The five-year partnership will see Hikma Pharmaceuticals supply Civica Rx’s membership of over 800 US hospitals with medications that are ‘often in short supply.’
The details of the 14 sterile injectable medications that Hikma will produce were not divulged during the announcement, but Civica stated that the list will be publicly revealed in the ‘near future.’
Civica’s membership will begin receiving shipments of the products before the end of 2019.
The non-profit organization is working to alleviate the shortages faced by the US health care system, which led the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to set up a specialist task force to prevent supply issues.
Working with generic drug manufacturers is part of Civica’s strategy to ensure that supply is guaranteed for hospitals within its network. In May, it announced its first agreement with a manufacturer, signing an agreement with Xellia Pharmaceuticals for the supply of two antibiotics.
The second part of its strategy will be to develop or acquire abbreviated new drug applications and then work with a contract manufacturing organization (CMO) to ensure supply.
The organization also has plans to buy or build its own dedicated manufacturing network of facilities.
Previously, Civica had stated that its aim was to secure the supply of 14 generic medicines by the end of 2019 – between the two partnership already signed, it has managed 16 products with over five months of the year left to run.
For Hikma’s part of the relationship, the company’s EVP of commercial & business development for US Injectables, Daniel Motto, said, “This agreement recognizes both our ability to deliver a large and consistent supply of quality medicines, and the significant investments we have made to expand our injectable manufacturing capacity and capabilities.”
According to the company, Hikma is the third largest US supplier of generic injectable medicines, with a portfolio containing over 100 injectable products.