Pune-based forging giant Bharat Forge has signed a time-bound non-exclusive licence agreement with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) to manufacture and supply ventilators.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) developed a ventilator specifically for coronavirus patients at the JPL in Southern California.
“There is no cost to the license until October 1, 2024 or until the Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) is rescinded, whichever is first, Bharat Forge said in a statement.
Bharat Forge is one of 18 companies in the world to have been selected to manufacture the life-saving machine. Two other Indian companies - Alpha Design Technologies and Medha Servo Drives - have also been selected to make ventilators by NASA.
“Bharat Forge, in its pursuit to aid the government and the medical fraternity deal with acute shortage of ventilators in India, evinced its willingness to manufacture ventilators and submitted its proposal with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory on May 11, 2020”, Bharat Forge added.
VITAL (Ventilator Intervention Technology Accessible Locally) is a high-pressure ventilator developed by engineers at the NASA’s the JPL, primarily aimed to address the acute demand of ventilators to treat and support patients who develop respiratory compromise from COVID-19.
VITAL has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use under Emergency Use Authorization.
IN accordance with government agencies around the world and consistent with FDA guidelines, the California Institute of Technology through the JPL has licenced JPL Ventilator Designs materials as experimental designs. This will allow select participants to leverage their own expertise and resources for the rapid manufacture of ventilating machines to assist in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic.
After seeking brief proposals from interested participants across the globe JPL selected licensees based on their ability to manufacture and distribute large numbers of ventilators.
“As an acknowledgement of its production and distribution capabilities, the company has been selected by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory to commercialize the VITAL Technology”, Bharat Forge added.
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