More companies adding N95 mask capacity in US

Medical mask suppliers Moldex-Metric Inc. and Medicom Group are expanding production in the U.S. to handle increased demand from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The companies join other manufacturers of N95 masks that are investing in additional capacity.

Moldex-Metric will spend more than $25 million to add N95 mask production at a new site in Lebanon, Tenn., officials said in a news release. Moldex-Metric is a protective equipment maker based in Culver City, Calif.

In Lebanon, Moldex-Metric will retrofit an exiting building. The expansion is expected to create more than 200 new jobs in the next three years. The firm also will build a distribution center on the 21-acre site.

Moldex-Metric worked with the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development on the project. The firm is the second-largest maker of N95 masks in North America and has been making similar products for almost 40 years, officials said.

"Having conducted an exhaustive search for a suitable site … Tennessee provided unique advantages to accomplish our expansion plans," President and CEO Mark Magidson said in the release. "It quickly became clear that Tennessee was the best location for our facility."

He added that, in addition to expanding capacity and adding a distribution facility, the location will place Moldex-Metric's products closer to many of its customers.

Montreal-based Medicom will triple the size of its existing production in Augusta, Ga., with a new factory there, officials said in a news release. The firm's Augusta site operates as United Medical Enterprise. Medicom is a global supplier of surgical and respiratory masks.

The new plant will have surgical and N95-type mask production equipment with updated technology, officials said. Several new machines are already on site and more are due to arrive in the coming weeks, they added in early October.

"Diversified supply has been a long-term strategy for Medicom," President and global Chief Operating Officer Guillaume Laverdure said in the release. "We are happy to announce that we will be quadrupling our production output in the U.S. to supply products that will help protect health care professionals for years to come."

He added that the firm chose to remain in Augusta because it has many long-term employees who have years of mask manufacturing expertise there.

In addition to the new U.S. site, Medicom this year has opened mask plants in Canada, the United Kingdom and Singapore and has added a second plant in France. The firm also has added capacity at established plants in France, China and Taiwan. Products made by Medicom include face masks, medical gowns and other protective apparel.

Global manufacturers Honeywell Inc. and 3M also both have increased production of N95 masks since the pandemic hit. Five of the six main components of 3M's N95 mask use some type of plastic. Its straps are made from thermoplastic elastomers, the nose foam is polyurethane and the filter is polypropylene fiber. The mask's shell and cover both are made of polyester.

Charlotte, N.C.-based Honeywell has added N95 production at plants in Phoenix and in Smithfield, R.I., as well as in the United Kingdom and United Arab Emirates. The firm was able to start production in Phoenix and Smithfield in five weeks in a process that could traditionally take up to nine months.

The N95 expansions in Phoenix and Smithfield have created more than 1,000 jobs. The plant in the UAE, which is operated along with aerospace firm Strata, also recently shipped mask No. 1 million.

St. Paul, Minn.-based 3M also has boosted N95 production. Since the pandemic began, the firm has delivered 800 million masks globally and 400 million in the U.S. 3M firm has doubled N95 mask production globally since January and is on track to increase that rate to 2 billion per year globally by the end of 2020.

In July, 3M made N95 masks at a rate of more than 50 million per month in the U.S., up from 35 million in March. The firm expects to hit a U.S. rate of 95 million per month this month.

Research organization Battelle of Columbus, Ohio, recently had its Critical Care Decontamination System (CCDS) pass filtration efficiency and fit-related evaluations through 20 cycles for two different 3M respirators.

Battelle's CCDS allows N95 masks to be reused. The process can decontaminate thousands of N95 respirators using concentrated, vapor phase hydrogen peroxide. The Battelle CCDS can decontaminate the same respirator multiple times without degrading N95 respirator performance.

According to a 3M technical bulletin, the firm evaluated multiple decontamination processes, including Battelle's, reviewing at least four key aspects of successful decontamination of respirators.

In a news release, Battelle President and CEO Lou Von Thaer said that the Battelle CCDS was developed in response to the 2014 Ebola outbreak, at the request of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The Battelle CCDS also has been found effective in studies conducted by Duke University and Massachusetts General Hospital. Battelle CCDS operations are in place at more than 40 U.S. sites. To date, those sites have decontaminated more than 1.8 million masks.

In the decontamination process, health care systems collect worn N95 masks each day. The masks then are labeled with a barcoded serial number for tracking chain of custody throughout the process. This procedure ensures that the hospital system receives its own respirators back. The entire process takes three to five days.