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Sleep apnoea treatment company ResMed (ASX: RMD) is one of Australia's great medical technology success stories, founded in Sydney by Dr. Peter Farrell in 1989 and now with offices all over the world.
Dual-listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), the company is headquartered in San Diego, California but has a state-of-the-art, 30-acre innovation and manufacturing center in the Greater Western Sydney suburb Bella Vista.
ResMed is a global leader in its field of expertise, but like Ford, GM and Tesla it is stepping up to the plate to help fill demand for other medical supplies, especially ventilators which are critical for treating severe cases of the virus.
"As a global leader in respiratory medicine, ResMed stands with the world in the face of the latest coronavirus disease COVID-19 and is ready to help mitigate its effects, helping people breathe while their immune system fights this virus," says ResMed CEO Mick Farrell, the founder's son.
"More than 7,500 ResMedians are working in over 140 countries for this purpose. We are working with governments, health authorities, hospitals, physicians, and patients worldwide to assess their needs, and to deliver the ventilation therapy that is essential to treat the respiratory complications of Covid-19.
"Our primary focus is to maximize the availability of ResMed ventilators and other respiratory support devices for the patients that need them most."
He says the company is taking "every measure possible" worldwide to maximise the production of ventilators, masks, and other respiratory devices.
"We are looking to double or triple the output of ventilators, and scale up ventilation mask production more than tenfold," says the executive.
"As global leaders in digital health, we're proud that many of our ventilators and bilevel respiratory devices are cloud-connected, enabling physicians and respiratory specialists to remotely monitor their patients.
"There could not be a clearer case for the use of digital health and remote monitoring of patients than this current crisis with a virus that is so contagious stemming from direct human contact."
Farrell expresses his gratitude to the global ResMed team for working through today's challenges to help treat an increasing number of Covid-19 patients.
"I'd like to call out first-responder ResMedians in China's Hubei province, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, in particular one ResMed hero who, since early January, has donned a positive pressure hazmat suit, and helped set up thousands of people on ResMed ventilators and ResMed masks," he says.
"There are also 100-plus ResMedians from Malaysia who in mid-March volunteered to keep working in our Singapore manufacturing plant when Malaysia closed its borders, relocating to live near our plant in Singapore, spending weeks away from their families, so they can continue to produce as many lifesaving ventilators and ventilation masks as possible."
Updated at 6:53pm AEDT on 24 March 2020.
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