CHAD Puts O2 Delivery in Motion
Northridge, Calif-based CHAD Therapeutics Inc believes it has found the answer to the persistent problem of patients on portable oxygen forgetting to turn up their oxygen level when they are active and forgetting to turn it down when they are inactive. Unlike traditional oxygen delivery devices that must be manually adjusted to deliver more or less oxygen, the SAGE Oxygen Therapeutic Device uses a dynamic technology CHAD calls S.M.A.R.T., which stands for Sensing Methods for Accurate Respiratory Therapy, to tell when the oxygen user is moving and automatically adjust the rate of oxygen delivery accordingly.

“The device incorporates a motion sensor and a software algorithm that automatically increases the delivery amount to a preset prescription level when it senses movement,” says Carla Laureano, CHAD’s marketing manager. “It then delivers the increased oxygen rate throughout activity and for a period of time after activity ceases, based on the duration of the movement. In this way, it is able to distinguish between accidental bumps and sustained movement.”

Having a reliable device that automates this function will be of great help to patients and clinicians, says Brian L. Tiep, MD, medical director of the Respiratory Disease Management Institute in Pomona, Calif, who is heading up the clinical research on the product. “Our patients get up and sit down many times during the day and they don’t think of that as exercise, so they don’t adjust their settings,” he says. Instead, the patients will leave the rate of oxygen delivery high all the time, causing them to run out of portable oxygen and risk overoxygenation, or they will desaturate and feel dizzy while moving around.

If CHAD can produce strong clinical evidence supporting the effectiveness of the SAGE, as well as price and market it correctly, the device has a lot of potential, says Thomas J. Williams of the market research firm Strategic Dynamics Inc in Riverside, Calif. “I think it will be a very popular product with physicians and also with providers,” he says.

AARC Names 2003 Zenith Award Recipients
Respironics Inc and Nellcor Puritan Bennett each received the Zenith Award during the American Association for Respiratory Care (AARC) 49th International Respiratory Congress in Las Vegas in December.

Paul Woodring (right), president of Respironics’ Hospital Division, accepts the Zenith Award at AARC’s 49th International Respiratory Congress.

Nellcor Puritan Bennett, based in Pleasanton, Calif, is a 14-time Zenith award winner. This is the eighth time that Respironics Inc, Murrysville, Pa, has received the award.

The AARC established the Zenith Award program in 1989 to honor exemplary service. AARC members chose recipients based on the companies’ quality of equipment and/or supplies; accessibility and helpfulness of sales personnel; responsiveness and service record; truth in advertising; and overall support of the respiratory care profession, says AARC President Janet Boehm, RRT.

Invacare Purchases Infusion Therapy Company Assets
In January, Invacare Corp, based in Elyria, Ohio, bought the assets of ACS, a Deer Park, NY-based division of Mediq PRN Life Support Services Inc, which distributes medical supplies with a focus on infusion therapy. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

The business of ACS will be combined with Invacare Supply Group’s distribution business, which is headquartered in Holliston, Mass. ACS’ sales and customer service personnel will be employed by Invacare Supply Group. The ACS distribution system will be consolidated into ISG over the next few months.

“The ACS business will further enhance Invacare’s ability to provide one-stop shopping to the home care provider,” says A. Malachi Mixon III, Invacare’s chairman and CEO.

Invacare expects the acquisition to add to earnings in 2004.

Private Investment Firm Affiliate Acquires RDI
An affiliate of Sun Capital Partners Inc, Boca Raton, Fla, recently acquired Respiratory Distributors Inc (RDI), a specialty distributor of pharmaceuticals and proprietary products headquartered in Foley, Ala.

RDI, which was represented by River Capital Partners, focuses on the treatment of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and other respiratory disorders. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

“This new partnership provides the foundation to take RDI to the next level, and we are pleased that Sun Capital shares our progressive vision for the future,” RDI CEO Marty McClantoc says. “In the near future, we plan to introduce new product lines for our customers and enter into strategic business alliances with other manufacturers, which we believe will benefit our customers.”

Bruno Adds HQ Building
Galvanized by double-digit annual growth and the need for more assembly and distribution space, Bruno Independent Living Aids broke ground on a fourth building in December.

The new 100,000-square-foot building under construction in the Oconomowoc Corporate Center will host some assembly work. When it is completed, Bruno Independent Living Aids will reside in a cumulative 250,000 square feet of office, manufacturing, and assembly space in Oconomowoc, Wis.

Chairman and CEO Michael R. Bruno says the company, which manufactures mobility products that are distributed to about 2,500 dealers in North America, will continue to expand with acquisitions of product lines and companies.

“Our goal is to reach $100 million in sales in 2005 or 2006,” Bruno told a local newspaper.

Late last year, the company acquired a Swedish firm that adapts vehicles for the elderly and physically challenged. In the past year, the company hired 40 employees, expanding Bruno’s Oconomowoc employee count to 320. Michael R. Bruno II expects the new building to allow Oconomowoc employment to increase another 10% next year.

VMI Buys Division of Ricon
In January, Vantage Mobility International (VMI), a provider of vehicle accessibility products based in Phoenix, acquired the Personal Division of Ricon Corp, which includes Ricon’s platform lift and adaptive accessories product lines sold through retail dealers. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

As part of the agreement, Ricon will continue to manufacture platform lifts and adaptive accessories under a long-term contract with VMI. “This transaction allows Ricon to retain and enhance our focus on the commercial/transit markets and best-in-class manufacturing,” says Bill Baldwin, CEO of Ricon, based in Los Angeles.

Longtime Industry Advocate Joins Graham-Field
Graham-Field Health Products Inc, Atlanta, recently appointed Sheldon “Shelly” Prial to director of government relations. Prial, who has more than 50 years of experience in the health care industry, founded and was president of the Melbourne, Fla-based Homecare Providers Co-op, a buying group and grassroots advocacy center for independent HME dealers. The co-op is now part of Waterloo, Iowa-based VGM & Associates.

“[Prial] is well known and respected throughout the industry and has an intimate knowledge of the issues our customers face,” says Irwin Selinger, president and CEO of Graham Field. “[Prial] will be working with our customers to ensure that their voice is heard in Washington on the many regulatory issues they face today and in the future. It is part of Graham-Field’s strategic charter to work with our customers on reimbursement issues, marketing and sales programs, and new product development. [Prial] is the perfect person to help us with this strategy.”

ResMed Reorganizes Management
Paul Eisen, previously vice president of sales and marketing at ResMed Asia Pacific Ltd, has taken on the new position of vice president sales and marketing, Europe & Asia Pacific for ResMed. Eisen replaces Christopher Roberts, PhD, in managing the European and Asian markets. Roberts, who recently left the company to become CEO of Cochlear Ltd, CITY, STATE, was executive vice president at ResMed and had been with the company for 11 years. He will remain a nonexecutive member of ResMed’s board of directors.