Challenge call for corporate and R&D response to COVID19 health crisis in Serbia

Title:

Protective gear for laboratory and medical personnel

Short description:

Scaling the production capacities for complete Biological Safety Level 2 and Level 3 sets of protective gear for laboratory and medical personnel.

Author:

Advertout doo

Requested Budget:

150.054 USD (co-funding ensured)

Time frame:

2 months
Problem: The Biological Safety Level (BSL) 2 and BSL 3 are individual safeguards used in laboratories, health institutions and other settings to protect laboratory and medical personnel, as well as the surrounding environment and community, when dealing with pathogenic or infections organisms that pose a health hazard. The BSL2 and BSL3 protective gear involve wearing appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE), including lab coats and gloves, as well as eye protection and face shields. Due to the lack of production, Serbia currently depends on import and donations of protective equipment.
Solution: This solution focuses on BSL2 and BSL3 levels of security that are particularly relevant for laboratories. The idea is to create a new value chain that would result in producing the complete BSL2 and BSL3 protection in Serbia. By procuring the machines and materials necessary for expanding the existing production capacities, the team would increase the production of protective masks with a respirator N95, three different types of protective multi-use visors, protective single and multi-use BSL2 and BSL3 suits and protective single-use coats.
Additional info: The solution is proposed by a relevant and experienced stakeholder. The team currently has materials for producing the N95 masks, as well as a machine that produces surgical and N95 masks with a respirator. However, they need to create moulds in order to complete the required standards of certification. With the help of the Innovation Fund of the Republic of Serbia, the team has finished the development and began the production of the suits intended for medical workers. The masks and suits are currently produced by one machine, which limits the production capacity. An additional Ultrasonic machine would enable the production of 1.300 to 1.500 single and multi-use suits monthly. Protective single-use coats are produced on the same Ultrasonic machine.