Newport News biomedical company dives into face mask production, fights against fake masks

Trevor Metcalfe / The Virginian-Pilot

Each mask box includes a QR code that customers can scan to access the in-house filtration testing results for that batch of masks.

Trevor Metcalfe / The Virginian-Pilot

From left, ivWatch employees Renato Abrill and Holly Novak perform a visual quality inspection on the company's new line of disposable face masks.

Trevor Metcalfe / The Virginian-Pilot

ivWatch's manufacturing machine creates the masks through various customizable modules. Here, modules attach the straps and create the first fold in the masks, among other tasks.

A Newport News medical device company has jumped into the face mask game with a plan to combat the fake, low-quality mask industry that has popped up during the coronavirus pandemic.

ivWatch, a maker of IV monitoring equipment and other medical devices, recently unveiled a new line of face masks and N95 respirators. The company also created a system it calls vQuality that allows customers to see the filtration test results from every mask it produces.

"Let's expose our own customers to all of our quality data that was used in making that product, and they can make a choice," said Gary Warren, ivWatch president and CEO.

At the company's Newport News production facility, the machine that makes the masks is relatively small — about the size of large car. The raw elements flow through different segments of the machine — such as a welder that attaches the straps, a folder that pleats the material and a cutter that gives it shape — in a matter of seconds to become a finished mask.

Right now, the machine is making around 900 to 1,000 masks an hour, said Jaclyn Lautz, ivWatch chief operating officer. They plan to increase its capacity to 20,000 per eight-hour shift, and eventually add a second and third shift of mask-making.

The decision to expand into masks came around the time the pandemic began truly affecting the country last April, Warren said. COVID-19 had an almost counterintuitive effect on hospitals and other medical industry clients, he said. Procedures, surgeries and admissions not related to the virus dried up as his clients either had their activities limited by state orders or curtailed them as a safety precaution and because patients had become wary of hospitals. That meant fewer clients were buying his monitoring products, which make sure IVs stay in veins and administer needed fluids or medicine.

The company is betting on the need for masks continuing for the foreseeable future. Even with vaccine administration picking up in the U.S., Warren said virus variants and other complications mean people will still choose to use face masks in the coming months.

The standard ivWatch face mask blocks out more than 98% of 0.1 micron aerosolized saline particles, according to ivWatch testing. The company's N95 respirator is ready to go, and is in the midst of gaining approval from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

The company is marketing the masks to individual consumers, retailers and wholesalers, said spokesperson Erin Wendell. Consumers can buy the masks at blox.ivwatch.com, and Wendell said the companies hopes to have the masks stocked in stores soon. The N95 respirators will be aimed at the company's traditional clients in the health care field.

Each face mask box contains a QR code that, when scanned, displays the filtration test data from that mask batch. Warren said he was personally frustrated with the proliferation of substandard and counterfeit masks that had popped up in the wake of the pandemic and wanted to put that test information in the hands of every consumer.

As part of the expansion into masks, the company has also added 10 to 15 new positions during the past few months, Lautz said. Those manufacturing positions pay anywhere from $15 an hour to $80,000 to $90,000 annually, Warren said. The company plans to hire more workers as it ramps up mask production.

Trevor Metcalfe, 757-222-5345, [email protected]

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