Respiri accelerates wheezo commercialisation by teaming up with BNPL company Zip

Wheezo developer Respiri’s (ASX: RSH) commercialisation path will accelerate even further after the company collared a deal with renowned buy now pay later provider Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P).

Respiri chief executive officer Marjan Mikel said the deal will provide asthma sufferers with greater financial flexibility when accessing Respiri’s wheezo monitoring device and platform – which will assist in improving the management of their disease.

With the BNPL offering growing in the pharmacy space and Respiri’s recent exclusive marketing and distribution agreement with Cipla Australia for its wheezo device and technology, the company anticipates market expansion in this space across Australia.

Consumers can purchase the wheezo device over six interest-free monthly instalments rather than pay $299 for the device upfront.

Respiri anticipates the offer will add an additional 10% in revenues.

“The recently accounted pharmacy sales/marketing, distribution and logistics agreement with Cipla Australia is expected to significantly increase both pharmacy awareness and patient access to our proprietary wheezo device alongside our training and education initiatives with the Pharmacy Guild of Australia,” Mr Mikel explained.

Cipla Australia agreement

Late last week, Respiri revealed it had secured the exclusive sales/marketing, distribution and logistics agreement with the Australian subsidiary of global leading pharmaceutical company Cipla.

Cipla’s has a market cap of US$7 billion and generated US$2.2 billion in worldwide revenues for the 2019 financial year.

The Australian subsidiary has more than 200 registered formulations with the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration including over the counter, prescription and hospital medicines.

Additionally, the company’s sales force has coverage of more than 15,000 general practitioners and 4,000 pharmacies across the country including a strong relationship with all major pharmacy chains.

Under the deal, Cipla has committed to an initial minimum order of 2,000 wheezo devices.

From the agreement, Respiri expects it will receive gross margins of 30-40% from the start of 2021, which is anticipated to improve further as the company increases its manufacturing volumes.

“We anticipate revenues under this partnership to commence in the second half of calendar year 2020, with Respiri receiving a fixed supply price per wheezo, while also retaining full annuity revenue stream associated with the monthly per patient subscription fee of approximately $8,” Mr Mikel noted.

BNPL space taking off

One of the few industries to continue growing during COVID-19 is the BNPL space.

Last week, Zip revealed full year FY 2020 revenue had rocked 91% compared to FY 2019 – reaching 1$161.2 million for the period.

Contributing to this growth was a record June 2020 quarter which brought in $46.6 million in revenue – up 72% year-on-year.

By the end of FY 2020, Zip had 24,500 merchants on its books.

The company also noted it enjoyed “market leading engagement” and was within the top 10 apps in both Apple and Google stores.