Respiri to enter asthma telehealth, wheezo commercialisation looms

Under new management, medtech company Respiri (ASX: RSH) is poised to enter the lucrative SaaS revenue market by leveraging their asthma screening device to partner with Phenix Healthcare, whose patients will be able to monitor their condition using Respiri’s wheezo device. 

The agreement will give Phenix Healthcare’s patients diagnosed with asthma an option to monitor their condition using wheezo, a device they can use from home by breathing-in to assess their wheeze levels. The device, which syncs with Respiri’s smartphone app, then provides users with data relating to their breathing and asthma risk levels which can be automatically relayed to health professionals. 

“The joint development agreement with Phenix underscores our commitment to patients with asthma and related respiratory disease in Australia during the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Respiri CEO, Dr Marjan Mikel. 

“By increasing awareness and access through Phenix’s leading telehealth platform, innovative technology solutions such as wheezo will support more effective monitoring of a patient’s underlying condition to better empower patients and their treating physicians in the management of their condition during this critical period and beyond.”

Specialising in eHealth solutions, Phenix Health is a spinoff from their after-hours home visit doctor service which services a large segment of the population that cannot access adequate healthcare services. To further serve this market, the company has developed mobile technology that can be used for collaboration between healthcare providers, aged care facilities and emergency services. 

This telehealth partnership is the first signed by Dr Mikel since joining Respiri in February 2020 which was followed by a claim of wrongful termination lodged by former CEO Mario Gatino against Respiri. 

Since taking the reins at Respiri, Dr Mikel has overseen the company’s first batch of 500 wheezo devices delivered to their product testing team, where 95% passed compliance testing and quality control – their first step towards commercialisation.

The company is planning a full commercial launch of wheezo in the quarter commencing September 2020 in Australia and Europe where they have already secured regulatory approval. An FDA application was lodged in January for approval to commercialise in the United States.