MORRISVILLE–Circassa Pharmaceuticals Inc., a UK-based company with regional U.S. headquarters in Morrisville, expects a policy update by health insurance company Aetna to boost sales of one of its products.
Aetna updated its “Exhaled Breath Tests Clinical Policy” to include the measurement of exhaled nitric oxide as “medically necessary” for the evaluation of the inflammation level in asthma patients.
Circassia’s David L. Acheson, senior vice president US commercial, tells WRAL TechWire that its innovative NIOX technology is the only point-of-care device that provides accurate measurement of airway inflammation in asthma patients. That means, he explained, “The doctor or clinical staff can increase or decrease medication, usually a steroid,” on the spot.
“It opens more opportunity for more patients to get tested and expect it will help us grow as an organization,” Acheson said.
Aetna serves more than 22 million medical members and 1.2 million healthcare professionals.
Circassia has 60 employees in its Morrisville regional HQ, a total of about 300 in the U.S., and 400 globally.
It also has several drug treatments for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) for which it expects U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval in 2019. Inhaled therapies for COPD and asthma accounted for revenues of about $20 billion in 2017.
The company collaborates with AstraZeneca in the U.S. on a profit sharing arrangement promoting its COPD treatment Tudorza and its NIOX products. In 2017 it doubled its revenues over 2016 and increased NIOX sales 18 percent to about $35.5 million.
