The announcement last week is the latest step that the non-profit organization has taken to ensure the supply of medicines that are currently in short supply or at risk of becoming so in the future.
To date, this has seen Civica Rx build a portfolio of 18 medications, through partnering and reaching agreements with various companies to supply the hospitals within its network.
According to the non-profit organization, it now represents over 1,200 hospitals, which amounts to 30% of hospital beds in the US.
The seven-year agreement with Thermo Fisher Scientific represents “a key component of Civica’s manufacturing strategy,” allowing the non-profit to build its internal pipeline of medications for emergency and critical care use in the US, the company stated.
Thermo Fisher will be responsible for manufacturing nine critical medications, which have been in short supply and where the supply chain is fragile. The decision on which medications to prioritize was taken by Civica’s advisory committees.
If the ANDAs supported by Thermo Fisher are approved, the nine medicines will add to the portfolio of products Civica Rx built up last year. The current portfolio is made up of drugs that have been the subject of supply disruptions.
Supplies of the antibiotic daptomycin, for example, have been affected by Pfizer’s decision to stop production and manufacturing delays at Sagent Pharmaceuticals. Similarly, the recall of bacitracin by Altaire affected supplies of the ophthalmic ointment.
The presence of other manufacturers of daptomycin dampened the impact of the changes to output at Pfizer and Sagent. However, there is less competition in the bacitracin market, meaning that the disruption at Altaire affected availability.
Previously, a spokesperson for the non-profit told us that it had been set up to serve as a “check against aggressive pricing behavior of generic drug manufacturers.”
The US Food and Drug Administration has also highlighted the importance of ‘quality’ manufacture in its own efforts to combat drug shortages.