ASX listed Uscom launches new blood pressure device
The Uscom BP+ release featured in The Australian, 30th October 2017
Australian medical device company Uscom says it has revolutionised the way hypertension and heart failure is monitored, with the release of new technology to assess blood pressure.
The developer of cardiac, vascular and pulmonary monitoring devices, today launched the Uscom BP+. The product provides direct measures of blood pressure and pulse pressure waves at the heart, as well as basic blood pressure information current devices provide. Previously, such measurements were only available using invasive cardiac catheters.
Rob Phillips, executive chairman of the Australian-listed Uscom, said the new device would change clinical practice in hypertension and heart failure.
“Like much world leading science, the development of the BP+ has taken longer and cost more to develop than anticipated, requiring the most diligent and rigorous scientific focus by our team over five years,” he said.
“That is what it takes if you want to create real and valuable cardiovascular innovations.”
Mr Phillips said the device established Uscom as a technological leader in the $1.5 billion hypertension and heart failure monitoring sector.
Uscom acquired the BP+ technology in 2013 and has spent the last five years preparing it for market. The company told its investors today that the technology and products could be licensed or sold into a stand-alone entity, with a value of $20 million to $50m, based on projected earnings and industry comparators.
“Uscom intends to retain the technology and accelerate its revenue growth off BP+ sales and licenses for the next 10 years,” the company said.
Uscom said it expected regulatory approvals in two to 12 months, adding that the device was already attracting attention, with distribution agreements and inquiries from many of the large markets, including China and South East Asia.
Measuring a person’s blood pressure from a device strapped to the arm has been around since 1896 and the belief has been that measurement could be used as a proxy for BP at the heart. But Uscom said that research has confirmed that arm BP was different to central BP at the heart.
The Uscom BP+ method makes non-invasive and direct pressure measurements into the heart while the arm arteries are occluded, which allows for more physiological and accurate measurements of BP at the heart.
Uscom has also developed the BP+ Reporter, which is a stand-alone software solution that provides a digital platform to archive patient examinations and images, trend measure progress over time, analyse pulse pressure waves and generate summary reports.
The company said the combined devices provided a digital and connectable solution to most electronic record keeping systems.