These are the major manufacturers of ventilators

The rapid spread of the novel coronavirus has led to a shortage of critical medical supplies such as ventilators.

Ventilators are used to treat patients that are suffering from severe acute respiratory failure and are a vital resource for those with extreme symptoms of COVID-19. The machines pump air and oxygen into the lungs when the patients can no longer breathe on their own.

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There are approximately 745,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 globally and more than 35,300 confirmed deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data. And the numbers continue to rise.

According to the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, the U.S. currently has about 160,000 ventilators available, but it is estimated that about 740,000 are needed.

The dire need for ventilators has even gotten the attention of President Donald Trump, who attacked General Motors (GM) and Ford (F) on Twitter Friday and ordered the companies to start making ventilators.

GM partnered with smaller manufacturer Ventec Life Systems, and the two companies are aiming to produce around 10,000 ventilators per month starting next month. “Ventec and GM are working around the clock to meet the urgent need for more ventilators.  Efforts to set up tooling and manufacturing capacity at the GM Kokomo facility are already underway to produce Ventec’s critical care ventilator, VOCSN,” the companies said in a joint statement March 27.

Meanwhile, Ford announced March 24 that it is collaborating with 3M (MMM) and GE Healthcare (GE) to produce critically needed respirators and ventilators.

“Ford and GE Healthcare are working together to expand production of a simplified version of GE Healthcare’s existing ventilator design to support patients with respiratory failure or difficulty breathing caused by COVID-19. These ventilators could be produced at a Ford manufacturing site in addition to a GE location,” the two companies said in a press release. GE Healthcare accounts for approximately 15% of GE’s total revenue.

Several other manufacturers are stepping up to the plate to ramp up ventilator production as quickly as possible.

German medical-technology company Draegerwerk announced March 13 that the German government ordered 10,000 ventilators. In a statement, Draegerwerk said the delivery of the order will be spread out across a year and will require a significant boost in production at its Lubeck plant. “The orders will have a positive effect on Dräger’s economic situation and earnings,” the company said.

Draeger’s products are sold in more than 190 countries, and about 80% of the companies sales are generated outside of its headquarters in Germany.

On March 22, Dutch health-tech company Philips announced that it would be increasing production of critical care products to aid the fight against the deadly coronavirus.

“There is an unprecedented global demand for medical equipment to help diagnose and treat patients with COVID-19. We are working around the clock to double our hospital ventilator production within the next eight weeks and we are aiming for a four-fold increase by the third quarter,” Philips CEO Frans van Houten said in a statement.

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