ResMed Buys BiancaMed and Its SleepMinder

SAN DIEGO — ResMed announced July 6 it has acquired an
Irish medical technology company that has developed a non-contact
device to monitor sleep and breathing in the home and hospital.

Dublin-based BiancaMed’s SleepMinder is described as an
“accurate, touch-free device that measures sleep and breathing with
sophisticated biometric software.” The core of the company’s
proprietary technology is a sensitive radio frequency motion sensor
that can detect respiration and movement without physical contact
with the human body. The software converts the motion data into a
measurement of sleep.

BiancaMed, which is also working on a number of other
applications for its technology, will become part of ResMed’s new
Ventures and Initiatives unit, formed earlier this year when the
global sleep sector giant restructured
its management and reorganized.

“We are committed to innovation in sleep and respiratory
medicine and the related co-morbidities by commercializing products
incorporating novel technologies,” ResMed Chairman and CEO Peter
Farrell said in a release. Calling BiancaMed’s new technology
“exciting,” Farrell added there are other opportunities for the
company’s applications “that will provide future growth.”

According to its website, the company has also developed the
world’s first and only non-contact baby movement monitor called
BiancaBaby, which monitors a baby’s smallest movements.

A report from
The Irish Times said BiancaMed’s technology is also being
tested in a Dublin hospital trial for patients with congestive
heart failure. Patients are monitored at home for sudden weight
gain, which can signal a problem, with the hope “that the
technology will be able to cut hospital readmissions
significantly,” the report said.

ResMed has been an investor in BiancaMed since its inception in
2003 when it was formed as a University College Dublin spin-out to
commercialize research from UCD’s School of Electrical, Electronic
and Mechanical Engineering. Other shareholders include Enterprise
Ireland, DFJ ePlanet Ventures, Invest Northern Ireland, Seventure
Partners and UCD.

ResMed plans to retain BiancaMed’s 29 employees, and the office
in Dublin will remain active.

JC Kyrillos, president of ResMed Ventures and Initiatives, said
the acquisition is right in line with goals for the new unit.

“In May of this year, we created ResMed Ventures and Initiatives
to focus on opportunities in chronic disease states related to
sleep-disordered breathing and other market opportunities,” he
said. “BiancaMed represents the type of investment we are pursuing
because it has current applications in our core sleep market, and
several potential future applications in chronic diseases, such as
heart failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.”

ResMed purchased all of BiancaMed’s outstanding shares with cash
and estimated that the acquisition will dilute earnings by
approximately $0.04 per share in FY 2012, excluding amortization of
intangibles and one-time acquisition-related costs.