This morning (April 11), Mr. Nguyễn Tử Quảng officially confirmed that BKAV will participate in the production of ventilators for COVID-19 patients.
“In recent days, many Bfans have asked why BKAV is not participating in ventilator production. Now is the time I can happily announce that BKAV has completed the plan to produce invasive ventilators to treat COVID-19 patients.”
The COVID-19 pandemic is raging worldwide, and no one can stand still. As soon as we heard that Professor Trần Văn Thọ and Trần Ngọc Phúc wanted to transfer technology for ventilator production to Vietnam, we sent a research team to work on this project,” Mr. Quảng shared with the Bfan community.
The model of ventilator that BKAV will produce is the PB560, designed by Medtronic (USA). Other manufacturers (like BKAV) can apply for a license from Medtronic to produce ventilator models, helping to increase production capacity during this critical time. “The PB560 is a compact ventilator that provides oxygen and simulates the actions of breathing. About 10% of COVID patients require ventilators, so the world is severely lacking in these devices,” Mr. Quảng stated.
The first ventilators produced by BKAV are expected to “roll out” in mid-May to apply for mass production licenses from the Ministry of Health. “More than 9,000 workers and four factories in our system are ready,” the CEO of BKAV affirmed.
Previously, Vingroup also announced its production of “Made in Vietnam” ventilators. Similar to BKAV, the ventilator produced by Vingroup is also the PB560, with component costs around 160 million VND per unit. In parallel, Vingroup will also produce non-invasive ventilators (component costs about 22 million VND per unit) and thermal scanners (approximately 16 million VND per unit). Vingroup will donate 5,000 non-invasive ventilators to the Ministry of Health to timely support pandemic control measures.