DRIVING THE SLEEP
EVOLUTION
with John Remmers and Zephyr Sleep Technologies
Zephyr Sleep Technologies is a medical device company that has started to
evolve the sleep medicine industry by
thinking outside the box, largely because of Dr. Remmers’ innovative spirit,
and by backing up our product development with quality research.
Creating the technology to enable a different delivery model and provide an
alternative treatment embraced by patients and making this all accessible is
Zephyr’s vision.
Our mission is all about making it simple, while keeping these fundamental
concepts top of mind:
JOHN REMMERS
We all know, or at least have heard of
Dr. John Remmers, the prolific, inspirational and innovation leader specializing in sleep medicine. Not only was Dr.
Remmers a pioneer in the discovery of
obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), but more
importantly in the treatment of this
horrible disease.
What you might not know is, what
DRIVES Dr. Remmers?
What is it that drives all leaders and
the companies that are formed around
them?
We’ll get to this, but first some background.
Adherence – A treatment is only as good
as a patient’s desire to try it and then to
use it – in the case of a chronic disease
such as OSA, that means using it…all of
the time…for the rest of your life. It is
refreshing to know that healthcare providers, healthcare systems and insurers
are finally taking patient preference into
account. Patients who believe they are
part of the treatment decision process
are more likely to stay compliant with
the therapy, AND are also more likely to
talk about their illness (raising awareness) and to refer other friends and family to their treatment of choice. Patient
preference, patient acceptance, patient
empowerment - these are the keys to
therapy adherence. We believe that given a choice, OSA patients or even prospective patients, prefer oral appliance
therapy (OAT) over CPAP. We further believe that patient adherence to OAT will
be higher over a longer period of time,
given choice and the reduced invasiveness of a simple oral appliance.
BY PAUL CATAFORD
Founder and CEO
Zephyr Sleep Technologies
After a successful career in Venture
Capital in Toronto and the Si Valley,
Paul Cataford moved to Calgary in
2004 where he headed the University of Calgary’s technology commercialization office (UTI). It was at
UTI that Dr. John Remmers and Paul
first met which led to the creation of
Zephyr Sleep Technologies in 2010
where both are founders, friends
and equally passionate about changing the world of sleep medicine.
Efficacy – To be efficacious is to be CAPABLE of treating. In the case of OAT, it
is generally accepted that efficaciousness is around 60% (i.e. OAT is capable of
treating 60% of OSA cases). The self-proclaimed “gold standard” is continuous
positive airway pressure (CPAP) because
it’s capable of treating almost all cases,
you just need to dial up the pressure to
keep the airway open. Another downside is the myriad of face masks, nasal
pillows, headgear, humidifiers and other accessories required to make it work.
Effectiveness – A therapy’s effectiveness
is its ability to treat a general population. Effectiveness takes BOTH efficacy
AND adherence into account. Since OSA
affects greater than 20% of the general
population, we need a highly effective
therapy.
Now back to - What DRIVES John Remmers and Zephyr?