SleepRes prepares Kricket for commercial launch

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - SleepRes is ready to shake up the CPAP market after receiving U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance for its Kricket positive airway pressure (PAP) device, powered by the Kairos Positive Airway Pressure (KPAP) algorithm. 

“We’re confident that we’ll compete very well against the companies that are out there right now,” said David White, M.D., Harvard Medical School, and chief medical officer of SleepRes. “What we have is completely novel – it's more comfortable, and it may result in better adherence and outcomes.” 

Kricket is approved for the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in patients weighing more than 66 pounds. 

How KPAP works: Pressure only when you need it 

Unlike traditional CPAP devices, Kricket, powered by KPAP, adapts pressure delivery throughout the breathing cycle. By synchronizing therapy with a patient’s natural respiration, KPAP aims to reduce unnecessary pressure, which may minimize discomfort, alleviate common side effects, and improve tolerance during sleep. 

“Our device delivers pressure at the right time,” White said. “A respiratory cycle is about four seconds and full pressure is only needed for about 0.5 to 0.75 seconds – the rest of the time the pressure can be a lot lower. That makes it more comfortable and more natural to the way we breathe. It can also mean less leakage.” 

Kricket also offers traditional CPAP and automatic PAP therapy modes. 

Commercial launch planned for 2026 

Until SleepRes secured FDA approval for Kricket, the company was “kind of paralyzed,” White says. Now it can move forward with commercializing the device, including hiring a team of sales and service people and giving its manufacturer the green light to start in on a larger scale. 

“All of these steps are fully underway, with the goal of bringing this device to market in the second quarter of 2026,” he said. 

Because Kricket is approved as a CPAP device, its reimbursement pathway is already established, streamlining its entry into the market. 

Building support among sleep docs 

Even before FDA approval, SleepRes spent 18 months educating sleep physicians on Kricket and KPAP based on peer-reviewed publications. A webinar hosted by the company drew 2,000 attendees, and William H. Noah, M.D., founder of SleepRes and inventor of KPAP, has been a regular speaker at sleep conferences. 

“We have an army of sleep doctors waiting to try this on their patients,” White said. “All they have to do is write KPAP instead of CPAP on their order. There’s a lot of enthusiasm.” 

SleepRes expects home medical equipment (HME) providers to be equally enthusiastic about Kricket, White says, as the device improves their chance of getting a patient on – and sticking with – therapy. 

Early evidence shows preference for KPAP 

A full adherence study for KPAP is planned, but SleepRes already has observational evidence. In one study, 150 patients with OSA who had not started CPAP therapy tried both KPAP and CPAP. The result: 93% preferred KPAP, White says. 

“If someone starts on KPAP, we believe they will use it more initially and over time than they would with a more standard CPAP device,” he said. “We know it works.”