Desktop Metal Has Major Contract with U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs

Desktop Metal, Inc., a company in additive manufacturing technologies for mass production, announces a 3-year, multimillion-dollar contract with the Veterans Health Administration to develop, test and manufacture various 3D printed healthcare products with a new FreeFoam material.

FreeFoam is being printed exclusively on the ETEC Xtreme 8K top-down DLP printing system, with commercial availability slated for 2023. ETEC is Desktop Metal’s industrial polymer brand.

FreeFoam is a new family of photopolymer resins from Desktop Metal containing heat-activated foaming agents that are 3D printed with Digital Light Processing (DLP). After printing, FreeFoam parts are briefly put into an oven where the foaming agent creates closed cells inside the material in a tightly controlled process.

The VA will receive an Xtreme 8K, as well as various other equipment, in addition to development and design support for the project. The initial contract award, for $2 million, has the potential to grow to $7 million after successful phase-gate deliveries.

“Desktop Metal is proud to partner with the Veterans Health Administration on this visionary project to advance health care, logistics, and decentralized manufacturing with our new 3D printing technology at production volumes,” says Ric Fulop, founder and CEO of Desktop Metal. “Our team is passionate about using Additive Manufacturing 2.0 technology such as our ETEC Xtreme 8K and FreeFoam material to transform the way manufacturing is done to deliver all-new benefits at scale.”

The project is part of a strategic effort by the Office of Advanced Manufacturing (OAM) within the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) to guide the use of advanced manufacturing (AM) technologies, like 3D printing, in healthcare applications. OAM is building digital and physical infrastructure to bring medical device innovation and manufacturing back onto VA soil, so that Veterans are in line to receive products and services.

OAM is focused on expanding product lines available to Veterans and is building a portfolio of technology capabilities to support this work. This requires investment into equipment, materials and research and development activities that align with OAM’s mission to advance point-of-care manufacturing to benefit veterans’ health.

Sources: Press materials received from the company and additional information gleaned from the company’s website.