MIDAS SHARE TIPS: Cash in on a breath of fresh air for asthma victims

Lung disease, from asthma to bronchitis to long-term Covid, is on the rise. More than 500 million people suffer from serious respiratory problems, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, which has become the third leading cause of death worldwide, according to the World Health Organization.

Sufferers are often barely able to leave the house, stuck for hours in bed or an armchair, strapped to a huge piece of gear to help them breathe. But it doesn’t have to be.

Portable oxygen devices allow users to go shopping when they feel like it, meet friends or even take quiet walks – and Belluscura has developed a range of devices that are lighter and more effective than any on the market to date.

The company floated on AIM in May 2021 for 45 pence. Shares shot up to £1.20 in January 2022, but have since fallen back to 56p. At this level, they are a strong buy.

Portable oxygen machines are not new, but Belluscura has taken the concept to a new level. The first X-PLOR device, weighing just 3½ pounds, can be strapped to the back or worn over the shoulder and delivers 95 percent pure oxygen to patients when they need it.

The second device, DISCOV-R, will be launched early next year and will be even more advanced, capable of delivering both continuous and pulsed oxygen depending on users’ preferences.

Weighing in at just over 6 pounds, it’s heavier than X-PLOR, but still half the weight of competing products, while having more impact. Both models are also 10-20 percent cheaper than rivals. They come with an app — called Nomad — that tracks users’ oxygen levels throughout the day. The information can be shared with their doctor.

Belluscura was founded in the United Kingdom but is headquartered in Texas and is run by Bob Rauker, a patent attorney, who has spent most of his career in the medical device industry and is a private inventor who contributed to the development of the XPLOR machine.

Both X-PLOR and DISCOV-R have been approved by the US health watchdog, the FDA, and last week the company received ISO certification, enabling the group to sell its kit in the UK, continental Europe and Asia by 2024.

Even as Belluscura goes through the approval process, the group is honest, signing deals with major US healthcare companies and launching its own e-commerce store so individuals can purchase the kit directly, for around $2,000 (£1,750).

Oxygen machines are currently being made in Texas under Rauker’s watch, but earlier this year he signed an agreement with a leading electronics manufacturer and Chinese authorities to open a factory in China, which is home to 100 million COPD patients. The new facility will take charge of the Texas plant and should double Belluscura’s production capacity. It will also reduce costs and provide access to China and the wider Asian market.

Analysts expect big things from Belluscura. Last year Rauker sold 377 kits. Sales of 2,000 are forecast this year, rising to 18,000 next year and 70,000 in 2025.

The company is now at a loss, but should turn a small profit next year, rising to $15.6 million in 2024 and over $40 million in 2025. Even at this rate of growth, Rauker’s company will still be just a minnow in its field. . The portable oxygen concentrator market is expected to grow at about 14 percent per year over the next four years, reaching $2.76 billion by 2026.

That gives Belluscura plenty of room to expand. And the app should also fuel growth, with hospitals already interested in how it can help their patients.

Midas verdict: Chronic asthma and acute bronchitis are life-changing conditions and the number of cases is increasing as people live longer and move to cities where pollution is high. Bellus cura can help make patients’ lives easier. Demand for his gear is on the rise and the pace should pick up significantly next year and beyond. At 56p, the stock is a buy.

Traded on: GOAL ticker: CLOCK Contact: belluscura.com or MHP on 020 3128 8100

Nose gains from beating bugs

Ondine is another pioneering medical device company whose technology could save thousands of lives. Every year more than half a million people in the UK develop hospital-acquired infections such as MRSA. They stay longer in the hospital, have to undergo surgery more than once and in the worst case do not survive. The numbers are even greater in America, where nearly two million patients are infected each year, resulting in nearly 100,000 deaths.

Hospitals have been trying for years to address the problem, which has gotten worse as antibiotic resistance has become much more widespread. Ondine Biomedica has developed a way of targeting these infections, using a process known as photo-disinfection, which is simple, economical and highly effective.

Ondine shares are only 25p, but should appreciate significantly in value as awareness of its technology grows and regulatory hurdles are overcome.

Lifesaver: Steriwave could lower hospital superbug death rate

The company is based in Vancouver, Canada, but the idea behind photo-disinfection was conceived by a British professor of microbiology, Michael Wilson, who worked at University College London in the 1990s. Wilson looked at gum disease, but Ondine has since developed the technology with a focus on MRSA and similar infections.

One of the great mysteries surrounding these diseases is why they are so common in hospitals, especially in patients who have had major surgery. Doctors and nurses wash their hands and wear masks, and operating rooms are kept clean, yet patients get sick.

Research suggests that the humble nose could play a key role. Dark, warm, moist and relatively undisturbed, the nose is a veritable breeding ground for insects.

Healthy people can handle them, but vulnerable patients are less robust and if they inhale bad insects, they succumb.

Ondine has a solution – a liquid-soaked cotton swab brushed around the tips of the nostrils. This is followed by a slim device that is inserted into the nose for just two minutes. It’s small enough to cause minimal discomfort, but powerful enough to kill viruses, bacteria, and fungi with a single blow.

Vancouver General Hospital has been using Ondine’s treatment, known as Steriwave, for a decade in patients undergoing major surgery. And recent research showed that the infection rate among those who used it halved, while the death rate fell by nearly 60 percent. Steriwave is even working on Covid-19, which dropped rates to virtually zero last year at a major food processing plant in Canada. It is also in use at Guy’s Hospital in London and interest is growing rapidly among NHS Trusts.

But Carolyn Cross, Ondine’s CEO, believes the company’s greatest opportunity for growth lies in the US, the world’s largest healthcare market. Cross is seeking approval from the US health watchdog, the FDA, but she is already working closely with America’s largest hospital group, HCA Healthcare.

HCA is helping Ondine with the clinical trials needed to push Steriwave over the legal finish line and is eager to use it on any patient undergoing major surgery at its 189 hospitals.

Midas verdict: In October 2011, Carolyn Cross miraculously survived a minor plane crash and spent two weeks at Vancouver General Hospital, an early champion of Ondine’s technology.

The experience reinforced Cross’ ambition to make Steriwave disinfection an integral part of medical care. The approval process in the US has taken a while, but it is now starting to get going. At 25p, the stock could deliver significant gains.

Traded on: GOAL ticker: OBI Contact: ondinebio.com or 001 604 669 0555