Next Generation Manufacturing Canada (NGen), the industry-led organization behind Canada’s advanced manufacturing supercluster, has announced an additional $6 million in funding for projects dedicated to fighting the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada.

To date, NGen has supported a total of 19 such projects amounting to $27 million. Three companies are the latest recipients of cash from NGen, which has committed to investing $50 million to support building a Canadian supply of critically needed technologies, equipment and medical devices to aid in the fight against COVID-19. The companies and their awards are:

• Cloud DX (Kitchener, Ontario), $1.75 million to develop Pulsewave 2.0, a software solution to remotely monitor COVID-19 patients with non-acute symptoms who have been sent home from the hospital but may require virtual care at home to fully recover. “Once production begins, Pulsewave 2.0 will be one of the only Health Canada-authorized medical devices that simultaneously gathers heart rate, respiration rate and blood pressure remotely from patients at home,” said Cloud DX CEO Robert Kaul in a news release. “Our solution is one key to helping Canadian healthcare providers monitor thousands of COVID-19 presumptive patients day after day, and to facilitating COVID-19 recovery by helping doctors to quickly identify and focus on those patients whose conditions have worsened.”
• Exacad (Boisbriand, Quebec), $1.8 million for new equipment to increase production of advanced plastic medical molds to produce the plastic consumables needed for rapid diagnostics related to COVID-19. “Shortage of plastic consumables for rapid diagnostics is one of the major issues facing Canada in its COVID-19 response,” said Exacad president Francois Tremblay. “Exacad is well-positioned to meet this need by providing the molds that will be critical for the deployment of medical diagnostics and treatments for Canada’s current and future demand.”
• Myant (Toronto), $2.5 million to manufacture and deploy its textile-based wearable health monitoring system, called Skiin, to enable remote detection and triaging of COVID-19 symptoms. “By enabling patients to be remotely triaged and monitored on a continuous basis via biometrics captured by Skiin garments, Myant hopes to help the healthcare system optimize their resources for COVID-19 screening and keep patients connected to care in a time where physically travelling to a care facility may mean increased risk of exposure,” said Myant CEO Tony Chahine.

“During an unprecedented and challenging time, Canada’s advanced manufacturing companies have really stepped up to the plate and developed innovative solutions that will save lives and improve healthcare,” added NGEN CEO Jayson Myers. “Every single one of these new manufacturing technologies will not only meet the immediate demands of the COVID-19 pandemic, but also build world leading capabilities in Canadian manufacturing innovation that will support the future well-being and economic prosperity of Canadians as we move forward.”