The Respiri Ltd (ASX: RSH) share price leapt 14% to 6.5 cents in early trading this morning. This came following the announcement of a distribution and marketing deal with a United States healthcare company.
At the closing bell, Respiri shares had wiggled back down to 5.9 cents apiece, a 3.5% increase from yesterday's closing price.
Respiri's telehealth deal
At its core, Respiri is focused on bringing simple respiratory solutions to those living with asthma.
Its primary product, wheezo, assists in the tracking and management of asthmatic symptoms. It also has the ability to share relevant information with doctors and caregivers.
The deal driving the Respiri share price today combines the efforts of US-based remote patient monitoring (RPM) provider mTelehealth, LLC with Respiri.
The partnership entails an initial request from mTelehealth for USD$150,000 (A$208,000) worth of wheezo devices and services to be delivered as early as next month.
Up until now, wheezo products had not been sold in the US.
Respiri also predicts the RPM market will grow by more than 30% by 2026, up to US$85 billion, due to the increase in asthma and chronic diseases.
Therefore, mTelehealth has predicted US$1 million in wheezo sales over the next five years and has agreed to obtain a minimum of 1,000 units every quarter.
This marks the first deal of its kind signed for Respiri.
Respiri CEO pleased with the partnership
Commenting on the news fuelling the Respiri share price today, CEO and managing director Marjan Mikel said:
We are particularly excited about our partnership with mTelehealth, a trusted RPM partner to many healthcare delivery organisations and physicians across the United States.
Marc [Poulshock, president and CEO of mTelehealth] and his team very quickly understood what patient benefits wheezo could provide and imparted invaluable local knowhow to help us better tune our US launch strategy and leverage the existing RPM CPT reimbursement codes available to Respiri.
Poulshock said there was "definitely a need for wheezo in the US" and the company was pleased to have entered the partnership.
Respiri share price snapshot
The Respiri share price has seen a year in red, declining by around 55%.
The company has a market capitalisation of $41.2 million based on its current share price and over 720 million shares issued.
