A manufacturer of a testing kit for asthma sufferers is expecting profits to soar after experts recommended doctors improve the standard of their diagnosis.

Bedfont Scientific predicts turnover to rise to £7.5 million next year, a 25% increase, thanks to its new NObreath aid, a clinically proven tool to help GPs spot and treat the disease.

The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) issued new guidance this year advising doctors to improve the accuracy of their testing, just as it released figures saying up to a million adults in the UK may have been wrongly diagnosed with the condition.

With 32,0000 GPs in the UK – and the guidance meaning every doctor could need one – bosses at Bedfont are rubbing their hands together.

Jason Smith, general manager of the Harrietsham-based firm, said: “We welcome this recent heightened awareness of asthma bought about by the work of Asthma UK and NICE.

“It is clear that there is a need for more accurate testing and we are pleased to be heavily involved in improving things for asthma sufferers.

“We are seeing an increase in demand for non-invasive tests, such as our NObreath testing and will continue to work with top clinicians to improving the quality of life for asthma sufferers.”

The company, which employs 45 people, is working with Royal Brompton Hospital in London to find ways to better predict when an asthma attack will happen.

Its tests, which take 30 seconds, measure molecules of nitric oxides on the breath, which are created by inflamed airways in asthma sufferers.

Dr Uruj Hoda, at the Royal Brompton Hospital, said: “We are excited about the potential for breath tests such as those developed by Bedfont Scientific to improve the diagnosis and management of the condition.

"If we can better predict an attack then we may be able to better treat it before it becomes a serious, possibly life-threatening episode that would require hospital admission.”

A print version of this article said Asthma UK had claimed up to a million people in the UK had been wrongly diagnosed with the condition. It was in fact NICE which made this assertion.