Oura ring CEO says 'Apple has shown the way' to become health tool

Oura CEO Tom Hale says the wearable Finnish company plans to follow in the footsteps of Apple as it looks to become a legitimate health tool rather than simply a wellness tracker.

Why it matters: In 2018, Apple became the first consumer tech company with a watch that doubles as a medical device, and Hale expressed intentions for Oura to follow suit with applications potentially focused on women's health or sleep.

What he's saying: "I think Apple has shown the way," Hale told Axios at a panel Thursday hosted by San Francisco-based VC firm Next Ventures as part of the city's annual Tech Week event.

• "I give [Apple] a lot of credit," Hale said, "because what they have very intelligently done is create a consumer device ... that has a clinical application and a clinical feature set."

Context: The Apple Watch features an embedded, FDA-cleared electrocardiogram or ECG that offers irregular heart rhythm notifications, helping to potentially alert users to signs of atrial fibrillation (AFib).

Zoom in: Hale cited Oura's recent work with the birth control app Natural Cycles as an example of the kinds of health-focused applications the wearable company might pursue.

• Oura in 2022 partnered with the company to allow users to sync temperature data from their rings into the fertility app.
• "I think women's health is a really fascinating place to look," Hale said. "You think about the whole lifecycle from menarche all the way to peri-menopause, menopause — there's just a lot to be done there."

Meanwhile, sleep apnea is another potential health target the company could pursue, Hale said. The disorder, which affects roughly 30 million people in the U.S., causes one's breathing to repeatedly stop and start.

• "If you can get that screening, you get early diagnosis, and you can get into treatment to actually improve the quality of someone's life in a really meaningful way," said Hale.

• "We are not a sleep apnea tool. We are potentially a screener," he added.

What's next: Unlike Apple, which sought regulatory clearance itself, Oura will likely look to partner with a health company that's already obtained that clearance, similar to what it did with Natural Cycles.

• "When [Natural Cycles] got their clinical clearance, they used our ring to get it. So they had the right data," Hale said. "And we were able to draft right along behind that and say, 'There's the data, we don't have to be clinically regulated in order for Natural Cycles to work.'
• "I think that's the right strategy," said Hale.