PurWell applies VirtuOx approach to CBD

DELRAY BEACH, Fla. - PurWell, a spin-off of VirtuOx, an IDTF for sleep disorders and respiratory diseases, entered the increasingly crowded market for CBD products last month.

CEO Jon Fedele says PurWell plans to differentiate itself from other companies that have entered the market recently, like Green Roads and VGM's bontaniCo, by offering HME providers a number of programs to help them get started.

“In addition to offering products for sale that a DME company can then turn around and sell retail, what we're really going to excel at are programs,” he said. “We're offering a couple of different no-cost-to-entry programs for companies that want to promote and sell our products.”

Through an affiliate program, for example, providers can place kiosks in their retail locations. Customers can then use the kiosks to purchase products directly from PurWell's e-commerce website, but providers get an “affiliate fee,” allowing them to earn revenues without investing in inventory or worrying about their regulatory compliance, Fedele says.

Alternatively, PurWell will stock providers with retail displays and promotional materials to help them educate their customers and sell the company's line of products, which includes tinctures, capsules, salves and lotions.

“We're building this business much like we built VirtuOx's business—by offering solutions and opportunities to help DME companies manage and grow their businesses,” Fedele said. “It's the same approach.”

A manufacturer approached VirtuOx a year ago about developing a custom formulation for sleep, attracted by the company's footprint in the home sleep diagnostic market, Fedele says.

“We have a huge captive market,” he said. “We do 30,000 tests every month now.”

The two companies then worked for six months on that formulation, did some non-formal and non-FDA testing, tweaked the product and found “it worked really well,” Fedele says.

“Our original plan was to sell it directly to our VirtuOx clients, but the more we researched the industry and the more we learned about the products and the benefits of CBD, we decided (it was a bigger opportunity) and to spin it off and create PurWell,” he said.