Civica Rx To Invest $124.5 M for a Sterile Injectable Mfg Facility

Civica Rx, a non-profit pharmaceutical company providing drugs in shortage, has announced a $124.5-million investment to build a 120,000-square-foot sterile injectable manufacturing facility in Petersburg, Virginia.

Civica Rx was established in 2018 to reduce chronic generic drug shortages as a non-profit, non-stock, member-supported corporation committed to stabilizing the supply of essential generic medications in a hospital setting. The company is headed by President and Chief Executive Officer Martin VanTrieste, formerly Senior Vice President of Quality at Amgen.

Building its own manufacturing operation in the US has been a part of Civica’s supply strategy since it was founded by health systems and philanthropies to address drug shortages and ensure a supply of medicines at affordable prices. To date (as reported on January 21, 2021), Civica has worked with multiple generic drug manufacturers that produce Civica-labeled medications. Civica is also developing its own generic drugs for FDA approval to supplement these partnerships and help mitigate the risk of shortages. Civica serves over 50 health systems, representing more than 1,350 hospitals and over 30% of all licensed hospital beds in the U.S. To date, it has provided approximately 25 million vials or syringes of essential generic medications to hospitals. It has 41 different generic medications available for hospitals in multiple dosage forms and is building towards 100 drugs by 2023.

The new Civica Rx plant will include disposable technology and filling lines to produce 90 million vials and 50 million pre-filled syringes a year, steam sterilization capability, automated visual inspection and packaging lines, and controlled temperature warehousing of raw materials and finished medications.

Civica has initiated facility construction and expects to begin operations within three years (as reported on January 21, 2021). A plant leadership team is already on board, and hiring for the rest of the team members will begin this quarter (first quarter 2021) and continue over the next two years.

Civica is in a collaborator in an US government-funded partnership with Phlow Corporation, a Richmond, Virginia-based pharmaceutical manufacturing company, the Medicines for All Institute at Virginia Commonwealth University, and AMPAC Fine Chemicals (now part of SK pharmteco). Through this partnership, Phlow executed a $354-million contract with the US Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority to manufacture essential medications from beginning to end, including starting raw ingredients, active pharmaceutical ingredients, and finished dosage forms. Civica’s role is to produce finished dosage medications in vials and syringes for Civica member hospitals and for the US Strategic National Stockpile.

Source: Civica Rx

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