Korean children waiting for urgent heart surgeries will be able to get 20 artificial blood vessels from a U.S. manufacturer, the government said Monday.

The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety and the Ministry of Health and Welfare said W.L. Gore decided on Monday to immediately supply 20 artificial blood vessels for urgent surgeries for Korean pediatric patients.

Replying to the Korean government’s letter to discuss the schedule for visiting the company’s headquarters, Gore said it would provide 20 artificial vessels for the urgent Fontan procedures and discuss with the Korean government about the future supply as soon as possible.

“The company is said to supply the most urgent products, requested by the medical community. We will find out how long it will take. Since there is a local company that supplies some of Gore’s products, it will be able to import them immediately,” said Jeong Jin-yi, director of the Medical Device Policy Division at the food and drug safety ministry.

The government said it was coordinating the schedule to meet with Gore and that it would talk with the company to promptly resolve the problem of the supply shortage of artificial blood vessels.

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