Ontario invests in medical supplies and homegrown innovations to curb COVID-19 spread

The Ontario government is offering $1.54 million through the Ontario Together Fund (OTF) to five local companies. These funds will support the more than $2.9 million investment made by the companies to manufacture medical supplies and develop innovations to control COVID-19 spread.

“The Ontario Together Fund continues to support domestic businesses through targeted investments that allow them to develop their ideas and solutions to help us through the pandemic,” said Vic Fedeli, Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade. “Ontario is proud to support these five companies, and we thank them for their innovations that are enhancing the province’s capacity to meet ongoing demands on our healthcare system and prepare for future challenges.”

Windsor-based PAPP Plastics & Distributing is an injection molded parts manufacturer with expertise in tier 1 automotive manufacturing, parts assembly and mold manufacturing. The company received $490,000 in support through OTF which supported its $971,830 investment to repurpose one of its facilities to manufacture injection-molded nasopharyngeal swabs.

Through this project, the company has the capacity to produce 1 million testing swabs per week.

Mitchell Plastics is a North American auto-parts manufacturer headquartered in Kitchener. The company invested $578,900 to retool a portion of its Canadian operations to manufacture nasopharyngeal swabs, which included converting a section of its facility into a clean-room environment. Ontario supported the investment with a contribution of $434,200 through OTF.

The company can produce 400,000 nasopharyngeal testing swabs per month.

McArthur Medical Sales in Rockton has developed and commercialized three products to assist hospitals in reducing the transmission of COVID 19 — Flusso By Pass, Flusso TFI and EXHALO Shield. These devices are used in collaboration with oxygen therapy systems and mechanical ventilators to improve patient care and reduce the spread of COVID-19, among other airborne contaminants.

The company received $379,000 through OTF to support its $798,000 investment to purchase manufacturing equipment and machinery to increase production by five times current capabilities.

AGS Zephyr, a company specializing in air purification, is investing over $350,000 into a novel air filtration project which will involve building prototypes, conducting trials and manufacturing the company’s Personal Zone Air Purifier (PZAP) product for restaurants, classrooms and commercial, industrial and retail applications.

The Ontario government is investing $88,750 through OTF to support the company during the development phase of their new product.

Synaptive Medical is a global medical device and technology company. The company has invented a drape concept to help keep CT scanners free from patient contamination.

Synaptive Medical is investing $205,400 to adapt the current CT drape design into a prototype that is compatible with MRI and O-arm scanners to help shield them from patient contamination, including COVID-19. Ontario is supporting the investment with a contribution of $153,300 through OTF.