A Cocoa Beach-based respiratory medical device firm soon will be able to breathe easy after dealing with a wave of counterfeiters.
PN Medical Inc., maker of respiratory muscle training device The Breather, expects its growth to hit a new level next year as Amazon.com Inc. helps PN Medical fend off counterfeit products and the firm targets the voice performer market, CEO Mark Carbone told Orlando Inno. After two years of 100% year-over-year revenue growth, PN Medical expects an even bigger year of growth in 2023.
Carbone bought the company, founded in 1980, from his mother-in-law seven years ago. He took it from a boutique firm to a scaled medical device business with a product used by AdventHealth and Orlando Health.
Users breathe through the plastic device 20 times, twice a day to train and strengthen their lungs. The Breather began as a drug-free way to boost lung function for people suffering from respiratory illnesses like COPD, later expanding its customer base with the introduction of Breather Fit for athletes.
As PN Medical grew, it ran into a problem: Knock-off devices came up for sale on Amazon, where Carbone said PN Medical derived roughly half its sales. That led PN Medical to wind down its Amazon presence, and the e-commerce marketplace only accounts for roughly 5% of sales this year, Carbone added.
However, PN Medical is now a co-plaintiff alongside Amazon in a lawsuit filed against the counterfeiters in March: Amazon.com Inc. et al. v. Bamb Awns et al. The knock-offs are expected to be purged by Christmas, re-opening the Amazon sales channel the company found so much success through, Carbone said.
As PN Medical works to clear counterfeit companies out of the way, it’s also rolling out a new device that’ll expand its reach. The firm in the last year soft-launched Breather Voice, meant to improve vocal strength and decrease respiratory fatigue for singers, actors and instrumentalists who rely on their voice or breath. That adds a new market of potential customers for PN Medical.
The Covid-19 pandemic also created demand for The Breather, and Carbone expects that will be a long-term trend. That’s because of the breathing dysfunctions many people report even after they recover from the virus.
It’s estimated up to 23 million Americans may suffer from long Covid, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office. The National Institutes of Health last February launched a $1.15 billion initiative to study the causes of long Covid symptoms over four years.
“We do not know yet the magnitude of the problem, but given the number of individuals of all ages who have been or will be infected with SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes Covid-19, the public health impact could be profound,” NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins wrote when the initiative launched.
Even with the difficulties PN Medical faced with counterfeits flooding onto Amazon, Carbone said he expects the firm to grow its revenue 50% this year. Still, 2022 is all about setting the stage in 2023 for a massive year for the company Carbone calls a “40-year overnight success.”
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