Bengaluru firm to make Nasa’s Covid-19 ventilator

BENGALURU: Bengaluru firm Alpha Design Technologies is among three Indian entities which have been picked by US space agency Nasa to manufacture a Covid-19 ventilator. The two other Indian firms are Bharat Forge and Medha Servo Drives Private Limited.
The ventilator is developed by Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). Globally, 21 companies, including from Brazil, Mexico, UAE and Malaysia, have been selected to manufacture it.
Alpha Design chairman and managing director Col (retd) HS Shankar told STOI that Nasa had already begun the process of transferring the technology to the chosen firms.
“We really appreciate the fact that they wanted the technology to reach different parts of the world and they decided to offer all the technology, including software, drawings and all documents, free of cost. So far it has been a very professional experience to see how quickly such an elaborate process has been completed in such a short time,” Shankar said.
Alpha Design works closely with Isro and Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO).
“The prototype, which was created by JPL engineers in just 37 days, received an emergency use authorisation from the Food and Drug Administration on April 30,” JPL said in a statement.
The ventilator intervention technology accessible locally, or VITAL as JPL calls it, was designed to use only one-seventh of the parts of a traditional ventilator, relying instead on components already available in supply chains.
“It offers a simpler, more affordable option for treating critical patients while freeing up traditional ventilators for those with the most severe Covid-19 symptoms. Its flexible design means it also can be modified for use in field hospitals,” JPL said.
The Office of Technology Transfer and Corporate Partnerships at Caltech, US, which owns the patents and software for VITAL, is offering a free licence for the device.
Shankar said the companies would make five prototypes to be sent for FDA clearance. This will enable them to market the product in the US and Europe. “For the Indian market, we will have to make five more prototypes and send it to ICMR [Indian Council of Medical Research] for certification. Once this is done, we can start selling the product, which, in my opinion, is far more advanced than any other product in the market,” Shankar said.