Itamar Medical Ltd. (TASE:ITMR) and Henry Schein Inc. (Nasdaq: HSIC) have launched their Sleep Complete product, which integrates Itamar's WatchPAT home test device for the diagnosis of obstructive sleep apnea with Henry Schein's dental plate.
Henry Schein will offer the Sleep Complete product to dentists through a bundled financing package to greatly lower the financial barrier to entry that often faces dentists interested in incorporating sleep medicine into their practice.
Until now, Itamar Medical targeted the WatchPat to sleep clinics, but sales were slow, because the clinics considered the product as a competitor to rival solutions, such as the C-PAP masks, whose distributors have close relations with the clinics. Itamar Medical's dental collaboration with Henry Schein bypasses the sleep clinics by targeting a different market.
Sleep disorder diagnosis by dentists is still a niche market, worth tens of millions of dollars a year, but Itamar Medical and Henry Schein face no competitors in it. Itamar Medical Inc. (US) president Marvin Slosman said, “This collaboration will help us benefit from Henry Schein's expert dental sales team across America. There is tremendous opportunity to build on our success and commitment to the dental market through this unique offering."
Itamar Medical's revenue declined to $2.9 million for the third quarter from $3 million for the corresponding quarter, and it posted a net profit of $1.2 million compared with a net loss of $1.8 million for the corresponding quarter.
Itamar Medical's share price rose 1.1% by mid-afternoon to NIS 2.21, giving a market cap of NIS 291 million.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on November 30, 2011
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