SECO, a leading company in the hi-tech sector, specializing in computer miniaturization, backed by FII Tech Growth managed by Fondo Italiano d’Investimento SGR, today announced a partnership with IBD, an innovative Italian company operating in the biomedical market, for the development of Respira, a new non-invasive pulmonary ventilator created in response to the current health emergency of the COVID-19 pandemic.

SECO’s technological capabilities in combination with IBD’s knowledge and competencies in the medical sector, have brought Respira to life. Respira is a compact and portable high-flux, pulmonary ventilator for patients with COVID-19-related pneumonia in both domestic and hospital environments. The new ventilators, which bypass the need for invasive intubation, are equipped with touchscreen displays for easy and intuitive use.

“It gives me great pride that in such difficult times two Italian industry leaders like SECO and IBD have brought together their technological competencies to provide a tangible contribution to the healthcare system and its patients, through an innovative, non-invasive and portable solution for pulmonary ventilation,” said Massimo Mauri, Chief Executive Officer for SECO.

Established in 2014, IBD designs and develops biomedical devices with the goal of innovating on portability, user-friendliness for healthcare personnel and patients, for both domestic and hospital applications. Following the concepts of “Less is More” and Lean Startup, IBD has developed, in a timely fashion and with limited resources, extremely innovative biomedical devices,” said Dr. Corrado Ghidini, Managing Director of IBD. “As Italy has always been a leader in the biomedical field, and the partnership with SECO provides the perfect complement for the realization of an industrial plan that can contribute in relaunching Italy on a global scale.”

In addition to ventilating patients affected by COVID-19 without intubation, Respira can also be used in immunodepression cases as well as those that require oxygenation in both pre-and post-intensive care. Deliveries for the new pulmonary ventilators are expected between late May and early June 2020.

Assisted pulmonary ventilation is considered by most to be the only effective therapy for those patients affected by COVID-19-related respiratory deficiency. The innovative ventilators developed by SECO and IBD will contribute in increasing the availability of these fundamental medical devices, currently only available in limited amounts, at very high prices and exclusively used by intubated patients in ICUs.