President Donald Trump this week signed a four-year, $345 million contract with Phlow, a little-known generic drugmaker that was founded less than six months ago, to manufacture drugs for the national medication stockpile.
Seven things to know about Phlow:
- The company was founded in January and is based in Richmond, Va., according to Business Insider. Though it was founded less than six months ago, a spokesperson for the company told Biopharma Dive it has been talking with government officials about the U.S. pharmaceutical supply for more than a year.
- Phlow describes itself as a "public benefit pharmaceutical manufacturing company." It says its goals are to make low-cost, high-quality generic drugs for the U.S. to reduce its reliance on foreign supply chains. The company said it uses a technique called advanced continuous manufacturing that allows it to reduce its reliance on active pharmaceutical ingredients from China and India.
- Phlow has yet to manufacture any drugs, and it's unclear when it plans to start, according to Politico. A Phlow spokesperson told Biopharma Dive that its first facility should be operational within the next 12 months.
- Phlow said all of its drug products will be made in the U.S., and all prices will be completely transparent.
- Phlow CEO Eric Edwards has faced scrutiny for previous ventures, according to STAT, including for another company he founded in 2018 called Kaleo. The company became the focus of a 2018 U.S. Senate investigation after it abruptly raised the price of an opioid overdose treatment by more than 600 percent.
- Mr. Edwards told Politico the company was originally meant to produce pediatric drugs before the COVID-19 pandemic presented the need to develop drugs for the strategic national stockpile of drugs, such as antibiotics and medicines used for ventilator support and pain.
- Phlow's board of directors includes several longtime healthcare executives, including Martin VanTrieste, CEO of Civica Rx.