Medtronic has announced updates regarding its efforts to increase ventilator production around the globe. The company is announcing progress in the ramp-up of its ventilator production, as well as collaborating with technology partners and governments to drive new ventilator innovation and production, all in support of COVID-19 patients worldwide.
Emergency use authorisation for the Puritan Bennett 560
The Puritan Bennett 560 (PB560) ventilator will soon be available in the USA. The company received authorisation from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to offer the PB560 ventilator in the USA through the agency’s Emergency Use Authorisation (EUA) authority.
This FDA decision allows Medtronic to provide another ventilator option to doctors and clinicians in the USA for patients with COVID-19. The company expects the PB560 will be available in the USA in May.
Introduced in 2010 and currently sold in 35 countries around the world, the PB560 is a compact, lightweight, and portable ventilator that can be used in clinical settings and at home. The PB560 ventilator average selling price is under US$10,000.
Puritan Bennett 980 remote access
Medtronic is currently in limited market release of a new remote management capability for its Puritan Bennett 980 (PB980) ventilator with two hospitals in the USA.
This remote management capability—accelerated by collaborating with Intel Corporation—enables clinicians to adjust the ventilator settings outside of the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and away from the patient, which may reduce healthcare worker and clinician exposure to patients recovering from COVID-19.
If the feature is well received, the limited market release will be expanded to other US customers later in April.
Medtronic ventilator production forecasts
The Medtronic ventilator portfolio primarily includes the PB980, PB840, PB560, and HT70 models. Today, across these platforms, Medtronic ships more than 300 ventilators per week to customers in the highest risk, highest need locations in the world.
To aid specifically in the fight against COVID-19, Medtronic is prioritising PB980 and PB560 production, which will generally be produced in similar volumes. By the end of April, Medtronic expects to manufacture more than 400 ventilators per week.
By the end of May, the company is expecting to manufacture more than 700 ventilators per week, and it is targeting more than 1,000 ventilators per week by the end of June, representing an approximate five-fold increase in production versus pre-pandemic levels.
This Medtronic production ramp-up is expected to generate over 25,000 ventilators across all platforms over the next six months. The ventilator production increase does not include ventilators that will result from the company’s open source initiative.
Medtronic ventilator open source initiative
During the week of 30 March, Medtronic started publicly sharing the design specifications for the PB560 to enable participants across the globe to evaluate options for rapid ventilator manufacturing at scale to help doctors and patients dealing with COVID-19.
Since launch, there have been more than 90,000 registrations for the design specifications at Medtronic.com/openventilator. A range of entities are participating, from large scale manufacturers to innovative engineers and work groups.
Medtronic is pleased to note meaningful progress with three open source manufacturers, including Baylis Medical Company, Inc. in Ontario, Canada, Foxconn Technology Group, a global manufacturer with operations around the world, and Vingroup Joint Stock Company in Hanoi, Vietnam.
