Over $50M in federal funds are going to Virginia’s pharma manufacturing sector

Manufacturing in the Old Dominion state is getting a large boost in funds from the federal government to support new capabilities and training programs for essential generic medicines.

The US Department of Commerce announced that $52.9 million in grants will be going toward the Advanced Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (APM) Cluster in central Virginia. The funds are a part of the “Build Back Better Regional Challenge” a part of the American Rescue Plan, which is designed to help boost economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic and to place funding in underinvested areas.

The funds will go specifically toward the Virginia Biotechnology Research Partnership Authority, a part of Activation Capital, a Richmond-based science investment firm. Activation will craft the cluster in a corridor between Richmond and the city of Petersburg, VA. Activation Capital said that over $13 million in matched private and public funding will go toward the project as well.

The plan is for the APM Cluster to eventually increase the domestic supply of APIs, and according to the Department of Commerce, the money will go towards the expansion of two new facilities.

Specifically, according to Activation Capital, the funds will go towards constructing a development/scale-up center to accelerate the manufacturing and eventually commercialize possible lab discoveries, although the specifics of which were not fully given. Funds will also go toward constructing an innovation center with more wet lab space at Richmond’s Bio+Tech Park. The funds will also go toward local and regional economic development organizations to bring manufacturing facilities and jobs to the area.

The funding will also be used to develop new and joint degree programs between Virginia Commonwealth University and Virginia State University for developing training and programs to facilitate the pharma manufacturing sector.

Chandra Briggman

“Funding from the Build Back Better Regional Challenge will help the region create a secure supply of essential medicines for the U.S., re-shore manufacturing by tapping into new technologies, and reduce the cost and increase access to quality medicines for Americans,” said Activation Capital CEO Chandra Briggman in a statement.

This initiative is just one of several programs that will receive between $25 and $65 million in federal funds to implement new buildings and job projects.

Increasing API manufacturing in the US has also been a focus for governmental figures from Virginia. Last year, a bill introduced by Reps. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) and David McKinley (R-WV) would ensure the US has a stockpile of APIs needed to manufacture generics for several essential medicines. The bill ultimately aimed to curb any overreliance on API from other nations.

The Petersburg area as well has been a focus for development in manufacturing as Civica Rx announced last year that it had invested $124.5 million to build a 120,000-square-foot manufacturing operation and will eventually make vials and syringes of injectable medicines used for Covid-19 patient care, as well as drugs used in emergency rooms, surgeries, and the treatment of serious infections and hypertension.

manufacturing
generics
pharma