Drug delivery and packaging company AptarPharma has snapped up digital respiratory health company Cohero Health’s operating assets and the proprietary portfolio for an undisclosed sum.

The venture-backed respiratory-focused startup was founded in 2013 and has raised over $15 million from big names, including fellow tech companies Samsung and Omron. Since its inception, the company has focused on the digital therapeutics space.

In 2015, it landed its first FDA clearance for its smartphone-connected spirometer, which could monitor lung function and send the data back to an app.

WHY IT MATTERS 

As part of the deal Aptar Pharma, which focuses mainly on drug delivery services and products, will acquire Cohero’s digital platform BreathSmart Connected and the corresponding app. 

Additionally, Cohero’s smart-inhaler sensors, called Hero Tracker Sensors, and the connected spirometers, dubbed mSpirometer and cSpirometer, will also join Aptar Pharma’s portfolio. 

Aptar has been active in the respiratory health space in the past. It notes that it's looking to grow this business through this M&A. 

“Cohero Health further strengthens and expands Aptar’s digital portfolio, in this case, with a focus in respiratory disease management,” commented Sai Shankar, Aptar Pharma’s VP for global digital healthcare systems.

“Aptar has made previous investments in digital respiratory company Sonmol in China and digital health company Navia Life Care in India. With this strategic bolt on, Aptar now has global capabilities to deploy digital respiratory health, utilizing either the Cohero or Aptar device portfolio/platform. The investment will also facilitate Aptar’s ability to provide diagnostic solutions in respiratory and a significant number of other disease categories.”

THE LARGER TREND 

Respiratory health is becoming a popular area of focus for digital health companies, and it could be a lucrative one. In 2019, Research2Guidance came out with a report that said the digital-respiratory-health market could reach $557 million by 2023. 

One of the biggest names in the industry is Teva Pharmaceuticals. The Israeli company makes a smart inhaler and corresponding app. Over the summer it launched its ProAir Digihaler in the U.S. 

Propeller Health is another big name in the industry. In fact, recently it teamed up with Novartis to co-package its digital health platform with the pharma giant’s asthma medication. 

In August Swedish-based NuvoAir was certified as a Class Im medical device.Its platform includes Air Next, a certified Bluetooth spirometer, a connected patient app and a healthcare portal.  Earlier in the year the company scored a FDA 510(k) clearance for the product.