Medical consultancy NovaMed inks deal as mask supplier
Published:Saturday | May 9, 2020 | 12:39 PMKarena Bennett - Business Reporter
One-year-old company NovaMed has inked a deal with Hong Kong-based DHB Global that will see the start-up medical consultancy transitioning to a producer of healthcare personal protective equipment, or PPE.
Under the deal finalised earlier this week NovaMed will have partial control of a facility that has the capability to produce over 20 million masks per month. Prior to its arrangement with DHB Global, NovaMed’s business was centred on connecting customers with suppliers of professional grade medical products and services.
Now, founding partners David Walcott and Kirk-Anthony Hamilton are looking to become suppliers of face masks throughout the wider Caribbean.
“Given the clear demand for these items and the fact that it’s very difficult for the Caribbean to get resources because of the hostile supply chain and the relatively small quantities that are demanded by Caribbean countries, we decided to enter a business relationship with DHB Global,” Walcott told the Financial Gleaner.
“Our role has transitioned from providing consultancy at a high level and access to global healthcare network, to getting involved in a more granular way in problem-solving in the Caribbean,” he said.
NovaMed is already suppling a local government institution with masks and is now making head way in several public and private institutions in Grenada, Guyana, Dominica, Suriname, Barbados and Haiti, Walcott said.
“Our mandate is: supply the Caribbean because they are facing procurement problems and the fact that we have invested in the production line, gives us greater control to secure the quantities that the Caribbean wants,” he said.
NovaMed’s investment in DHB Global was not disclosed.
DHB Global is an American-owned healthcare advisory company, which claims 25 years of experience in the Chinese market. The collective is said to have supplied a wide portfolio of personal protective equipment and test equipment to over 14 public and private health systems, including India, as well as large corporations.
Walcott says DHB utilises predictive algorithms to ensure that optimal delivery amounts are received in good time. The demand for PPE worldwide has set off a race for supplies globally, with reports, for example, of different states in the United States competing with each other and their own federal government to obtain PPE.
“Some items have been halted by customs, seized by other countries or sometimes poor quality is clearly noticeable on receipt. This is no surprise given such a chaotic and volatile supply chain environment,” Walcott said of the supply challenges generally.
As for life after COVID-19, Walcott said that while NovaMed has taken to the decision to invest in a mask-making line now, if there is a shift in product focus, the company has secured factory resources that can be deployed towards producing a limited range of other health care items.
“It’s likely that when this wave of personal protective equipment procurement is exhausted, we will shift into manufacturing products for which we believe there is a viable market,” he said.