care a new way to help patients with real-time monitoring.

“Our mission is to change the paradigm of Alcohol Use Disorder treatment and support our patients to achieve their goals.  Patients are successful when they are not held to unrealistic expectations and have control over their choices around alcohol consumption,” said Amanda Wilson MD, co-founder and CEO of North-Star Care Inc. “SOBRsafe’s alcohol monitoring band is an innovative new technology that allows us to give patients the information they need to make informed decisions about their treatment goals.  North-Star Care’s unique patient centric, compassionate treatment approach empowers patients to actively participate in the development of their treatment plan.  With a focus on privacy, patient autonomy, in home care, and harm-reduction, North-star Care intends to remove the most common barriers that prevent patients from receiving early effective treatment.”

SOBRsure is available for pre-order now. For more information, please visit www.SOBRsure.com, or contact Michael Watson at michael.watson@sobrsafe.com.

About SOBRsafe™

The annual cost of alcohol abuse in the U.S. is $249 billion. Nearly half of all industrial accidents with injuries are alcohol-related, and 1-in-10 U.S. commercial drivers test positive for alcohol (the highest rate worldwide). In response, Denver-based SOBRsafe™ has developed a proprietary, touch-based identity verification, alcohol monitoring and cloud-based reporting system. The technology is transferable across innumerable form factors, including stationary access control, personal wearables and for telematics integration.

A preventative solution in a historically reactive industry, it is being deployed for commercial fleets and workplaces; other intended applications include managed care and young drivers. This patent-pending alcohol monitoring solution helps prevent an intoxicated worker from taking the factory floor, or a driver the vehicle keys. An offender is immediately flagged, and the employer (or parent, rehab sponsor, etc.) is empowered to take the appropriate corrective actions. At SOBRsafe, we are creating a culture of prevention. (www.SOBRsafe.com)

Safe Harbor Statement

Our prospects here at SOBRsafe are subject to uncertainties and risks. This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve substantial uncertainties and risks. These forward-looking statements are based upon our current expectations, estimates and projections about our business, and reflect our beliefs and assumptions based upon information available to us at the date of this press release. In some cases, you can identify these statements by words such as “if,” “may,” “might,” “will, “should,” “expects,” “plans,” “anticipates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “predicts,” “potential,” “continue,” and other similar terms. These forward-looking statements include, among other things, plans for proposed operations, descriptions of our strategies, our product and market development plans, and other objectives, expectations and intentions, the trends we anticipate in our business and the markets in which we operate, and the competitive nature and anticipated growth of those markets. We caution readers that forward-looking statements are predictions based on our current expectations about future events. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Our actual results, performance or achievements could differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements as a result of a number of factors including, but not limited to, the risks and uncertainties discussed under risk factors in our registration statement on Form S-1, as amended (File No. 333-262665) as well as our other filings with the SEC. We undertake no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statement for any reason.

Contact SOBR Safe, Inc.:

investor.relations@sobrsafe.com