Civica Rx, a hospital-owned generic drug company founded to manufacture drugs that have fallen into short supply, will start by buying drugs from pharmaceutical companies rather than making its own, according to Bloomberg.
In an effort to ease shortages of critical medications, Civica said in September that it planned to directly manufacture generic drugs or subcontract manufacturing. Now the company says it will start by serving as a "marketplace" for hospitals.
Civica plans to be the middleman for hospitals and drugmakers. It will survey demand for a set of 14 to 20 drugs deemed critical, and plans to boost supply by partnering with drugmakers.
The decision to start out as a marketplace rather than a drug manufacturer will save Civica the time of getting a plant up and running.
CivicaRx CEO Martin Van Trieste said the fastest solution was to reach out to various suppliers that have unused licenses and persuade them to re-enter the market.
Mr. VanTrieste told Bloomberg Civica has a three-step approach. First, sourcing from existing drug companies, then hiring contract manufacturers to make drugs and eventually buying or building its own manufacturing facilities.
The company is working to bring competition to the group purchasing organization market. Mr. VanTrieste said that while these organizations consolidated large groups of hospitals into more powerful buying groups, it simultaneously pushed drugmakers out of the market for some key drugs.
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