PVA, which is based in Cohoes, is a global manufacturer of automated dispensing and coating systems that help manufacturers glue their products together or protect them from the environment. The company, which also has offices in China and Holland, also makes the PreVENT Emergency Resuscitator ventilator.
Grant Helps PVA Achieve Emergency Use Authorization from FDA
Description
"Without the FuzeHub grant we would not have been able to undertake such a large project as quickly as was necessary to respond to this crisis."
Frank Hart
Managing Director of Global Sales and Marketing
The Challenge
At the start of the COVID-19 crisis in New York, the team at PVA needed funding to build the PreVENT Emergency Resuscitator to fill a gap in the market at a time when the state was desperate for ventilators.
The Solution
“PVA applied for a FuzeHub COVID 19 Manufacturing Grant and received $100,000. The company immediately deployed its product development team and had a functional prototype within 48 hours. Resources were obtained to prepare PVA for ISO certification, thus helping with the Emergency Use Authorization and documentation requirements. Raw materials were secured in quantities large enough to drive the cost of the PreVENT to about 20% of other ventilators. PVA also purchased a test lung so the company can provide waveform data to the FDA.
The awardee also used $2,500 of additional funding from CCMR to test and integrate new materials in their devices. The Cornell Center for Materials Research (CCMR) is funded by the National Science Foundation. Its primary mission is to perform cutting-edge materials research. The center also provides support to industry through its Industrial Partnerships Program, funded by the New York State Office of Science, Technology and Academic Research (NYSTAR). This program promotes technology transfer and economic development by offering to industry low-cost, timely and flexible access to world-leading materials experts (Cornell faculty members) and to state-of-the-art instruments, enabling product development as well as expansion to wider marketets.”
Outcomes / The Impact
The project had far reaching effects on PVA. It entered a completely different market, becoming the first manufacturer outside of the medical device field to receive Emergency Use Authorization for ventilators during the coronavirus pandemic. It was able to retain many employees at a time when many of its customers’ factories were closed.