Pharmaceutical manufacturer Civica Inc. will invest $124.5 million to establish its first in-house pharmaceutical manufacturing operation in Petersburg, Virginia. The company plans to create 186 new jobs.
Civica is a nonprofit generic drug company launched in 2018 to address the problem of chronic generic drug shortages and high drug prices, and a key partner for the new U.S. government-funded partnership with Phlow Corporation, Medicines for All Institute, and AMPAC Fine Chemicals.
Through this partnership, Phlow executed a $354 million contract with the U.S. Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) to produce essential medications using advanced manufacturing processes from the Medicines for All Institute based at the College of Engineering at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU).
“With its welcoming partnerships, central location along I-95, and growing life sciences workforce, we are thrilled to build our new facility in Virginia,” said Martin VanTrieste, President and CEO of Civica. “In addition, our partnership and co-manufacturing location with Phlow and AMPAC will be instrumental in our efforts to simplify what is typically a very complex supply channel. This is a dream come true for Civica and our hospital partners as we work together to stabilize the supply of quality medicines for patients across the country.”
As part of this initiative, Civica will construct a 120,000-square-foot state-of-the-art manufacturing facility on Normandy Drive adjacent to Phlow’s future operation and AMPAC’s existing facility. The Civica plant will manufacture vials and syringes of injectable medicines used for COVID-19 patient care, emergency rooms, surgeries, and the treatment of serious infections and hypertension, which will be shipped to hospitals across the country.
“Over the last decade, many essential medicines have not been available when patients need them most, and the COVID-19 pandemic has further revealed significant vulnerabilities in our U.S. medical supply chain,” said Eric Edwards, MD, PhD, Co-Founder, President, and CEO of Phlow Corporation. “We are thrilled to be a part of a unique partnership between Civica Rx, VCU’s Medicines for All Institute, and AMPAC Fine Chemicals to develop an advanced pharmaceutical manufacturing campus in Central Virginia that will provide a comprehensive, end-to-end solution. This announcement brings us one step closer to our goal of helping to ensure every American will have access to the essential medicines necessary to sustain life and conquer disease for decades to come.”
The Virginia Economic Development Partnership (VEDP) worked with the City of Petersburg, Virginia’s Gateway Region, and the Community College Workforce Alliance to secure the project for Virginia. Governor Ralph Northam approved a $5.7 million grant from the Commonwealth’s Opportunity Fund to assist Petersburg with the project. The company is also eligible to receive benefits from the Port of Virginia Economic and Infrastructure Development Zone Grant Program.
“Virginia’s Gateway Region is known for advanced manufacturing, and we are thrilled that critical pharmaceutical ingredients for Americans will be produced right here in Petersburg, the heart of the Gateway,” said Keith Boswell, President and CEO of Virginia’s Gateway Region Economic Development Organization. “We look forward to partnering with Civica to support this growing cluster and bring jobs back to Virginia.”
