ResMed

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ResMed (ASX: RMD and NYSE: RMD) is a manufacturer of products for the screening and treatment of sleep disorder breathing (SDB) and obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA).

When ResMed was formed in 1989, its primary purpose was to commercialise a device for treating obstructive sleep apnoea. Developed in 1981 by Professor Colin Sullivan at the University of Sydney, nasal continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) provided the first successful noninvasive treatment of OSA. Since 1989, ResMed has maintained its focus on SDB, which is gaining greater public and physician awareness.

SDB is believed to affect around 4% of the adult population¹. A large proportion of sufferers remain undiagnosed and untreated. This discrepancy has created one of the fastest growing segments of the respiratory industry.

1 Young et al. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2002; 165:1217-1239

The term “sleep-disordered breathing” includes a spectrum of respiratory disorders ranging in severity from snoring to OSA. OSA occurs when the airway temporarily collapses during sleep, preventing or restricting breathing for up to ten seconds or more. Such events can occur several hundred times a night severely disrupting sleep.

Untreated OSA can affect quality of life, health and mortality. There is research that suggests it may be linked to a range of diseases such as stroke, heart failure, hypertension, diabetes, obesity and coronary heart disease.

CPAP treatment involves wearing a mask or nasal pillows system connected to a small portable airflow generator that delivers air at positive pressure. The air pressure acts like an “air splint” to keep the airway open.

The growth of ResMed has been characterised by very low (and ever diminishing) manufacturing costs, and extremely high selling prices.