iSonea launches AirSonea in Australia

iSonea (ASX:ISN) has launched its flagship AirSonea handheld wheeze monitoring device into the Australian market.

The device was launched by Australian gold medallist Cathy Freeman at the Victorian Institute of Sport in Melbourne.

AirSonea’s selling point is that it allows asthma patients to track their wheeze symptoms via smartphones through the company’s AsthmaSense app.

The AirSonea device is held against the windpipe to record breathing sounds, which are then automatically transmitted to a cloud server and analysed with iSonea’s Acoustic Respiratory Monitoring technology.

An advantage over peak flow meters - the traditional measure for recording asthma symptoms outside of clinics - is that AirSonea does not require repeated forced breathing. Peak flow meters are often difficult for juvenile and elderly patients to use due to this requirement.

iSonea CEO Michael Thomas said the company expects immediate revenue from sales of AirSonea and aims for a US launch in Q1 2014.

“The AirSonea is a global product and builds on our company’s existing platform technology - the AsthmaSense app,” he said. “This new product heralds the ‘second wave’ of mobile health in the asthma space.”

iSonea secured a TGA listing for AirSonea last month. The company had prioritised a launch in Australia, in part because the regulatory process offered an easier path to market and in part because this country has one of the highest prevalence rates for asthma in the world.

An estimated 2.3 million Australians have asthma but, according to a recent survey, two thirds do not routinely monitor their conditions.

The company is initially selling AirSonea exclusively online but also plans to introduce the device in certain pharmacies.

In July, iSonea raised $13.5 million through a private placement to help fund the AirSonea launch.

iSonea (ASX:ISN) shares were trading 0.63% lower at $0.79 as of around 12.30 pm on Wednesday.