Antheia, a pharmaceutical ingredient manufacturer, has secured a $12m grant from the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for critical pharmaceutical ingredients production.
The funding comes through the Defense Production Act (DPA) Title III Program and the Biopharmaceutical Manufacturing Preparedness Consortium (BioMaP-Consortium).
This two-year government project agreement is intended to accelerate the domestic biomanufacturing of critical pharmaceutical ingredients.
The latest grant follows Antheia’s $17m funding from the BioMaP-Consortium and other private investors in July.
Antheia’s advanced biomanufacturing technology provides a domestic solution to address drug shortages in the US. This enhances national security, economic stability, and public health.
The newly announced project, funded by HHS’ DPA Title III Program, will enable the manufacturer to produce a key pharmaceutical ingredient domestically, scaling up to commercial levels.
Antheia CEO and co-founder Christina Smolke said: “This agreement further cements the role of biomanufacturing as the advanced manufacturing technology of the future that can secure, onshore, and transform vital supply chains that our society relies on.
“We are proud to receive a second project agreement from the BioMaP-Consortium and look forward to working with this team to achieve our shared vision for pharma in the US.”
The BioMaP-Consortium supports the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), part of the US Department of HHS’ Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR).
The consortium includes industry partners across the drug and vaccine manufacturing supply chain, such as raw material manufacturers, innovative technology developers, and fill-finish service suppliers.
Antheia uses its whole-cell engineering approach that allows the reconstruction of complex biosynthetic pathways in yeast cells, scaling fermentation processes to commercial levels.
This flexible, on-demand biomanufacturing platform offers agile, resilient production of critical pharmaceutical ingredients, surpassing outdated methods that cannot meet modern healthcare demands.
Last month, the pharmaceutical ingredient manufacturer delivered its first commercial order of thebaine to a pharmaceutical customer.
