RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A Virginia-based company has won a massive federal contract to manufacture medicines needed to respond to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Department of Health and Human Services announced Tuesday it was awarding a contract worth up to $812 million to Richmond-based Phlow Corp., formed by two local doctors, to manufacture pharmaceutical ingredients, chemical compounds and generic drugs needed to soften or prevent drug shortages in the U.S.
HHS said a new facility will be built in Virginia and is part of an effort to enhance the U.S.’s supply chain of essential medicines.
Phlow is partnering with numerous organizations, including Virginia Commonwealth University’s Medicines for All Institute. The contract is worth $354 million over four years with options to extend the contract up to ten years for a total of $812 million.
“We believe this work can revolutionize America’s generic drug manufacturing model by enabling Phlow to produce affordable ingredients used to manufacture essential medicines in the U.S.,” said Dr. Frank Gupton, co-founder of Phlow, chair of Virginia Commonwealth University’s Department of Chemical and Life Science Engineering and CEO of the Medicines for All Institute, which was founded in 2017 with funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
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