California-based sleep and respiratory medicine pioneer Resmed Inc.(RMD) recently reported results of a study which evaluated the efficiency of Resmed's SleepMinder device in the diagnosis of sleep disordered breathing (SDB) in heart failure (HF) patients. The results were presented at the ESC Congress 2014 held in Barcelona, Spain.
Results from a separate study were also presented at a Rapid Fire session of the Congress. This study evaluated positive airway pressure (PAP) device therapy's role in curing SDB.
Following these news, Resmed's share price rose 0.5% to eventually close at $53.30 yesterday.
Sleep Apnea & Heart Failure
SDB, or sleep apnea, is a common medical condition which causes one's breathing to shallow down or even stop for a few seconds while in sleep.Per management,SDB markets remain under-penetrated with consistent growth in patient volumes. Resmed envisions a long-term opportunity to flourish in this market with innovative products.
SDB reportedly has an extremely frequent co-morbidity rate in patients suffering from coronary heart disease (CHD) as well as HF. However, often physicians fail to detect the presence of SDB in HF patients, which deprives them of proper treatment.
Evidently, in Europe, 50–75% of 15 million HF patients have been diagnosed with SDB. However, it still remains as one of the least identified medical conditions by cardiologists in Europe, despite being the most common form of HF co-morbidity.
Benefits of SleepMinder in SDB
SleepMinder is Resmed's contactless, bedside, nocturnal respiratory monitor that collects data on SDB on a long term basis. The first mentioned study assessed 39 adult patients with HF over a period of 12 months.
The key objective of this study was to examine whether SleepMinder can diagnose SDB in HF patients more accurately over the long run than conventional single-night polysomnography (PSG) assessment.
Results from this study demonstrated that 57% of the patients were consistently above a threshold requiring therapy for SDB, after just two weeks of analysis using the SleepMinder. This rose to 74% in patients who received a follow up for 12 months.
Benefits of PAP Device in SDB
Resmed's PAP devices are similar to respiratory ventilators used to treat patients suffering from sleep apnea.
In the additional study reported at the Rapid Fire Session, the primary endpoint was the efficacy of PAP device therapy in treating HF patients who suffer from SDB. This study involved more than 4 million individuals covered by the German Statutory Health Insurance (SHI) database.
About 4,068 patients with sleep apnea received PAP therapy, whereas an equal number of patients in a control group received only routine care. A 3-year follow up was done on patients after the PAP therapy was provided.
Results from this study demonstrated that the 3-year mortality rate in CHD patients reduced 37.9% among those who received the PAP therapy, while the same in HF patients reduced 31.6%. The results pointed out the importance of proper diagnosis and treatment of SDB in HF patients that should be dealt with high priority.
Zacks Rank
Currently, ResMed carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell). Better-ranked stocks in the medical products industry include ICU Medical, Inc. (ICUI), Abaxis, Inc. (ABAX) and Conatus Pharmaceuticals Inc. (CNAT). While ICU Medical sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), Abaxis and Conatus hold a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) each.
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
To read this article on Zacks.com click here.
Get all Zacks Research Reports and be alerted to fast-breaking buy and sell opportunities every trading day.
Be the first to comment