Medical device companies respond to UK government's call for help

Five medical device companies, who are part of the Cambridge Cluster, have responded to the UK government’s call to assist in the rapid development and manufacture of ventilators to meet demand caused by Covid-19.

Cambridge Consultants, PA Consulting, Sagentia, Team Consulting and TTP took up the challenge, and MetLase provided industrial support.

The UK's engineering community has responded to the government's call for help. The organisations are applying a range of disciplines, including electronics, software development, human factors, design, thermodynamics and regulatory knowledge. 

This initiative unites competing businesses during an unprecedented public health emergency. With hundreds of experts working night and day, and in close co-operation, the Cambridge community has come together to address this challenge.  

The companies are all working to a specification published by the government, established in response to the clinical interventions understood to be effective in the treatment of Covid-19. While working on separate, parallel designs, the group is collaborating closely to support each other. 

High volume supply and extremely rapid manufacture are the key objectives, while remaining subject to testing and approval through the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

In broad terms, the companies are taking a development process that would normally take five to six years and attempting to deliver within five to six weeks, and against the background of distributed teams observing government separation guidelines.