by Lisa Derby Oden, Project Development Coordinator, MassMEP
Baril Corporation and ViruDefense, Inc. were working on another project together when Pieter Muntendam, MD, Founder of ViruDefense, told Daniel Baril, CEO of Baril Corporation, that he believed the U.S. was headed for a pandemic. That was in early February, and that put these two companies ahead of the curve for ramping up production of N95-F masks.
Baril Corporation, located in Haverhill, is an end-to-end contract manufacturer of disposable medical products in infection protection, wound care, clinical chemistry, patient monitoring, and medical and surgical disposables. In addition to being QSR-GMP compliant and ISO 13485, ISO 9001, and ISO 14644 Class 7 Clean Room certified, Baril is MDSAP-certified (Medical Device Single Audit Program) and holds itself to a higher quality standard. With a US-based supply chain, rapid prototyping capabilities, deep engineering expertise, and available capacity, Baril is well positioned to pivot quickly to meet market demand.
Together, the two companies are developing the high-capacity, U.S.-based manufacturing capabilities of surgical N95-F respirator masks. These masks combine the filtration capabilities of N95 masks with the fluid resistance of surgical masks. Because they were ahead of the curve, Baril Corp. was able to secure the needed raw materials to manufacture in excess of 10 million respirator masks with commercial production by June 2020. The initial capacity is expected to be in excess of 250,000 per week. Subject to the availability of capital to increase production capacity, this number is expected to rapidly grow to 1 million respirators per week by Q3.
Dan Baril provides insight into what the past few weeks have been like. “We’ve been able to retain our workforce to date, and will probably be adding new employees as we ramp up production of the N95-F masks. Certainly during these past several weeks, everything is more challenging, from getting raw materials, to making sure employees stay healthy, to coordinating with shipping companies, to getting widget parts for machines from smaller companies.” And as to the future he adds, “We’ve seen other viruses similar to this in the past, H1N1 and SARS for example. When things settle down, it is my hope that the U.S. will take a close look at supply chain. Our ability to address an event like this could be different.”
For more information about Baril Corporation, please visit www.barilcorp.com.
Thank you Baril Corporation for your foresight with ViruDefense and proactive measures to take on COVID-19.