Airbus’ Ventilator to Support UK NHS Against Covid-19 

The first new ventilator, called the Penlon Prima ESO2, that has been developed by Airbus, in close association with a number of components suppliers for Formula 1 cars, that could be used to treat people with severe symptoms of Covid-19 has received a go-ahead. Most European countries and the United States of America have seen their healthcare systems being overtaxed and overwhelmed by the sheer number of patients suffering from Covid-19. Since the disease affects the respiratory system of an individual, a number of severe cases have to be treated through ventilator support, and most of these countries, including the UK had reached a stage where there was a shortage of ventilators in the country for all those who were struggling to survive. This new development could help the healthcare systems of these countries, by providing them with a large number of extra ventilators to reduce the load. Let us dive a little deeper into this.

What is a ventilator and its Utilisation?

A ventilator is a machine in medical contexts which helps a patient breath. This system pumps oxygen into the lungs and, through a pipeline, extracts carbon dioxide. Inserting the tube into the windpipe (trachea) of a person, and this process is known as intubation. This means that when the covid-19 disease or any other disease causes a failure of the lungs, a ventilator is responsible for pushing the breathing process inside the body. That allows the person suffering from the disease some respite and a little time to fight off the infection and increases immunity. A number of ways of ventilation are used to treat such respiratory illnesses. Some of them are just simple respirators, while others are mechanical ventilators, which are very similar in nature to the engines of cars, airlines and other motor equipment. Hence, a large number of automotive and airline makers, in the month of March decided to use their assembly lines to build ventilators, after their regular operations were forced to have ceased following announcements of lockdowns across the world.

A group of manufacturers led by Airbus expected the government to give it the go-ahead signal later in March to start developing up to 30,000 medical ventilators, after finalising plans to provide thousands of machines to support the NHS battle Covid-19. This consortium also included some components providers to the Formula One car companies such as Mercedes AMG Racing and McLaren F1 racing.

Authorisation of Penlon’s Prima ES02

On 16^th April 2020, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) announced the authorisation for Penlon Prima ES02 for the use in hospitals, after a safety and effectiveness test. Penlon had associated with the VentilatorChallengeUK group, which includes a range of groups like High potential Technology Catapult, Toyota, a range of UK-based F1 racing component suppliers, as well as Siemens, an automation firm. The Penlon device is a newly developed ventilator design, modified from previous versions, which meets the technical specifications of the rapidly generated ventilator system.

This is a completely intubated mechanical ventilator equipped with a number of features including volume and stress-controlled ventilation to benefit critically ill patients. The government has made an order for 15,000 Penlon devices following approval of the product. Thousands of units are supposed to be completed by 24^th April 2020, with further volume scaling up very soon. Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Mr Boris Johnson had requested some of the biggest names in the British manufacturing industry during the month of March to help accelerate ventilator supplies that will save lives throughout this Covid-19 emergency. Since that, the government has collaborated with a range of UK's leading technology and engineering companies with smaller manufacturers to rapidly develop current, updated, or newly built ventilators at pace. Currently, in the United Kingdom, there are approximately 10,000 ventilators available for support of the UK citizens, a number that will potentially rise, as and when the newly ordered ventilators are delivered by the consortium. The first shipment of 40 Ventilator Challenge Penlon systems was sent to MOD Donnington on the day of the authorisation itself and will be sent to the NHS front line very early.

How Rival companies came together to fight Covid-19?

A large number of UK aviation and auto companies worked together 24X7 to develop thousands of ventilators to fulfil the immediate need in the midst of the growing outbreak of coronavirus. A consortium has been formed of aerospace, and automotive companies called the 'High Value Manufacturing Catapult,' which includes Airbus, and some of the other big manufacturing giants in the UK. The group is led by Meggitt, who is producing aircraft oxygen systems. Even JCB, Rolls-Royce and Unipart became a part of it. When non-essential manufacturing caused social distance to grind to a halt, many factories now had empty warehouse space that could be transformed into temporary production lines for ventilators. The prospect of developing a 'clean sheet' ventilator built for rapid growth is often explored by these consortia. However, though regulators emphasise assessment, a new ventilator would also need to clear complex legal and regulatory hurdles. Philips, a Dutch health tech corporation, aims to increase critical healthcare device production over the next eight weeks, including doubling hospital ventilator production. Italy has ordered its sole manufacturer of ventilators (Siare) to quadruple its monthly machine production and has also called for military assistance. In the largest single order ever for the company, the German government has ordered 10,000 ventilators from Dragerwerk AG, based in Lübeck. In the US, 3 M based in Minnesota has doubled its production of hand sanitizers and N95 respirator masks (which many doctors and nurses are forced to reuse due to supply shortages) and Medtronic, headquartered in Minnesota, has increased the production of ventilators by even more than 40 per cent. GM, Volkswagen, Ford, Fiat Chrysler, Mahindra & Mahindra, Tesla and Ferrari are all currently exploring the feasibility of aiding with the production of medical supplies, with Volkswagen setting up a task force to explore the use of 3D printing for the manufacturing of ventilator parts and at least one Fiat Chrysler factory set for converting to face masks.

Other problems for Airbus

Airbus is cutting aircraft production by one-third, resulting in a wave of job cuts across the global aviation distribution chain, as air travellers struggle to withstand the effect of virtual stoppage on international air travel. As revealed in various media reports during the previous week, the European aerospace company has announced it will cut production of its iconic A320 single-aisle jet from 60 to 40 a month.

This will also reduce the production of the A350 mid-size twin-aisle from around 10 a month to six, and would produce only two widebody aircraft of the A330 family a month, against previous estimates of a total of 40 a year. Airbus' decision to cut production so significantly suggests that the company expects future demand to remain stagnant for some time, putting ever-increasing growth to an end for more than a decade.

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