Friday, April 3, 2020
As medical professionals around the country battle COVID-19, Hoosier companies are pulling together to provide a variety of resources in this time of need.
Gov. Eric Holcomb recently announced that the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC) has spoken to more than 1,000 businesses about ways to continue supporting the state’s economy and COVID-19 response workers.
The IEDC says more than 135 companies have been fully vetted and identified as being able to help, including RV and auto manufacturers that are switching lines to help make shields, masks and other Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). Multiple companies, such as Subaru, Heritage Group and Summit MMI, have also come together to donate thousands of PPE.
Eli Lilly and Company is partnering with the Indiana State Department of Health (ISDH), with support from the U.S. Food & Drug Administration’s (FDA), to accelerate testing in Indiana for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Lilly will use its specialized research laboratories to analyze samples taken in Indiana health care facilities, including nursing homes and emergency rooms.
The Lilly Endowment Inc. has also awarded $5 million to the state of Indiana that will be used to establish a center in Indianapolis where homeless individuals who test positive for COVID-19 can be quarantined.
Roche Diagnostics, which received the FDA's first emergency use authorization for a commercially developed COVID-19 test, has also begun deploying tests to hospitals and research laboratories across the country. The company plans to ship 400,000 tests per week to U.S. test sites, including from its global distribution center in Indianapolis.
General Motors and Ventec Life Systems are working around the clock to meet the urgent need for more ventilators. Efforts to begin manufacturing at the GM Kokomo facility are now underway. Ventec and GM are poised to deliver the first ventilators this month and ramp up to a manufacturing capacity of more than 10,000 critical care ventilators per month with the infrastructure and capability to scale further. Toyota Motor Manufacturing Indiana is also shifting its manufacturing facilities to produce face shields for local hospitals.
Fort Wayne businesses and community organizations are teaming up with Parkview Health to make PPE for Indiana health care providers throughout the COVID-19 outbreak. Berry Global in Evansville also plans to produce 75,000 face shields a week.
Further, Hoosier distilleries like Hotel Tango and Cardinal Spirits are switching over to manufacturing hand sanitizers for organizations and people in need.
If you believe that you or your company have medical supplies on hand that can be used in response to the pandemic; can produce medical supplies that can be used in response; or have any other ways to contribute, please contact covidresponse@iedc.in.gov.
Information on Indiana's businesses in action against COVID-19 will continue to be updated here.
