Product simulates thin air, fights fat without dieting

BOULDER – Sleep in thin air and you lose weight. That’s the idea behind a product created by Aestis Inc., a Boulder-based company, which entered the weight-loss industry in hopes of fattening its bottom line.

Aestis is a spinoff of Colorado Altitude Training, a Boulder business that makes high-altitude simulation tents to train athletes.

Aestis has introduced a product called ThinAir System to thwart obesity. Dede Willis, chief executive officer of Aestis, says it will take more than three years before the product hits the market.

Patients will get a prescription for the device and most will lease the product initially – similar to other prescription medical devices – at a cost of $595 a month. Willis says insurance companies likely will cover the cost. “We’ve discussed this with insurance companies and they’re excited about it because of the high cost of treating obesity,” Willis said.

Users of ThinAir System will sleep in the tent and go about their day normally, without dietary restrictions or increased physical activity.

While Colorado Altitude Training’s high-altitude stimulation tents have been sold to top athletes for training, the Aestis market could be much bigger. Willis sees a mass market for the ThinAir System.

“Our target market is extremely large – people who are overweight to moderately obese,” Willis says. “We will not target extremely obese people, for example, candidates for bariatric surgery, but instead will prevent people from becoming surgery candidates.”

Colorado Altitude Training tents simulate from 9,000 feet to 12,000 feet above sea level. ThinAir goes to 14,000 feet because Willis says weight loss doesn’t occur until 13,000 feet.

The idea to use the technology for obesity came about from studies trying to prevent weight loss among climbers, Willis says. “It’s not just because they are exercising. High altitude results in loss of appetite, and the second effect is increase in basal metabolic rate.”

A feasibility study conducted in the Netherlands earlier this year yielded favorable results, which showed an average weight loss greater than 1 pound a week for two weeks of nightly exposure for an average of about seven hours per night at a simulated altitude of 4,200 meters. No side effects were reported.

Dr. Wim H.M. Saris, a professor of human nutrition at Maastricht University in the Netherlands, conducted the study. Saris found that weight loss continued throughout the study for subjects who used the system for six weeks. The therapy was safe, and no one had to withdraw from the study for health reasons. Acceptance was high, and many subjects expressed desire to continue using the therapy after the initial six-week trial.

Saris concluded that at altitude there is a loss of appetite and consequently weight loss. “It has been studied and proven for over 50 years,” Saris says. “This gives a strong scientific foundation for Aestis.”

Aestis is making progress getting the ThinAir System to market. The company is currently seeking $1 million to fund a feasibility study that will be a precursor to clinical trials. Willis says that study will be more comprehensive than the Netherlands study.

Once Aestis completes the feasibility study, it will raise funds for clinical trials. After clinical trials, the company will seek approval to market the product from the Food and Drug Administration as well as apply for the right to market in the European Union. It will also raise funds for a product launch.

Aestis presented ThinAir at a medical device summit in June in San Francisco at which investors and researchers got a chance to look at it up close.

“The summit went well,” Willis says. “We have a few interested venture capitalists but most would like to see additional data, which is why we are now seeking a smaller seed round to fund feasibility studies.”

Willis, who has more than 20 years of management experience in Europe and the U.S. life sciences industry, continues as vice president of operations for Colorado Altitude Training. Co-founder Larry Kutt is chief executive of Colorado Altitude Training and chairman of Aestis. The two companies are located at 3125 Sterling Circle in Boulder.

Colorado Altitude Training has distributors on four continents. Some of its clients include Nike, various Olympic training centers, T-Mobile’s pro cycling team, the Philadelphia Flyers hockey team and the last five men’s World Ironman champions.

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