The CEO of Medtronic’s Israel division, Yaron Yitzhari, announced that his company will be giving away its patents for their specially manufactured ventilator in an attempt to open the market and have more ventilators built enabling more lives to be saved in light of the rampant Covid-19 virus. The release of the patents will allow any company that wishes to manufacture the devices to do so, using Medtronic’s blueprints for free.

In an interview conducted with Arutz Sheva Yizhari said: “We didn’t just release the patents, we’ve made available all the details of the manufacturing process, for anyone who’s interested in manufacturing ventilators themselves. In the present situation, I’m proud to work at Medtronic, our goal is to prolong lives – to save lives, in fact. This is what’s needed right now, in the emergency situation we’re in, and this consideration comes before everything else. These are unusual times, and they demand of us to act in unusual ways. So, when it comes to calculating the financial impact, it has negligible weight, because the main thing is saving lives, and that’s what our company knows how to do.”

“There’s been a massive increase in demand for ventilators from all over the world. So we, at Medtronic, decided to do three things. First, we increased our own production capacity; we doubled it already, and will triple it in the coming weeks. We also partnered with a vehicle manufacturer in order to increase our production levels. The decision to release our patents and details of the manufacturing process was our third response to the current crisis.”

Yitzhari added that most medical personnel need training in how to operate the machines and that Medtronic would provide that training. “We’re sending people into the hospitals to train staff in operating the machines. Of course, that introduces an element of risk too. Just yesterday I was told about two members of our staff who had gone into isolation [because of feared exposure to the coronavirus]. We’re running this project like a war room, not only on the production lines but also with our staff. Our personnel are proud to be working for Medtronic, and I am too.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)