Trump administration sanctions $812 million for Covid-19 drug development
May 20, 2020 14:47(Image source from: richmond.com)
With the world in a situation of uncertainty, the last thing that President Donald Trump wants is to rely on other countries for the drug supple for the Covid-19 treatment.
To reduce the dependence on foreign supply for the critical medicals for coronavirus, the Trump administration has sanctioned $812 million to a newly formed US company that is responsible for the development and production of the Covid-19 drugs.
The coronavirus pandemic has left US to be heavily dependent on US and India for drugs and pharmaceutical supplies. It is dependent for the APIs or the raw ingredients that are needed for the development of the drugs.
The US Department of Health and Human Services reported on Tuesday that the country has already sanctioned a four year, $354 million contract to the privately held Phlow Corp for the manufacturing of the essential drugs along with their ingredients.
The contract is believed to come with an extension for 10 years amounting to a whopping $812 million.
"For far too long, we've relied on foreign manufacturing and supply chains for our most important medicines and active pharmaceutical ingredients while placing America's health, safety, and national security at grave risk," said Peter Navarro, director of the White House Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy.
Phlow further echoed with the statement made by Navarro stating that US’ drug supple chain is either broken or heavily reliant on foreign supplies for even the most of the generic medications.
The drug company, which came into existence in January 2020 reported that the funding is going to help the company contribute to the national stockpile of APIs and have already started working on the ingredients for faster results and for finished dosage that are needed for the salient treatment of the Covid-19 patients in US.
Phlow has also reported that they have already supplied over 1.5 million doses of the five generic medications that are being administered to the Covid-19 patients for recovery. With the reduced supply of these medications during this time of the pandemic, it is not surprising that the production is on the rise.
Majority and over 80% of the pharmaceutical needs of US are manufactured overseas. The manufacturing of the pharmaceutical needs of US, is going to affect the foreign supply chain.
Phlow has also partnered up with other groups including Ampac Fine Chemicals, Civica Rx etc. for seamless production and manufacturing in no time at all.
All the pharmaceutical products made by Phlow is going to be done in the US. The company is also working on building advanced manufacturing capabilities in Virginia along with more or the sterile injectables manufacturing units.
By Somapika Dutta