CareersDecember 21, 2020
Venti-Now™, an Ohio nonprofit and Walter Haverfield client that received Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Emergency Use Authorization to make portable ventilators in May, is now providing emergency respiratory care to patients in East Africa.
“We are proud of the life-changing work we have been able to accomplish,” said John Molander, president of Venti-Now™ and retired Proctor & Gamble engineer. “We were able to quickly develop a safe, effective, affordable ventilator that has made a difference in the lives of people across Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya.”
Venti-Now™ has 30 of its patent pending devices in operation in East Africa, making it the only FDA-approved ventilator startup with units delivering respiratory care in the field.
“I’m extremely proud to see the impact that Venti-Now™ has made in such a short period of time,” said Vince Nardone, partner-in-charge of Walter Haverfield’s Columbus office who assisted Venti-Now™ with its business formation. “To see the team working hard to help others, especially during such a tumultuous year, is particularly moving.”
With assistance from professionals at Proctor & Gamble as well as the University of Cincinnati’s Medical Center, and its Biomedical Engineering Program, Venti-Now™ started designing and building ventilators at the beginning of the pandemic to meet the ventilator shortage. In May, it became one of the few corporations to secure an FDA Emergency Use Authorization to create portable ventilators.
“It’s not often that we get to work with an organization that has such a novel, quick turnaround idea to benefit COVID-19 patients,” added Jamie Pingor, chair of the Walter Haverfield Intellectual Property Group who is pursuing patent coverage for Venti-Now™. “In less than a month, John and his team presented a patentable product for the market to help fight this pandemic. It’s teamwork at its finest.”
The electro-pneumatic ventilator, which is light enough to be carried with one hand, is primarily used for patients in the early stages of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). It uses readily-accessible hospital compressed air to drive the unit and standard 110v to power it.
Venti-Now™ units are sold at a fraction of the cost of devices currently on the market. The simple design is easier and cheaper to operate than existing ventilators.
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