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Rhinomed’s nose for opportunity sniffs out COVID
Rhinomed (RNO, 17.5 cents)
Market capitalisation: $44 million
Three-year total return: +4.1% a year
Analysts’ consensus valuation: n/a
The Melbourne-based Rhinomed is a specialist in respiratory airway technology: it is a world-leading developer of nasal devices made from ultra-soft medical-grade bio-compatible polymers, that helps the volume of air travelling through the nose. The company has brought to market three kinds of nasal devices that are registered with the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) and the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration TGA, and CE Marked for sale in Europe.
The first product launched, in 2014, was Mute, Rhinomed’s over-the-counter snoring/sleep quality product. Mute is a comfortable nasal dilator and snoring solution that is designed to increase airflow and improve nasal breathing by gently opening the airways during sleep. Mute improves the airflow through the nose to reduce the reliance on mouth breathing. Rhinomed says that being able to breathe better through your nose at night means a user will enjoy a more restful sleep, which in turn improves mood, concentration and memory during the day. The product is positioned as a comfortable, easily adjustable and economical snoring remedy.
The next product released, also in 2014, was Turbine, a nasal dilator that allows athletes – in fact, anyone exercising – to breathe more easily, by stenting the nose. Turbine is designed to fit comfortably inside the nose and allows more airflow during sport, physical exertion, focused breathing (such as yoga and meditation) and for recovery.
The third product, launched in 2019, is the Pronto nasal decongestion technology, which releases a blend of essential oils into the nasal airway: Pronto Clear, a vapour inhaler, gently opens the nose and delivers a blend of six pure essential oils traditionally known to help clear a stuffy nose naturally, while Pronto Sleep delivers a blend of four pure essential oils that are traditionally known to help bring on sleep, and maintain it.
Rhinomed has signed a 12-year licensing agreement in the US with a major medical cannabis company, Columbia Care, to introduce a range of medical cannabis products directed at sleep, decongestion, anxiety and other conditions, along the same lines as the Pronto range. The medical cannabis products, which will target the US$18 billion ($25.7 billion) global market for consumer health products containing cannabidiol (CBD).
The really interesting thing about the medical cannabis tie-up is that the validation of Rhinomed’s ability to effectively deliver medical cannabis, through a reliable dosing system and in a safe manner, opens up a lot of potential for the company to explore the delivery of other drugs nasally. Rhinomed says its nasal drug delivery platform gives drug developers the potential for a unique delivery profile, which is not injected, and not oral, and avoids the ‘first pass’ through the liver, which has been a problem for many drugs. The nasal platform allows the drug to be rapidly absorbed, and thus, have higher ‘bio-availability’ than other methods of delivery – meaning the drug ‘gets to work’ quicker.
Most recently, this year, in a great example of how not to waste a crisis, Rhinomed quickly adapted its technology platform to create a rapid-diagnosis nasal swab, Rhinoswab. The company believes Rhinoswab is superior to products currently on the market, because it is able to collect sample from both nostrils simultaneously, and thus from a far greater surface area of the nose than normal swabs – making it higher-yielding than existing swabs – and is able to be self-administered and self-collected. The product is particularly well-suited to mass, high-frequency testing, which will be a major strategy not only for COVID but a variety of diseases in the foreseeable future. Rhinoswab has established regulatory status as a Class 1 device in Australia (TGA), US (FDA) and Europe (CE mark).
Rhinomed is lifting its revenue nicely, with five consecutive rises taking it from just over $1 million in FY16 to $3.6 million in FY20. It remains a loss-maker, but it has good products making a difference to customers around the world, and thus, increasing the number of outlets that want to sell them.
