We started Antheia four years ago with a steadfast commitment to help build a more robust drug supply chain – one that delivers the right medicines to the right people, at the right time. In the era of COVID-19, this work is more important than ever before.
COVID-19 has exposed the frailties of the international pharma supply chain and as the pandemic continues to spread, we are seeing the mounting consequences of not fixing it.
The government and pharmaceutical companies are already decades late in trying to shore up the drug supply chain, leading hospitals and healthcare providers to take matters into their own hands. In the US, hospitals are preparing for a second wave of COVID-19 infections this fall by creating their own drug stockpiles of sedatives, pain medicines and neuromuscular blockers, as doctors confront the reality that they can’t count on a timely, reliable supply of essential medicines.
To prepare for the next crisis, we need an entirely new approach to making life-saving medicines, an approach that gives the healthcare system control over the medicines patients need, including how much, when and where we make them. Today I published an article in STAT presenting a vision for a supply chain based on two new technologies I believe can change the trajectory of how medicines are made: synthetic biology and fermentation. If you’d like to discuss this piece further or learn more about our work here, please feel free to reach out: [email protected].