NEW YORK, April 2, 2020: Helping to address a critical COVID-19 need, Morgan Lewis guided Airon Corp, a privately held company specializing in high-tech pneumatic life support products, in a collaboration with GE Healthcare, one of the world’s largest healthcare companies.
This licensing agreement will start generating production of necessary ventilators that will be manufactured by Ford Motor Company. Production of 50,000 ventilators is planned for the next 100 days and, after the initial 100-day period, the collaboration will generate 30,000 more units per month as needed.
To make this all happen, the agreement provides for Airon to license its ventilator design to GE Healthcare. Ford will provide its manufacturing capabilities to GE Healthcare to produce the ventilators. Production of the ventilators is expected to take place at Ford’s plant in Ypsilanti, Michigan.
“It is incredible to bring Airon together with GE Healthcare and Ford, all three of which have blazed paths in their industries, to together directly save lives,” said Morgan Lewis FDA partner Dennis Gucciardo.
Corporate partner Steven Navarro added, “This unique agreement began over the weekend and proceeded with an incredible sense of urgency given the current situation. We are so proud to have helped bring this life-saving collaboration to fruition.”
In addition to Dennis and Steven, partners David Glazer, Sameer Mohan, Chris Halliday, Ron Dreben, Sheila Armstrong, Dana Gross, Kathy Sanzo, and John Lavelle, of counsel Arianne Baczynski, and associate Tara McElhiney advised Airon.