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.
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.
