To Our Health!
At Respiratory Products, Inc. (RP), we focus on providing the world with biomedical innovations to promote respiratory health.
From the same technology platform, we’ve created state-of-the-art medical devices designed to break the “cycle of transmission” of viral and bacterial airborne contagions and improve lung functioning for patients after major surgeries.
At-Risk Populations
Most at risk are those who spend large amounts of time in confined public spaces. Schools, planes, trains, cruise ships, hospitals, living facilities, and other places that combine close quarters and recirculated air environments create hotbeds for virus and bacteria transmission. One cough can infect many others, with a resultant domino effect of illness.
We are often told to practice traditional health etiquette rules like “cover your mouth”, “cough into your sleeve”, or “use tissue”. Rather than eliminating germs, this practice only serves to deposit germs onto more surfaces, spreading to other areas and individuals. Without proper containment, your cold can become a serious, widespread nuisance.
The CDC’s current flu prevention protocol says: 1) get a flu vaccine, 2) cover your cough, wash your hands, and avoid sick people if possible, and; 3) take your anti-viral drugs prescribed by your doctor.
“Because not everything should go viral”
RP has created two solutions for the prevention of airborne illnesses: Curtail and Deflect. These one-of-a-kind devices that “Curtail Your Cough” and “Deflect Airborne Microbes” are easy to use, easy to store, and are disposable and biodegradable.
Essentially, they’re “high-tech handkerchiefs” incorporating a germicide and virucide that kills bacteria and viruses upon contact, while at the same time, preventing their distribution. Here’s how each device works:
Curtail (Seven Day Use)™ – The Airborne Microbe Barrier
Respiratory infections, whether bacterial or viral, are typically associated with a persistent cough. When you cough, fluid particles containing viruses and bacteria are distributed into the air, as well as onto nearby surfaces. Many of these infectious agents can survive for hours, or even days on surfaces, while airborne particulates can be recycled in building or aircraft HVAC systems, allowing for prolonged infectious transmission to others.
Traditional Responses
Coughing into your sleeve or your hand is an imperfect solution, as it does not kill these airborne particulates. Rather, it gives them another place to live, until others encounter them from you and potentially contract the same infection.
“Just one sick person in the office means HALF of the communal surfaces are contaminated by lunchtime. Some of the likeliest germ hotspots include doorknobs, photocopier, lift buttons and the office fridge.” Source: DailyMail.com: Sunday, January 18, 2015
The simple intervention of using Curtail and Deflect can significantly reduce the risk of infection. The potential cost savings and health preservation from using our products in corporate and other communal environments is astronomical!
How Curtail Works
Curtail is a hand-held air filtration device designed to direct airflow (your cough) and capture contagious germs. It’s a noiseless kazoo of sorts, that largely traps and inactivates harmful particulates with a treated insert and germ catching baffle, similar in concept to a catalytic converter – a particulate filter.
The air in your cough travels faster over surfaces than macroscopic particulates, so the air moves through Curtail, while the bacteria and viruses suspended in the liquid are captured and killed when they land on the germicide-covered baffle.
Cross-section of Curtail showing germicide-coated trap
When you cough into Curtail, your airborne germs are absorbed onto the germicidal trap treated with povidone iodine – the same disinfectant used to clean skin before surgery. Widely approved and used over-the-counter since the 1960’s, this disinfectant kills viruses and bacteria upon contact and works for as long as the design-life of Curtail (Seven Day Use) and Curtail (One Day Use).
The air from your cough flows through Curtail and infectious particulates are captured by the baffle. The airflow exiting the device is largely devoid of particulates, providing a dual mechanism to reduce transmission of respiratory infection to others as well as reduce deposits on local surfaces. All of this occurs within seconds — the time it takes you to cough into Curtail, and return it to your desk, pocket or purse.
Curtail™ (One Day Use) – The Airborne Microbe Barrier
The Curtail (Seven Day Use) device lasts for up to seven days. Curtail is also available in a Curtail (One Day Use) version. Discrete, compact and disposable, both versions are easy to carry in your pocket or purse, making them perfect for travel or home medicine cabinet use.
Curtail is truly the first of its kind and could forever become a staple in preventing the spread of common sicknesses.
Front, Back, and Side views of Curtail (One Day Use)
Curtail and Deflect (combination product offering)
In response to early feedback from customers and RP Team members, we have developed the concept of bundling Curtail with a complimentary face mask in certain markets, so we can offer a product combination that includes a device to curtail one’s cough, as well as a device to deflect pathogens in a contagion-prone environment.
Deflect™ – The Airborne Microbe Shield
Deflect – The Airborne Microbe Shield is a mask, much like ones you see doctors wear during surgery, that protects the wearer against harmful germs. It can be worn either by caregivers or by anyone else who knows they are entering an area where they could get sick (planes, buses, hospitals, etc.).
Deflect is treated with the same protective layer of germicide as is used in Curtail and will act as an air filtration device that traps harmful airborne particulates. It is low profile and skin colored, and, when coupled with Curtail, it is a unique product combination that aids in the treatment and prevention of respiratory illnesses.
Since there are many masks available on the market (as opposed to Curtail, which is a totally original device), RP may choose to private-label an existing mask to our specifications from one of many manufacturers who would partner with RP in this regard.
In addition to Curtail and Deflect, we have two more advanced biomedical respiratory devices that we plan to release in late 2015 and early 2016: Assess™ – The Microbe Culture Assay and Enhance™ – The Variable Spirometer.
Real-Time Specimen Collection and Analysis
Assess was conceived as a spin-off of the Curtail device platform. Assess is a “test tube of the future”, serving as a crucial tool in the diagnostic process. It captures, much like Curtail, bacterial and viral agents, but in a removable, sealed, and non-germicidal vial. This makes capturing and transporting specimens much easier and safer.
Assess™ – The Microbe Culture Assay
Future adaptations include Assess, using immunohistochemistry or other fast turnaround mechanisms, to provide real-time analysis of clinical specimens, whether in the hospital, office or even nonclinical settings such as schools or field hospitals.
We also envision a version of Assess as a real-time air collection and assessment device that is placed in contained environments to quickly (with analytic hardware and software) provide a Bacterial-Viral Spectrum Analysis (BVSA). Real-time individual and environmental specimen analysis would be breakthroughs in medical technology allowing quicker responses to disease outbreaks and earlier treatment regimens for patients.
Spirometry Market
Every day, incentive spirometers are distributed to nearly 20,000 patients in hospitals and outpatient facilities in the U.S. to help prevent pneumonia and other acute inpatient respiratory conditions, particularly following surgery. Spirometers, while effective, are typically clumsy, large, sometimes expensive, and hard to operate.
Some find it so hard to use currently available spirometers that they require the assistance of a nurse to help operate the device properly. Others simply don’t use the device at all, resulting in slower healing time or worsening postoperative health. The point is that current spirometry has not been fundamentally updated in more than 30 years, and compliance (that is, actual use) remains erratic.
RP’s new enhanced and minaturized spirometry technology makes it easier to use for patients of all kinds.
Enhance™ – The Variable Spirometer
Enhance is more functional than traditional spirometers, whose fundamental design has remained unchanged for decades. It’s smaller, easier to use, and provides more flexibility for the wide age range of patients it helps heal.
Moreover, Enhance costs less to produce and is competitively positioned compared to current products, so you get the latest technology at the best price.
The specialized team of professionals behind RP have been working hard to make 2015 our year of product releases. Our initial focus is on Curtail (One Day Use) and Curtail (Seven Day Use), as we hope to release them to the public in Q3 – 2015, just in time for cold and flu season. Our other products are being developed and are planned for release later in 2015 and 2016. So far, we have gained incredible traction that is putting us in prime position for growth and profitability.
To date, we have completed the engineering design and development for final manufacture-ready versions of Curtail (One Day Use) and Curtail (Seven Day Use). We have provisional patent applications on the Curtail devices June 2014 (Serial No. 62/010,377; Title: Handheld Air Filtration Device) and on our other devices, Enhance, Assess, and Deflect on January 16, 2015 (Serial No. 62/104599). On June 9, 2015, we filed the non-provisional patents for our products.
Product Performance Testing and Customer Acceptance. The Curtail devices have undergone several performance, acceptability and usability tests to ensure they are the best they can be before going to market. Early test results completed at a major US university show that 99% of expelled particles from coughing are contained within Curtail’s particle capture systems, and thereby kept out of the general respiratory environment.
In addition, we have shared Curtail working prototypes with a handful of potential customers (hospital administrators, a major airline buyer, flight attendants, nurses, physicians), and other biomedical colleagues and respiratory and virology experts. All gave positive reactions including statements like, “Yes, I would use this device” and, “Yes, I would provide this device to a passenger or patient who is coughing.” These early reactions are very hopeful in showing how receptive and excited our future customers already are about our product. We are now completing a customer survey of 300 consumers, investigating customer profiles, usage, and satisfaction.
Trademarks have been filed on all of our products and legal counsel believes we will have success receiving registered trademarks vis-a-vis the classes in which the trademark applications have been submitted.
As of now, all of our devices are expected to be FDA Class I 510(k) exempt and non-exempt or non-classified consumer-ready products. This means that unlike pharmaceuticals or surgical implants, our devices don’t require years of studies and shipping tests, sterility tests, and a multitude of hurdles before being allowed to be sold. We register our products with FDA and produce them in a clean, FDA approved environment, and they are ready to ship to customers. This allows for a simpler, faster presence in the market.
We also have our sights set on forming key partnerships in early 2015. We plan to meet with large consumer product, biomedical, and pharmaceutical companies (e.g., Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Labs, Smiths Medical, BG Medical, Bard Medical, Owens and Minor, Cardinal Health, Merck, Dupont, McKesson, Kimberly-Clark, Apria Healthcare, Medtronic, Bayer – Alka Seltzer, among others), to develop original equipment manufacture (OEM) partnerships in which we co-market our Curtail and Deflect products together with popular over-the-counter cough, cold and flu medicines, or new respiratory prescription drugs and products. Procter & Gamble, for example, sells a significant share of popular cold and flu medicine brands, including Vicks and NyQuil.
We are also looking at Asian health and wellness companies, as people in Japan and Southeast Asia are more socially aware and considerate of spreading illnesses. In fact, they have already expressed interest in our products.
These are just some of our important successes and potential future customers. To learn even more about our company and our future, please request access to the Business Plan side of this profile.
As medical device entrepreneurs, RP co-founders Drs. Michael Lyster and John Stalcup invented these respiratory solutions based on practical needs. During a long-distance flight and an extended sea cruise, Michael caught a virulent respiratory flu. On a bus tour, he curled up his map of the city to cough into it in an attempt to avoid passing his airborne illness onto others on the bus and…eureka! The idea for the “Curtail Your Cough” was born.
Our follow-on products stemmed from this core idea as we continued to expand our technology and search for other needs in the same field, using a similar product platform. Our spirometry product, Enhance, was propelled into the product mix from John’s experience with surgery, when he had difficulty in using a standard issue ‘incentive spirometer’.
Before long, we created a line of respiratory devices that we believe deliver tremendous medical technology improvements and disruptive paridigm-changing products to the respiratory market.
John Stalcup, Ph.D.
Founder, CEO, President and Chairman of Board
As CEO, John oversees a multitude of company operations including administration, accounting, fundraising, business development, product development, and other day-to-day operations. He has an extensive background in biomedical and medical publishing industries that spans 25 years.
In addition to co-developing all of RP’s products, John co-invented other medical devices that have treated thousands of patients suffering from spinal diseases. He also has experience that stems from his co-founder status at two other medical device and publishing companies. John has shared his knowledge with thousands of others too, as an author and editor of three anatomy, physiology, and emergency medical textbooks.
Michael Lyster, M.D.
Founder, Chief Medical Officer, SVP of Product Development and Vice Chairman of Board
At RP, Michael is responsible for providing medical expertise in product design and development, and leads the company in the product development process.
He also serves as Chief Medical Officer for the company and provides medical oversight to our FDA and USPTO submissions and filings. He is a board certified physician, with over 20 years of clinical experience in hematology, medical oncology, and internal medicine.
Michael is the lead inventor for RP’s products. He has served as co-founder and inventor for two active medical device companies, whose products have successfully treated thousands of patients.
David Sanders, Ph.D.
Chairman, Medical Advisory Board and Virology Consultant
David is the Chairman of RP’s Medical Advisory Board and is responsible for guiding the Chief Medical Officer and Engineering Team in state-of-the-art applications for airborne pathogen containment and device performance testing.
He is an Associate Professor of Biological Sciences at Purdue University, where he also serves as Chair of the University Senate Steering Committee and as a member of the Birck Nanotechnology Center and the Oncological Sciences Center. David’s work on the Ebola virus led to his participation in the U.S. Defense Threat Reduction Agency’s Biological Weapons Proliferation Prevention Program. As such, he has investigated the transmission of viruses from other animals, especially birds, to humans and is often invited to speak on ethics, biodefense, evolution, gene therapy, vaccination and influenza and Ebola viruses in public forums.
David is a frequent guest on CNN and FOX News, and has been interviewed by print, radio and television media throughout the world.
James Cassidy
VP of Operations and Manufacturing
James is a business professional with a record of accomplishment in a wide variety of manufacturing and operations environments. He has led and coordinated the development of numerous production start-ups and process improvement initiatives.
With positions in manufacturing, engineering and requirements planning, James developed a sharp understanding of the performance factors that are essential for creating and maintaining healthy profit margins at gross and EBIDTA levels. His extensive experience with the creation of manufacturing cells for world class component end users has given him the ability to precisely analyze the overall effects of capitalization for operations. James has created business plans and budgets that not only became road maps for operations but also satisfied lenders’ needs for asset based and capital expenditure financing.
James has held the positions of President, COO, Vice President of Operations and Manufacturing Engineering Manager for start-up and worldwide manufacturers. In addition, he has served as Project Manager and Senior Business Consultant working for both businesses and lenders. In the course of his work, he has participated with and driven several business acquisitions from both the buyer and seller sides.
Peter Materna, M.S.
VP of Engineering and Registered U.S. Patent Agent
Peter is the lead engineer for product development at RP. He is also responsible for patent searches and filings for company products, something he has been doing for years as an inventor with more than 20 patents.
With B.S. and M.S. degrees in engineering from MIT and Princeton and as a U.S. Patent Agent, Peter was an in-house patent practitioner at two medical device companies where he played a key role in developing patent portfolios and IP licensing. In the biomedical industry, he developed innovative new artificial bone putty, state-of-the-art orthopedic and spine devices, and applied 3D rapid prototyping to device development.
Peter’s expertise as an engineer and Patent Agent streamlines the company’s ability to develop and market products that have been vetted for “novelty” and “freedom to operate”, which accelerates the company’s time-to-market with protectable IP.
Anthony Tilker
Senior Design Engineer
Anthony is currently a student at the Santa Rosa Junior College in Santa Rosa, California working towards a B.S. in engineering.
With over 10 years of experience in tool-making and prototyping for the oil, aerospace and metrology industries, he is an expert in computer aided design (CAD) and owns and operates a fully stocked machine shop including 3D printers and CNC technology, allowing for quick and seamless design progressions.
Anthony takes the lead on initial design, ongoing evolution, and final manufacture prototypes of the company’s products.