Medtronic and Foxconn Partner to Increase Ventilator Production

Medtronic plc and Foxconn Industrial Internet, a business group within Foxconn Technology Group, have announced Foxconn has successfully completed Medtronic’s regulatory and quality requirements necessary to begin manufacturing Medtronic Puritan Bennett 560 (PB560) ventilators for Medtronic in the United States. Medtronic and Foxconn are currently ramping up plans to produce 10,000 PB560 ventilators over the next year at Foxconn’s Wisconn Valley Science and Technology Park in Mount Pleasant, Wis. The ventilators will be marketed and sold by Medtronic.
 
“No single company can meet the current demands for ventilators that are critical in the fight against COVID-19. Joining together with Foxconn immediately increases our production capacity to meet the increased demand and creates a flexible manufacturing model for us,” said Vafa Jamali, senior vice president and president of the Respiratory, Gastrointestinal and Informatics business, which is part of the Minimally Invasive Therapies Group at Medtronic. “Together, we can increase ventilator supply and help more patients and clinicians than any one company can do alone.”
 
“Foxconn is grateful to all front-line professionals who tirelessly work to serve others and is proud to partner with Medtronic to address this global pandemic. Foxconn’s manufacturing capabilities can bring to market life-saving medical equipment during these challenging times,” said Foo-Ming Fu, CEO of Foxconn Industrial Internet Wisconsin. “Foxconn’s flexibility to quickly react to global markets makes opportunities with partners like this possible. In the last two months, we went from zero ventilator manufacturing capabilities to a tested, qualified ventilator manufacturing cell.”
 
The two companies connected after Medtronic publicly shared the design specifications for the PB560 through the Medtronic ventilator open source initiative, which launched earlier this year. This effort allows global participants to evaluate options for rapid ventilator manufacturing at scale to help doctors treat patients fighting COVID-19. To date, there have been more than 200,000 registrations for the design specifications at Medtronic.com/openventilator.
 
To respond to global demand, if needed, Medtronic and Foxconn can increase their production capability to more than double the current Foxconn ventilator commitment.

Introduced in 2010, the PB560 is sold in more than 35 countries around the world. It is a compact, lightweight, and portable ventilator that provides airway support for both adults and children. It can be used in clinical settings and at home and provides mobile respiratory support.
 
Ventilators play a critical role in the management of patients with severe respiratory illness, such as COVID-19, who require assistance because they cannot breathe effectively. Without ventilation support, some patients with severe respiratory disease might not survive. By placing a patient on a ventilator, the patient’s lungs are permitted to rest and recover while the ventilator performs the functions of supplying oxygen and simulating the actions of breathing.