The United States Department of Defense (DoD) awarded a $4.9 million contact to the Pall Corp. last week for efforts to expand the domestic industrial base capacity for medical ventilator filters.
The COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare a critical need for ventilators in the U.S., but over the months of crisis, critical components proved to be in short supply. Dependency on foreign supply lines didn’t help. As such, this award focuses on items like special molding and tooling equipment, facility build costs and U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) certifications to guarantee ventilators have the components they need.
Until now, Pall has been pumping out ventilator filters at approximately 485,000 units per month. Thanks to this award, the company’s Puerto Rico-based operations aim to reach 650,000 units per month within 16 months.
The award was arranged as part of joint consultation efforts between DoD and the Department of Health and Human Services, on which DoD’s Joint Acquisition Task Force has taken the lead. All funds stem from the CARES Act, a $2.2 trillion stimulus bill signed into law in March.