Partnership in sleep-disordered breathing

An agreement recently reached between the University of Sydney and ResMed (ASX: RMD) includes long-term funding of research at the university into sleep-disordered breathing.

Under the agreement, ResMed will pay AU$25 million to the university to support its work. This will include the establishment of two perpetual academic chairs - the ResMed Chair of Sleep Medicine for sleep-disordered breathing with a focus on chronic disease and the ResMed Chair of Biomedical Engineering with an emphasis on bioinformatics research, as well as funding for research in related areas.

The agreement also provides for the settlement of proceedings between the parties in the Australian Federal Court regarding a dispute over an earlier licensing agreement.

Poor sleep affects a considerable number of Australians and is a major cause of lost productivity as well as accidents in the workplace, on the road and at home. An economic report commissioned by the Sleep Health Foundation in 2011 estimated that sleep disorders cost the Australian community at least $5 billion per year.

Medical sleep disorders such as obstructive sleep apnea contribute to other serious health problems such as high blood pressure, diabetes and heart disease.

“Sleep-disordered breathing is a global health problem affecting one in five adults, with broad and deep implications in other chronic conditions, such as hypertension and heart failure,” said ResMed Chief Executive Officer Michael Farrell. “With this partnership, we look forward to the University’s research revealing new information on how to battle this costly and life-threatening condition.”

ResMed is a pioneer in developing products for the treatment of sleep-disordered breathing and respiratory conditions. The company’s Sydney campus is a manufacturing and innovation centre and headquarters for its Asia-Pacific operations. It employs more than 1200 people locally.

ResMed shares were trading at $5.09 at about 10 am on Wednesday.