ResMed has acquired Leipzig, Germany-based health tech company mementor; the deal was completed on August 1. With this acquisition, ResMed strengthens its overall sleep portfolio in Germany with a digital solution for insomnia.
Founded in 2014 and based in Leipzig, Germany, mementor developed and owns the digital insomnia therapy solution somnio, which is Germany’s first and only permanently approved Digital Health Application (DiGA) in the field of sleep medicine and thus eligible for reimbursement in Germany. It’s also compliant with the European Union’s data protection requirements under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
In Germany, approximately 1 in 10 people are affected by clinically relevant insomnia, as well as nearly 3 in 10 people who have sleep apnea. Currently only a small percentage of those affected receive the cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) recommended in Germany’s S3 guideline. Somnio closes a gap in the care of insomnia patients and complements ResMed’s efforts to increase both awareness of this disease and access to effective home treatments.
Through the acquisition, mementor can leverage ResMed Germany’s broader network to increase adoption of its approved digital therapy alternative for insomnia; somnio is available today in Germany via “app on prescription.” The clinical effectiveness of somnio has been demonstrated in two randomized controlled trials, showing a sustained improvement in users’ sleep after two and twelve months.
“Mementor is an ideal fit for ResMed Germany and, more important, millions of people across Germany who want to improve their sleep and overall health,” says Katrin Pucknat, president at ResMed Germany, in a release. “The founders have identified a large and neglected area of healthy sleep with an opportunity to help millions of people solve their chronic sleep issue with an easy-to-use digital at-home solution. We look forward to working with the team at mementor to help even more people in Germany achieve good, healthy sleep.”
Mementor will be integrated into ResMed in Germany as a separate business segment and will serve as a platform for further developments in the field of digital health. The business segment will be co-led by mementor co-founder and CEO Noah Lorenz, PhD, and Katherina Jekerle, who was previously ResMed Germany’s senior marketing director and member of the German leadership team.
“I am very much looking forward to working with the mementor team on further innovating digital solutions and helping more people suffering from insomnia with a digital therapy approach,” says Jekerle in a release. “In doing so, we at ResMed Germany are committed to maintaining the start-up agility and creativity of the teams and support the brand as it continues to grow.”
“Joining forces with ResMed brings us a big step closer to our vision of helping people get a good and healthy night’s sleep,” Lorenz says in a release. “I am excited to have found a perfect fit in ResMed, with whom we can work together to give more people access to somnio and develop further digital solutions. We look forward to joining the global ResMed family.”
The financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Mementor was founded in Switzerland in 2014 by Lorenz, Alexander Rötger, Jan Kühni, and Daniel Rotzetter. Since 2020, the health tech company has been based in Leipzig. Mementor develops digital medical products for various indications. Only effective techniques from medical sleep research are used in the “app on prescription” somnio. All German statutory and many private health insurance companies cover the patients costs for somnio upon presentation of a prescription.
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