Product Innovation
We are investing in key innovators and manufacturers to research, develop and lab test fit-for-purpose oxygen concentrators in accordance with UNICEF’s industry-validated Target Product Profile (TPP).
Today’s oxygen concentrators aren’t suited to the environments and realities of health facilities in low-resource settings. In these contexts, they tend to break down due to the hot, humid, and dusty conditions and inconsistent electricity. In addition, they consume a lot of power and are hard for health workers to use and repair.
Innovating through research & development
The CoLab funds two stages of research & development to accelerate innovation of concentrator devices in line with UNICEF’s industry-validated Target Product Profile (TPP) - which has defined what the ideal product for low-resource settings should look like:
Existing products from manufacturers who are able to demonstrate the ability to have a product ready to meet the requirements of UNICEF’s Advanced Purchase Commitment for oxygen concentrators for low resource settings.
Next generation devices from product innovators with strong prototypes that are, by design, fit-for-purpose for low-resource settings.
Our current R&D portfolio:
To complement our R&D efforts, we are also funding lab testing of:
Existing products manufactured in different countries, at different price points, to rigorously test how they perform against the TPP. This will help us understand what manufacturers will need to improve to meet the TPP.
New innovations coming to market that meet the TPP requirements to see their potential.
The insights from lab testing will be shared across the sector as a global good, with the aim of advising key actors such as large donors, global health partners and governments, and to inform future purchasing.
Learning in the lab
These areas of focus are based on the CoLab’s early engagement with industry, entrepreneurs, donor community, academia, biomedical engineers and clinicians since 2020:
We fostered unprecedented collaboration between typically siloed oxygen actors by engaging with 100+ oxygen experts, running six global workshops, and providing networked learning with 20 innovators. This directly informed UNICEF’s Target Product Profile for oxygen concentrators.
Together, we identified the latest innovations in development and enabled a path to market through grant-funding for product innovators.
We also brought together specialists from across the oxygen ecosystem to explore the causes of oxygen concentrator breakdowns and understand the innovations required, working with SparkHealth to identify and recommend the specific modifications needed to devices already on the market to make them user friendly for LMICs.
How we got here
Key Resources and insights from the CoLab network
UNICEF’s Target Product Profile (TPP) for oxygen concentrators
Design for Oxygen Concentrator Usability in Under-Resourced Healthcare Settings: An evidence-based guide to designing oxygen concentrators, humidifier bottles, and flow splitters to address the oxygen gap in healthcare settings in low and middle-income countries.
How catalytic R&D funding to Drive Devilbiss and Kröber Medizintechnik supported their ongoing efforts to develop the next generation of oxygen concentrator that is designed for LMICs
Insights from the Oxygen CoLab Meet-up series:
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