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3-2-1 Asthma
Priyanka Vaidya
March 17, 2025
Asthma is a chronic lung condition that affects the airways, causing them to narrow, swell, and produce excess mucus. This results in breathing difficulties characterized by wheezing, coughing, chest tightness, and shortness of breath. Asthma can range from mild to severe and may interfere with daily activities or lead to life-threatening asthma attacks.
The condition is triggered by various factors, including allergens (dust mites, pollen, pet dander), environmental irritants (cold air, smoke, pollution), infections, exercise, or occupational exposures. While asthma cannot be cured, its symptoms can be managed effectively through medications like inhaled corticosteroids and bronchodilators and by avoiding triggers. Asthma often begins in childhood and affects people of all ages. With proper treatment and management plans, individuals with asthma can lead active and healthy lives.
Approximately 6% of the global population is affected by asthma, with prevalence rates varying by region and income level. Higher rates are observed in high-income countries compared to low-income ones.
3 startups making an impact in this space:
Company | |||
Location | US | US | US |
Modality | Prediction & Monitoring | Remote Monitoring | Care access |
Descriptor | Empowering patients with biological data to predict and prevent asthma attacks. | Continuously monitor the patient’s lung sounds from anywhere, anytime. | Personalized, virtual care for respiratory illness. |
Core Problem | Asthma and COPD impact over 500 million patients globally. Exacerbations or asthma attacks occur in 40-50% of patients annually, leading to millions of ER visits and hospitalizations. | Traditional auscultation with a stethoscope has been used for a long time to assess respiratory health but is limited to episodic, in-person exams. | Asthma patients and caregivers do not know how to manage asthma flares effectively, ending in multiple ER visits and anxiety. |
Solution | Mybiometry’s fenoTrack device is a portable, noninvasive breath test that measures type 2 airway inflammation via fractional exhaled nitric oxide. This test helps identify patients at risk of exacerbation and tailor their therapy. | Strados Labs developed their proprietary biosensor, allowing clinicians to remotely monitor patients’ lung sounds. The biosensor continuously collects lung sounds, such as cough and wheez, to offer insights into the patient’s respiratory status. | Keva Health provides products and services that create a personalized care experience for patients. This digital health platform empowers patients to manage their condition and make optimal decisions by providing an interface to log their symptoms and communicate with their provider. |
Product Suite | Patented biosensor that measures airway inflammation, which is used to predict risk of attack, adherence, efficacy of medication and exposure to environmental triggers. Patient app that gathers clinical and environmental risk factors to determine the root cause of symptoms. | RESP Biosensor that adheres to the patient’s chest. Strados Mobile App that records lung sound data. Strados Cloud is used to store and analyze respiratory data. | Keva365: A provider-facing solution that offers chronic disease management with treatment pathway and decision support. Keva Talk: A personalized, digital health coach that offers 24/7 virtual care, continuous monitoring, education, and medication and symptom tracking. |
Regulatory Status | FDA submission is underway. | 510K clearance for their RESP Biosensor. | Not applicable. |
Funding Stage | Seed | Seed | Pre-seed |
Team | The founder has a strong track record in the health technology sector. | Conceptualized at a hackathon and co-founded by a patient who spent time in the hospital due to asthma and respiratory illnesses. | Founded by a physician-parent whose daughter suffers from Asthma. |
Traction | Investment from Dexcom Ventures and CareSource Indiana. | Strong traction with collaboration with Scripps research, NSF, and Boehringer Ingelheim. | Gaining traction with Baystate Health and Massachusetts Life Sciences Centre. |
2 actionable insights to inspire your strategy.
Wearable technology Wearable devices continuously monitor respiratory patterns, heart rate, cough, and wheeze to provide real-time insights. This data can be used to predict asthma attacks and alert users to take preventative actions. This remote monitoring enables timely intervention and reduces the need for in-person visits. These sensors are designed to be lightweight, non-intrusive, and easy to use, reducing patient burden and improving adherence. Advanced biosensors are being developed to measure a wide range of parameters, such as environmental triggers (pollen, pollution) and physiological signs (body temperature), to help identify potential triggers and provide early warnings for asthma flare-ups. | Digital health platforms Digital health platforms enable multimodal data collection and analysis. These platforms integrate with wearables, making advanced analytics possible. Patient-facing care apps help them track and manage their asthma symptoms, facilitate secure communications with their providers, offer digital education, and provide holistic support for the patient and their caregivers. Data from these apps is used by the providers to personalize treatment and offer proactive care. |
1 key resource to deepen your understanding.
A very useful listen about Asthma attacks and preventing them from ‘Asthma Spotlight’ a podcast by Dr. Mark Levy, a family doctor with special interest in asthma.
And that’s all for today. See you next Monday!
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