Provent® Sleep Apnea Therapy Now Available in India

BELMONT, Calif. and HYDERABAD, India, July 20, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Ventus Medical is pleased to announce the Indian launch of its proprietary Provent® Sleep Apnea Therapy, an innovative, non-invasive treatment for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Orbees Business Solutions Pvt. Ltd. will be the strategic market developer of Provent Therapy in India.

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"India has a very high prevalence of obstructive sleep apnea. Roughly 20% of urban Indian males suffer from OSA," said Rajiv Doshi, M.D., Chief Scientific Officer of Ventus Medical and inventor of the Provent technology. Dr. Doshi is faculty at Stanford University and serves as Executive Director (US) of the Stanford India Biodesign program, a Government of India funded collaboration between Stanford University and the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi. "With a very large patient need, we believe that Provent Therapy provides a reliable and clinically-proven solution to treat the millions of people in India with OSA."

In patients with OSA the airway collapses during sleep when the muscles that hold it open relax. People with this disorder stop breathing during the night---in some cases hundreds of times each night---usually for periods of ten seconds or longer. Sleep apnea can lead to fatigue, early morning headaches, irritability, lack of concentration, and contributes to depression, learning and memory difficulties, and sexual dysfunction. Importantly, many recent studies have shown that OSA is associated with high blood pressure, irregular heartbeat, heart attack, stroke and diabetes.

"Many people in India go undiagnosed and very few receive treatment due to the many complexities associated with existing treatment options, such as CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure),"  said Dr. Manvir Bhatia, Director of Neurology and Sleep Centre, New Delhi. "There is an increasing need for OSA treatments that do not rely on power and are highly portable – Provent Therapy represents one such alternative for our patients and is likely to become a first line of therapy."

Ensuring ready access and good patient support for Provent Therapy are important considerations when serving the Indian sleep apnea patient.  "As we expand Provent Therapy's international presence, we believe India provides an unparalleled opportunity for Ventus," commented Peter Wyles, President and Chief Executive Officer of Ventus Medical. "We've established a business relationship with a strategic market developer in India to help us launch and develop the right distribution network across this large market. We believe that the partnership with Orbees will allow us to optimize the business model for this emerging, complex market."

"We are proud to help Ventus introduce this game-changing therapy to sleep medicine experts and their patients in India," added Dr. Anurag Mairal, Executive Vice President of Orbees. "Our first-of-its-kind market research, that surveyed hundreds of potential patients and physicians, has proven to us that the market is significantly underserved with less than 0.1% of the Indian OSA population diagnosed, and less than 25% of the OSA diagnosed patients receiving treatment."

About Provent® Sleep Apnea Therapy

Provent® Therapy is an FDA approved and CE Marked medical device indicated for the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). The device has been shown to be clinically effective in a series of peer reviewed studies.  It is an easy to use, non-invasive and disposable treatment that works across mild, moderate, and severe OSA. Provent Therapy utilizes nasal expiratory positive airway pressure (EPAP) to keep a patient's airway open during sleep and has been clinically proven in numerous studies to reduce sleep apnea.  It incorporates a novel MicroValve design that is placed over the nostrils and secured with hypoallergenic adhesive. During inhalation, the valve opens allowing nearly unobstructed airflow, and during exhalation, the valve closes, limiting airflow through small openings, which increases expiratory pressure and keeps the airway open, preventing disruption in breathing. For more information, please visit www.proventtherapy.com.

About Orbees Business Solutions Pvt. Ltd.

Orbees Business Solutions Pvt. Ltd. (Orbees) provides leading edge marketing and sales solutions that include consulting and market development services in India. The company has an innovative approach to developing emerging medical device markets that centers around physician and patient education. The company's U.S. counterpart, Orbees Medical, has quickly built a reputation in the medical device industry for its clinical depth and understanding of market trends.

About Ventus Medical

Ventus Medical is a privately-held medical device company dedicated to providing non-invasive medical solutions for people with sleep-disordered breathing. Based on its innovative MicroValve technology and patented designs, Ventus has developed a unique line of clinically-proven medical devices to address the continuum of sleep disorders from severe obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) to mild snoring. Ventus Medical devices work by creating expiratory positive airway pressure (EPAP) to effectively treat the underlying conditions.  The company markets Provent® Therapy, a discreet, easy-to-use nasal device, for the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea in the United States, Hong Kong and India, and is developing an over-the-counter device for snoring.

SOURCE Ventus Medical