THE recent surge in COVID-19 infection rate will augur well for Sanichi Technology Bhd’s latest business venture.
The Senai, Johor-based mould manufacturer for the European automotive segment and a property developer in Malaysia has completed the research and development (R&D) phase of its medical grade mechanical air ventilators which will be distributed to local and overseas healthcare markets.
A ventilator is a machine that moves breathable air into and out of the lungs. It delivers breaths to a patient who is physically unable to breathe, or is breathing insufficiently.
“The progress of our air ventilator production is very timely as the number of COVID-19 cases around the world recorded are rapidly increasing, and significantly increasing the needs for air ventilators,” commented the company’s managing director Datuk Seri Dr Pang Chow Huat.
“Currently, we are expediting the application for the licensing and approval by the authority. We hope to commence mass production of our air ventilator as earliest possible to meet the demand of air ventilators both for domestic and international usage.”
Sanichi is expected to start mass production of its air ventilator and distribution within the next six months.
“Currently we have about 500 admission to intensive unit care (ICU) (as of May 7), out of which 216 of the patients had to be put under the assistant of an air ventilator to breathe,” observed Pang.
“We realise that the demand for air ventilators even for our domestic market are high based on the increasing number of admission into the ICU, hence we hope that our air ventilators supply could help ease the demand within the country.”
The global market for ventilators is expected to rise to US$3.02 bil by 2027 from US$1.05 bil in 2019 with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13.96%.
Demand for air ventilators will see a significantly increase with COVID-19 infection reaching 158 million worldwide.
The largest installed base of the ventilators is in the US which still has a requirement for 85,000 ventilators to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Various regulatory agencies across North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Latin America have modified their regulations and approval process for air ventilators.
Upon obtaining the necessary approval from the authority, Sanichi is expected to immediately start distribution of its air ventilators to the domestic market and other Asia Pacific countries before expanding its distribution to Europe and the US.
At the close of this morning’s trading session, Sanichi was up 2 sen or 7.02% to 30.5 sen with 6.48 million shares traded, thus valuing the company at RM428 mil. – May 12, 2021
