Ventilator Challenge UK also obtains order for 10,000 ventilators

A consortium of 20+ industrial, technology and engineering companies has also secured an order from the UK Government for over 10,000 ventilators. Differently from Dyson, Ventilator Challenge UK is basing its improved design on current models that have already been certified by the regulator, so it is anticipated that regulatory approval will be straightforward.

From a procurement perspective, the issues raised about the Dyson deal last week are relevant here too with a couple of caveats. First, there are companies in the consortium which have medical experience and they are using existing designs instead of creating one from scratch as Dyson did. Second, this is essentially an effort to scale up existing designs providing manufacturing capacity (and easily available parts) at a moment where access to regular supply chains is disrupted. Even accepting that the Government as contracting authority contributed to the urgency, the fact here is this source of ventilators appears to be resilient in the months to come as it uses materials and parts currently in production.