Justin Smith, CEO of 3B Medical, Inc., Speaks to The Silicon Review: ‘We’ve Become the Go-To Provider in the Sleep, Oxygen, and Disinfection Product Space’

“3B Medical will be launching two new consumer products, the Lumin Wand and the Sport X, the first portable oxygen concentrator designed specifically for high altitude, endurance, and extreme sporting.”

3B Medical, Inc. is a developer, manufacturer, and distributor of medical devices specially designed for the treatment of sleep apnea and oxygen therapy. The firm produces a wide range of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) devices and masks. Its line of CPAP masks is considered among the most comfortable masks available in the market.

The company is headquartered in Winter Haven, Florida.

In Conversation with Justin Smith, CEO of 3B Medical, Inc.

Q. Let's talk about 3B Medical, Inc. and how it came to the fore. So, what your story?

Alex Lucio founded 3B Medical, Inc. along with Tom Thayer, Sr. in 2011.

The company was started with a need: Tom Thayer’s first wife, suffered from pulmonary fibrosis and sleep apnea. She could not tolerate any of the CPAP products on the market and 3B was born out of belief that a lighter and more comfortable solution was possible. Tom partnered with Alex Lucio to found 3B Medical. As of now, 3B has grown out to a full-fledged medical device product development company that is focused on building its intellectual property portfolio and bringing innovative new products to market to improve the lives of respiratory patients.

Q. 3B Medical is a manufacturer and distributor of sleep therapy and oxygen therapy products. Manufacturing such products is a remarkable feat, given a large section of the world’s population suffer from sleep disorders such as insomnia. How effectively do your products address patients’ pain points?

In non-invasive ventilation, there is a hierarchy of sorts. It ranges from a standard CPAP to an Auto-CPAP, Auto Bi-Level, and Bi-Level S/T. 3B markets and sells a full range of devices, along with companion masks and interfaces. In oxygen, we also have a broad product line that spans from stationary bedside oxygen concentrators to one of the smallest and lightest portable oxygen concentrators in the world, the Aer X.

3B Medical's sleep therapy product line is on par with the best in the world. Our CPAP devices all come equipped with advanced features, including wireless patient reporting, heated tubing, and advanced algorithms to improve patient comfort.

Q.Your iCodeConnect patient management portal allows for a cloud-based solution to compliance data reporting and is designed from the ground up with payer hooks for easy data integration with third-party software and private payers. Would you like to interpret this a bit more?

Telemedicine and electronic medical records (EMR) are part of the new landscape in medical care. 3B Medical's iCodeConnect was designed to allow us to push and pull data into any third-party system easily. We are set up to integrate our system with any payer or patient management system.

Q. You must be decisive and persistent to succeed in this competitive field. That said, how do you plan to combat your competition?

3B Medical competes in three distinct product areas: sleep therapy, oxygen therapy, and disinfection. We compete on the basis of great products with great designs that meet the needs of patients, but also by improving the value proposition to our customers. Most customers are actively searching for new product brands that can improve their profitability, and in our industry, 3B Medical has become the go-to provider in sleep, oxygen, and disinfection for these customers.

Each of our three product segments has a different competitive landscape. We aim to be one of the top three players in each of our product segments.

Q. What new endeavors is your company currently undertaking?

We have half a dozen new products in development straddling all three areas. Next month, 3B Medical will be launching two new consumer products, the Lumin Wand and the Sport X, the first portable oxygen concentrator explicitly designed for high altitude, endurance, and extreme sporting.

Q. About your plans, where do you think your company will be in five years?

We believe 3B Medical and its expanding product portfolio will be helping more patients and consumers in more geographies in more clinical, retail, home and diverse settings than ever before.  For existing products, we are seeing strong demand from international markets and new sales channels, and our new, innovative product pipeline, is favorably positioned to capitalize on shifting market dynamics and consumer preferences.

The Visionary Leader at the Helm of 3B Medical, Inc.

Justin Smith serves as the CEO of 3B Medical, Inc. He is directly responsible for executive management of the company and for defining and executing the company’s strategy to grow its leadership in the sleep, respiratory, and disinfection product space. Before joining 3B Medical, Justin held senior leadership roles in several private equity portfolio companies. Prior to that, he worked on the healthcare investment banking team at Bear Stearns and on the healthcare investment team at ComVest Partners, a private equity firm with over $ 4B under management.

Mr. Smith graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point with a B.S. in Aeronautical Engineering. He then served in the United States Air Force as an Engineering Officer at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Justin is a CFA Charterholder and a member of the CFA Institute.

"We have a wide product line that spans from stationary bedside oxygen concentrators to one of the smallest and lightest portable oxygen concentrators in the world, the Aer X."