The company said its immediate focus was the UK market, where it is one of two companies contracted to produce 30 000 ventilators.
UK-based company Penlon is seemingly reluctant to help a group of South African businessmen, doctors and engineers reproduce a potentially life-saving mechanical ventilator it first produced nearly 40 years ago, because it was “marketing” the machines.
As the number of South Africans to have contracted the novel coronavirus continues to rise sharply, the number of people who may soon need ventilators, also increases. “We are all trying our best to give everyone a fair chance. It’s also unfair to now try and jump the queue. Africa is, unfortunately, at the back of the line right now,” Fourie said.
“We are appealing to your esteemed company on humanitarian grounds to urgently make all your production drawings and quality documents available to us so that we can fast track this development.” Corbett said the product was nearly 40 years old, and any patents would long have expired. UK patents, similar to the US, are valid for a period of 20 years.
The Guardian this week reported that Penlon’s Nuffield 200 was one of two devices manufactured in the UK, together with a portable ventilator made by the Smiths Group, that would be produced in large quantities to meet the demand for British healthcare systems.
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