Smiths Medical partners with U.S. government on COVID-19 vaccine efforts

July 20, 2020

Smiths Medical, a medical device manufacturer, announced a strategic public-private partnership with Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), part of the U.S. Health and Human Services Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, and the Department of Defense’s Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear Defense (JPEO-CBRND). The partnership expands capacity at the Smiths Medical facility in Keene, New Hampshire, for production of integrated hypodermic needle and syringe products to support the government’s COVID-19 vaccination efforts.

Smiths Medical has received an order through our authorized distributor Marathon Medical’s BARDA IDIQ agreement for 78.6 million syringe and needle units. In addition, BARDA, in collaboration with JPEO-CBRND, will invest $20 million into a $38 million capital expansion project to further expand Smiths Medical’s production operations in Keene, New Hampshire. The partnership will increase Smiths Medical’s needle production capacity by 125 million units per year. The federal government will have priority access to this expanded capacity for vaccination efforts dedicated to COVID-19, flu vaccines, and future pandemics.

Smiths Medical’s EDGE Safety Hypodermic Devices technology combines the benefits of an advanced safety hypodermic needle with the dead space profile of a conventional needle. The Needle-Pro EDGE hypodermic needle offers the lowest dead space, compared to leading hypodermic safety needle devices, helping to ensure dosage accuracy and less wasted medication – while helping to prevent needlestick injuries.

Read the Smiths Medical release.

More COVID-19 coverage HERE.