True North Medical Ventures tries to ‘bridge gap’

WALPOLE, Mass. – True North Medical Ventures has begun distributing the ResVent iBreeze to providers in the U.S., helping to ease pressures, company officials say, from a recall and supply shortages that continue to impact the CPAP device market. 

ResVent, which is based in China, has emergency use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the iBreeze and will likely have 510(k) clearance by the end of the year, company officials say. 

“It can’t fill the demand left by Philips and ResMed, but it can help,” said Peter Falkson, CEO of Eastern Sleep & Respiratory, who has deployed ResVent iBreeze devices over the last six months and who has been advising True North Medical Ventures. “ResVent can bridge that gap, and they’re scaling up production every month.” 

ResVent launched the iBreeze in 2017 and, while it has been in use in Europe for years, it’s only been in the U.S. since last year. The device has remote connectivity through Wi-Fi and a backup SD card. 

True North Medical Ventures offers providers the ability to purchase iBreeze devices without having to worry about out how to wire money to China or how to work through customs requirements, says David Clark, director of operations. 

“We can arrange for them to receive products through a subscription model through our warehouse or directly from China,” he said. 

Because ResVent doesn’t have a beachhead in the U.S., True North Medical Ventures also provides clinical support to providers, Clark says. 

“We’ve deployed several hundreds of these and supported them clinically,” he said. “They can call us.” 

True North Medical Ventures believes these measures, as well as a leadership team that includes Dr. John Curran, who has experience scaling companies, including his audiology practice from four to 24 locations, will go a long way toward getting providers more comfortable with diversifying their product portfolio. 

“The goal with this company is to solve a problem and do it in the most honest and respectful way possible and do it by building relationships,” said Curran, managing director. “That’s what it comes down to: How to get confidence in the product.”