Inogen’s Voxi 5 opens door to larger respiratory care market

GOLETA, Calif. - Inogen is one step closer to becoming “a platform play” in the respiratory care market with the recent launch of its Voxi 5 stationary oxygen concentrator (SOC), developed in collaboration with Yuwell. 

The Voxi 5, which joins the company’s existing stable of portable oxygen concentrators (POCs), delivers 1 to 5 liters per minute of continuous glow oxygen. 

“When we look at the patients that have a portable oxygen concentrator versus a stationary concentrator (and we) look at that population that has long-term oxygen, nearly 100% of those – over 90% certainly – have an SOC,” said Kevin Smith, president and CEO, during a recent call to discuss the company’s financial results for the second quarter. “So, that is nearly every patient that's on long-term oxygen therapy. Portable oxygen concentrators are used with about 23% of that population, so, it is a significant increase in our addressable markets that Voxi 5 brings for us.” 

In January of this year, Inogen announced the collaboration with Yuwell, saying it would broaden its product portfolio through the distribution of certain respiratory products in the United States, expand and enhance its innovation pipeline through joint R&D efforts and accelerate its entry into the Chinese market. 

Bundled solutions drive sales across channels 

With the Voxi 5 rolled out, Inogen’s sales team has the ability to package an Inogen POC and SOC vs. an Inogen POC and another manufacturer’s SOC, Smith said. That’s the case in any of the company’s business units – direct to consumer, business to business or rental, he said. 

“We do see that as a key piece of on our path to profitability,” he said. “That’s more sales per patient (and) more revenue, and it’s an opportunity for us to continue to bolster that.” 

Simeox 200 moves toward commercialization 

Inogen is still in the process of securing Medicare reimbursement for the Simeox 200 Airway Clearway Device, another product that’s part of the company’s plan to be more than a “niche play,” Smith said. The company continues to conduct clinical trials related to reimbursement to push the device toward commercialization, he said. 

“(We’re) developing the health economic data that is needed with the value dossier to support reimbursement, as well as the trials that are designed to boost acceptance and develop marketing claims,” he said. “We like the data that we've been seeing; we like the feedback that we've had.” 

Connected solution expands with patient portal 

As it fills out its “platform play,” Inogen is layering technical capabilities onto its devices to further increase the “stickiness” between them – for providers and patients. Previously, the company launched its Inogen Connect solution to allow providers to access data like oxygen purity status, battery run time, product support functions and notification alerts. Now it has added an online patient portal to the solution to allow patients to order supplies, track shipments, access setup resources, update insurance info and e-sign forms – all from their phones or computers. 

“We are creating an ecosystem, and part of that is to drive that brand preference (and) loyalty,” Smith said. "For our B2B customers, (it’s) to be able to monitor device health (and) to be able to evaluate those in the field as they get calls back from patients. Also for the patients, (it’s) to be able to access information (and) to be able to order supplies and the general value that we're able to add there.”