A prototype of a locally developed ventilator, equipped with all features available in imported ones, was handed over to the Innovation and Testing Centre (I&TC) of the Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC) on Thursday. The centre will test the prototype called AVB-100 for nearly two weeks as clinical trials will be carried out and then pass it over to the Drug Regulatory Authority Pakistan (Drap) for approval as registered medical equipment fit for use in Pakistan, an official statement said. Brig Tariq Javed, leading the PEC’s testing centre along with his team of engineers, visited the Research and Development Centre where the ventilator was designed and developed along with its software development. The team was briefed about the features of the medical equipment and the process of design and development. They also visited the ventilator manufacturing facility that has been set up in its factory in Karachi’s SITE area. The team visited the manufacturing process and inquired about the capacity of the group. Abdul Rehman Allana, chairman of Alsons Group, a leading precision engineering company which developed the ventilator, said the imported ventilators cost between Rs4.5 million to Rs6 million due to Covid-19 pandemic but the local ventilators which they have developed would be available in the market at around Rs1.5 million. “This ventilator has all features and reliability similar to the imported equipment offered to the patients,” he added.