Fisher&Paykel Healthcare Ltd said its new ICON continuous positive airway pressure devices for treating obstructive sleep apnea have been well received in the New Zealand and Australian markets.The company yesterday announced the release of the produc
Fisher&Paykel Healthcare Ltd said its new ICON continuous positive airway pressure devices for treating obstructive sleep apnea have been well received in the New Zealand and Australian markets.
The company yesterday announced the release of the product but it has been selling them in this part of the world since just before Christmas. It has applied to the Food and Drug Administration in the United States for approval of the range. It already sells the predecessor range in the US.
The devices have to be prescribed by a doctor and can cost more than $1000 each. The new range has features that make the devices more comfortable for users and they look less like a medical device.
"They look like a clock," Michael Daniell, Fisher&Paykel Healthcare's chief executive officer told NZPA.
"They (sales) have gone well and the reaction from users and the doctors who prescribe them and the dealers who provide them has been positive."
Mr Daniell said the devices were safe and effective but many patients did not use them for a whole raft of reasons.
"Our technology can help deal with many of those. For instance, our ThermoSmart humidifies the air so you don't dry out your nose and airways, which can be uncomfortable and cause people not to use it."
The new devices were very quiet and had comfortable masks. A SensAwake feature sensed when people woke up and dropped the pressure to a low level so they could get back to sleep easily.
"It can be difficult for some patients to get back to sleep while breathing against the pressure. The pressure is there to prevent their airway collapsing, which is the cause of obstructive sleep apnea," said Mr Daniell.
He said existing devices looked like medical devices, while the new range sat on a bedside cabinet "and looked like it belonged there".
The devices have a digital clock, alarm and music playing capabilities.
The company would progressively roll them out in new markets as it received approvals, which it expected to be straight forward, though time consuming.
The company estimated that there were 60 million people with obstructive sleep apnea and about 10 million of them had been diagnosed.
"Our target is to continue to grow faster than the market. We think the market is growing between 10 and 15 percent per annum around the world and our objective would be to grow faster than that."
