We have always worked closely with global innovators, incubators, accelerators, venture firms and private equity partners to explore next-generation technologies in medical devices that are in line with our goal of making quality healthcare accessible and affordable for everyone.

Among our key areas of focus are Structural Heart, Respiratory, Digital Health, Connected Devices and Neurotech. It is in the area of respiratory innovation that we discovered that CorVent Medical of Coridea, one of our incubator partners, was looking at ways to solve the immediate insufficiency of a worldwide lack of ventilators. 

More succinctly put across, it was not merely a lack of the number of ventilators, but also the challenges from purchasing traditionally highly expensive ventilators that were developed with a long lifespan in mind. While these traditional ventilators were great, they are not ideal to address the surge in demand for short-term usage during the COVID-19 pandemic.

We knew then that we have found a clear spot for collaboration as resolving these issues through innovation will help save the lives of many. However, the challenges require a new perspective of these ventilators. 

The idea of a short-term use ventilator was born and finally crystallised into a single-use critical ventilator integrated with superior infection control. The lower costs of each ventilator will aid greatly in resolving ventilator insufficiency from a purchasing standpoint. Moreover, its one-time use nature also means fewer issues with longer-term, storage challenges faced by hospitals.

With this pandemic-specific innovation, we are aware time was of the essence right from the onset so that lives can be saved.  
 

Alongside our VC and equity partners, we then worked relentlessly together with Coridea, to bring this innovation to life in the shortest time possible – a typical signature of how we have always prioritised efficiency and speed in our partnerships and laser-like focus on the end goal.
 

The ventilator is currently pending Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) issued by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for ventilators, tubing connectors and accessories, which authorises its use for the duration of the U.S. Health and Human Services COVID-19 public health emergency declaration.