The Departments of Defense (DoD) and Health and Human Services (HHS) awarded $69.3 million to CONTINUUS Pharmaceuticals Inc. last week to support the development of domestic production capability for critical medicines using integrated continuous manufacturing (ICM) technology.
ICM is a proprietary technology of CONTINUUS, which uses a fully-automated, small-footprint facility to create rapid, on-demand production of medicines from critical active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) to final dosage form medicines. CONTINUUS will use the funds to commercialize this technology and onshore the production of three critical APIs, as well as their final dosage forms.
The effort attracted federal attention since critical APIs and their starting materials are traditionally sourced overseas. Such supply chains became gravely strained during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic — an issue, given that some of these medicines are currently used to treat critically ill COVID-19 patients.
Working through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Securities (CARES) Act, the two federal departments sought to create a new, U.S.-focused manufacturing logistics capability. This could potentially shield the country from future supply chain disruption abroad and allow for more efficient delivery of medical countermeasures.