Taxpayers Paid Millions to Design a Low-Cost Ventilator for a Pandemic. Instead, the Company Is Selling Versions of It Overseas.

[90DayFinancier 910]

https://www.propublica.org/article/taxpayers-paid-millions-to-design-a-low-cost-ventilator-for-a-pandemic-instead-the-company-is-selling-versions-of-it-overseas-

 

As coronavirus sweeps the globe, there is not a single Trilogy Evo Universal ventilator — developed with government funds — in the U.S. stockpile. Meanwhile, Royal Philips N.V. has sold higher-priced versions to clients around the world.

 

Five years ago, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services tried to plug a crucial hole in its preparations for a global pandemic, signing a $13.8 million contract with a Pennsylvania manufacturer to create a low-cost, portable, easy-to-use ventilator that could be stockpiled for emergencies.

This past September, with the design of the new Trilogy Evo Universal finally cleared by the Food and Drug Administration, HHS ordered 10,000 of the ventilators for the Strategic National Stockpile at a cost of $3,280 each.

But as the pandemic continues to spread across the globe, there is still not a single Trilogy Evo Universal in the stockpile.

Instead last summer, soon after the FDA’s approval, the Pennsylvania company that designed the device — a subsidiary of the Dutch appliance and technology giant Royal Philips N.V. — began selling two higher-priced commercial versions of the same ventilator around the world.

“We sell to whoever calls,” said a saleswoman at a small medical-supply company on Staten Island that bought 50 Trilogy Evo ventilators from Philips in early March and last week hiked its online price from $12,495 to $17,154. “We have hundreds of orders to fill. I think America didn’t take this seriously at first, and now everyone’s frantic.

[Dashinka 24,798]

9 hours ago, 90DayFinancier said:

https://www.propublica.org/article/taxpayers-paid-millions-to-design-a-low-cost-ventilator-for-a-pandemic-instead-the-company-is-selling-versions-of-it-overseas-

 

As coronavirus sweeps the globe, there is not a single Trilogy Evo Universal ventilator — developed with government funds — in the U.S. stockpile. Meanwhile, Royal Philips N.V. has sold higher-priced versions to clients around the world.

 

Five years ago, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services tried to plug a crucial hole in its preparations for a global pandemic, signing a $13.8 million contract with a Pennsylvania manufacturer to create a low-cost, portable, easy-to-use ventilator that could be stockpiled for emergencies.

This past September, with the design of the new Trilogy Evo Universal finally cleared by the Food and Drug Administration, HHS ordered 10,000 of the ventilators for the Strategic National Stockpile at a cost of $3,280 each.

But as the pandemic continues to spread across the globe, there is still not a single Trilogy Evo Universal in the stockpile.

Instead last summer, soon after the FDA’s approval, the Pennsylvania company that designed the device — a subsidiary of the Dutch appliance and technology giant Royal Philips N.V. — began selling two higher-priced commercial versions of the same ventilator around the world.

“We sell to whoever calls,” said a saleswoman at a small medical-supply company on Staten Island that bought 50 Trilogy Evo ventilators from Philips in early March and last week hiked its online price from $12,495 to $17,154. “We have hundreds of orders to fill. I think America didn’t take this seriously at first, and now everyone’s frantic.

So in September 2019 the product was approved by the FDA?  That still leaves tooling it up and validating the production process.

[Ban Hammer 13,552]

21 minutes ago, Dashinka said:

So in September 2019 the product was approved by the FDA?  That still leaves tooling it up and validating the production process.

but but trump!  #notmycoronavirus

 

[TBoneTX 46,125]

The early bird gets ventilated.

[90DayFinancier 910]

2 hours ago, Dashinka said:

So in September 2019 the product was approved by the FDA?  That still leaves tooling it up and validating the production process.

What is your point? Phillips is selling and shipping based on US intellectual property, to the highest bidder and you have a shortage on shore. 

[Dashinka 24,798]

22 minutes ago, 90DayFinancier said:

What is your point? Phillips is selling and shipping based on US intellectual property, to the highest bidder and you have a shortage on shore. 

We have no idea what the agreement is with respect to the IP.  If Phillips owns the patents, or they filed patents for a similar model, they can sell this to anyone they want and whose health agencies have approved it.

Edited March 31, 2020 by Dashinka

[90DayFinancier 910]

4 hours ago, Dashinka said:

So in September 2019 the product was approved by the FDA?  That still leaves tooling it up and validating the production process.

The intellectual property belongs to the US government, the contract was poorly written. 

[Dashinka 24,798]

Just now, 90DayFinancier said:

The intellectual property belongs to the US government, the contract was poorly written. 

And you know that how?  Just because one entity commits capital or development funds to another entity to design a product does not mean the first entity owns the IP.  Usually, this only covers capital equipment, and oftentimes means that entity B cannot use capital equipment entity A paid for to supply product to anyone else.  Of course there are other restrictions when it comes to defense or military products.

[Steeleballz 7,550]

3 minutes ago, Dashinka said:

And you know that how?  Just because one entity commits capital or development funds to another entity to design a product does not mean the first entity owns the IP.  Usually, this only covers capital equipment, and oftentimes means that entity B cannot use capital equipment entity A paid for to supply product to anyone else.  Of course there are other restrictions when it comes to defense or military products.

 

 

   Probably depends how the contract was written. If the DOH was investing in that technology for this specific purpose, they probably should have included a clause for either limited or exclusive access rights. They probably didn't want to commit that much capital at the time.

[Dashinka 24,798]

4 minutes ago, Steeleballz said:

 

 

   Probably depends how the contract was written. If the DOH was investing in that technology for this specific purpose, they probably should have included a clause for either limited or exclusive access rights. They probably didn't want to commit that much capital at the time.

I agree.  In the end though the US government placed an order for 10,000 of the units back in September, and so far Phillips has not delivered any.  To me, this is unacceptable.

[90DayFinancier 910]

10 minutes ago, Dashinka said:

And you know that how?  Just because one entity commits capital or development funds to another entity to design a product does not mean the first entity owns the IP.  Usually, this only covers capital equipment, and oftentimes means that entity B cannot use capital equipment entity A paid for to supply product to anyone else.  Of course there are other restrictions when it comes to defense or military products.

This was not the first contract on the trilogy, the design was done and fda approved before Philips entered the scene. 

 

"The contract was canceled in November 2013. The government retained ownership of all equipment, tooling, and intellectual property rights and the government awarded a new $13.8 million contract to Philips in 2015. According to the New York Times article, the government ordered 10,000 units of Philips' Trilogy Evo in December, and those machines are expected to be delivered soon."

 

https://www.mddionline.com/new-york-times-digs-checkered-past-ventilators-america

[Steeleballz 7,550]

4 minutes ago, Dashinka said:

I agree.  In the end though the US government placed an order for 10,000 of the units back in September, and so far Phillips has not delivered any.  To me, this is unacceptable.

 

    Ethically I agree. However I don't have any real expectation that any company will act one way or another just because of the current situation. It would be great if they did "the right thing", but to them the right thing is probably making as much as they can by selling to the highest bidder.

 

    I don't actually know what the contract said though. It's possible they were required to have those 10000 ventilators for the national stockpile first.