Belluscura readies to launch X-PLO2R

PLANO, Texas - Belluscura, a U.K. company that licenses and develops proprietary healthcare technologies, plans to launch a portable oxygen concentrator named the X-PLO2R in the U.S. market in the back half of this year.

In March, Belluscura, which is headquartered in Plano, Texas, was in the middle of trying to raise funds to complete the regulatory clearance process with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and launch the unit.

“We've already raised $6 million, so it's not our only source of funding, but we decided that crowdfunding, whether successful or not, is a great way to market a new product,” said Bob Rauker, CEO. “This way people can see the product and show interest in it.”

At press time, Belluscura had raised 242,240 pounds, 48% of its funding target, from 73 investors in nine countries.

Belluscura plans to enter a competitive POC market with a unit that it says has several advantages: it costs 10% to 20% less than other units; it weighs less than 3 pounds without battery; it features user replaceable sieve beds; and it can be used as a 3L or 5L unit with a change of cartridge.

“You can spend $2,500 on a unit and, when your disease progresses, you're stuck and have to buy a new unit,” said Cary Parrott, senior vice president of sales & marketing.

Belluscura describes its go-to-market strategy for the X-PLO2R as “agnostic.”

“Whether we eventually become a company that sells direct or goes through (providers), we want to put out the best product in the market,” Rauker said.

In other words, as a startup company, Belluscura's weighing all of its options, and it has received interest from a provider looking to be exclusive and from a company based outside of the U.S. but that is looking to crack the U.S. market for POCs.

“We have a path to market, but that path has a lot of branches,” Parrott said. “We can't say right now whether or not we'll go down one path or another.”

Belluscura also has plans that go beyond the X-PLO2R. Its product pipeline also includes, for example, a portable low-pressure topical oxygen device targeted at people with diabetes with wounds.

“Unlike a lot of companies in the market right now, our patents provide the ability to add products to differentiate ourselves in a market and give customers new technology,” Rauker said.