Due to the huge shortage of PPE among first responders, healthcare workers and medical staff in the US, it is unlikely that import of KN95 will negatively impact sales of US-made N95 respirators, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

Alison Casey, Medical Devices Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “There is currently an unprecedented shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) such as N95 respirators in the US and companies such as 3M Co, Honeywell International, Owens & Minor and Prestige Ameritech are pushing their manufacturing capacity to the limit as they struggle to keep up.

“GlobalData estimates that sales of N95 respirators in US healthcare facilities more than doubled between December 2019 and January 2020 to surpass 50 million. Growth of this market then continued in February 2020 with approximately 77 million being sold”

“Improved accessibility to N95 and KN95 respirators will contribute to the overall growth of this medical device market, as well as speed up the rate at which the general public can regain access to equipment capable of protecting them from COVID-19.”