Antheia Announces New Funding to Support Domestic Production of Critical Pharmaceutical Ingredients
Company awarded government project agreement to onshore key pharmaceutical supply chains, alongside strategic investment from In-Q-Tel and Echo
Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken Tours Antheia, Discusses the Importance of Biotechnology Innovation in the United States
Visit demonstrates U.S. commitment to bolstering the domestic biotechnology industry and onshoring critical supply chains, including pharmaceuticals Menlo Park, Calif., May 6, 2024 – Antheia, the pharmaceutical ingredient manufacturer transforming essential medicine supply chains, today hosted Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken for a tour of its state of the art labs, as well as a discussion on biotechnology innovation and leadership in the United States. During his visit, Secretary Blinken met with a panel of industry and policy experts from Atomic AI, Ginkgo Bioworks, MycoWorks, Stanford University, and Twist Bioscience. The discussion was moderated by Christina Smolke, Ph.D., CEO and co-founder at Antheia and focused on the critical role of biotechnology to U.S. national and economic security, the need for strong international partnerships to develop solutions for global good, and the urgency to maintain U.S. leadership in this critical emerging technology. “We are grateful to Secretary Blinken for his time and attention today, as well as the U.S. government’s continued commitment to advancing biotechnology and biomanufacturing,” said Dr. Smolke, CEO and co-founder, Antheia. “With the ongoing support of both the public and private sectors, a future with resilient, sustainable pharmaceutical supply chains, minimal disruptions to critical drug supplies, and equitable access to essential medicines for all is well-within reach.” On September 12, 2022, President Biden issued Executive Order 14081, “Advancing Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Innovation for a Sustainable, Safe, and Secure American Bioeconomy.” According to the White House, “global industry is on the cusp of an industrial revolution powered by biotechnology.” As part of the scope of the biomanufacturing executive order, the Department of State is working to promote and protect U.S. technologies and the global bioeconomy. By Antheia’s estimates, advanced biomanufacturing can enable domestic production of over 50 percent of the key starting materials (KSMs) and active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) underlying essential medicines at a fraction of the time and cost of conventional manufacturing. Antheia’s first product, thebaine, is a key ingredient used in the production of several drugs on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the World Health Organization’s Essential Medicines lists. Antheia’s processes have been validated at scale, demonstrating this technology’s viability, commercial-readiness, and societal impact. About AntheiaAntheia is the next-generation pharmaceutical ingredient producer transforming essential medicine supply chains to end drug shortages. Using its novel whole-cell engineering approach, Antheia’s biomanufacturing platform enables the reconstruction of biosynthetic pathways of unprecedented complexity in yeast cells and the scaling of fermentation processes to commercial levels. This highly flexible approach enables on-demand, agile, and resilient biomanufacturing of critical pharmaceutical ingredients, replacing legacy approaches that cannot support the needs of modern healthcare. For more information, visit www.antheia.bio. MEDIA CONTACT: Mission North for [email protected]
Secretary of State Antony Blinken visits the Bay Area
Antony Blinken tours Antheia biotech lab, emphasizing its potential to address nationwide medicine shortages by overcoming supply chain issues with advanced bio-technology
Antheia and Olon Continue Partnership for Biomanufacturing Antheia’s Pipeline of KSMs and APIs for Essential Medicines
Antheia and Olon established this partnership in 2022 to leverage Olon’s fermentation sites across Italy. Olon has since played a pivotal role as a CDMO for scaling Antheia’s biomanufacturing processes and producing its Biosynthetic KSMs (key starting materials) and APIs.
Antheia’s 2023 in Review: A Year Of Transformation
Dear colleagues, friends, and supporters: As we approach 2024, we want to take a moment to look back over an absolutely astounding year of progress for our business and give thanks to the many who made it possible. Nearly a decade of hard work culminated in an industry-first achievement here at Antheia. In August, we announced our first successful commercial-scale fermentation run of our debut product, thebaine. For Antheia, it represented a moment in our history where an entirely new model for pharmaceutical supply chains was proven viable. This achievement also marked an industry inflection point, heralding a new frontier of scalable biomanufacturing of highly engineered microbial organisms with 25-30 complex, heterologous biosynthetic steps and more than 20 enzymes. Over this past decade, we’ve taken this scientific innovation from theory, to lab bench, to viable commercial production. With this year’s debut of our first products in a pipeline of 70+ key starting materials (KSMs) and active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), we’ve only just scratched the surface of what’s possible in terms of using this platform to produce critical pharma ingredients for essential medicines. As early pioneers in this field and stewards of this proven and scaled technology, our determination to bring this biomanufacturing solution to the world has only grown with this year’s progress. The need and urgency for this solution persists; this year the healthcare industry faced relentless shortages in critical drug classes, including central nervous system therapies, antimicrobials, fluids/electrolytes, hormones, and chemotherapies, while the pharmaceutical industry continued to struggle to resolve these shortages in a timely and effective manner. Over the past five years, we’ve seen the occurrence of new molecule shortages triple, with a striking 84% of the drugs in shortage being generics. Combined with the persistence of up to 50 new drug shortages annually and an average shortage duration of 1.5 years, pharma supply chains underpin a dire situation in healthcare that demands immediate attention and comprehensive resolution. Fortunately, we see a brighter future. Our estimates show that more than 50% of the drugs on the U.S. FDA Essential Medicines list can be made via biomanufacturing technology. With this reality now within reach more than ever before, the U.S. – and more broadly, the world – is quickly realizing the potential of synthetic biology as an advanced, and much-needed manufacturing solution. Just this year, we were proud to contribute to The National Action Plan for U.S. Leadership in Biotechnology. The plan outlines a series of policy recommendations with the end goal being an “agile, rapidly-scalable, distributed biomanufacturing base that efficiently produces the majority of essential medicines and makes affordable medicines available to everyone who needs them.” As further legislative efforts have – and continue to – emerge, we are encouraged to see the industry and the U.S. government moving in the same direction, toward the same shared goal: to capture the full potential of synthetic biology and unlock solutions that will materially improve the availability and supply chains of essential medicines. As we approach 2024 and this next chapter of our business, we want to take a moment to recognize what truly makes Antheia so great. It isn’t just the continued scientific innovation or our operational development that makes 2023 such an impressive year of transformation, but the phenomenal team of people behind it. We believe in a world where patient care and health equity are never jeopardized by global pharma supply chain vulnerabilities, and our growth would not have been possible without the exceptional colleagues that are dedicated to this mission each and every day. Our wins this year, and our success next year and beyond, are thanks to our team and our many supporters – we look forward to another big year as we advance our commercial strategy in 2024. Cheers, Christina Smolke, PhD | CEO and Co-Founder Kristy Hawkins, PhD | CSO and Co-Founder
The Road to Commercialization
Antheia’s Chief Operations Officer Zack McGahey offers his perspective on the company’s most recent commercial milestone – a successful full-scale fermentation run of its first product at 116,000L.
Antheia Appoints Richard Sherwin as Head of Commercialization
Sherwin to lead Antheia’s global sales strategy for KSM and API products Menlo Park, CA – August 17, 2023 – Antheia, the pharmaceutical ingredient manufacturer transforming essential medicine supply chains, today announced the appointment of industry veteran, Richard Sherwin as SVP of Commercialization. Sherwin’s hiring comes at a critical juncture in Antheia’s growth trajectory as the company continues to rapidly scale up its early products. He will be responsible for leading the commercialization and revenue generation for Antheia’s robust pipeline of products. “As our manufacturing efforts scale to commercial volumes, Richard will be key to establishing a viable commercial path to market for our products,” said Christina Smolke, PhD, CEO and co-founder of Antheia. “Richard’s industry expertise is unmatched and he has a bold vision for transforming pharmaceutical supply chains that aligns with Antheia’s mission – I am thrilled to welcome him to Antheia.” Sherwin brings 30+ years of experience in the KSM (key starting material), API (active pharmaceutical ingredient), and intermediate markets and an exceptional track record of driving revenue growth, building strategic partnerships, and delivering innovative products to market, including ANDA (abbreviated new drug application) and NDA (new drug application) developments. Prior to joining Antheia, Sherwin served as a senior advisor for the pharmaceutical ingredients industry, and also spent over two decades working at leading global pharmaceutical companies, including Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals and Johnson & Johnson. “I’m energized to see a company like Antheia building an innovative biomanufacturing platform that can drive supply chain efficiencies, compliance, reliability, and flexibility to levels the industry has been unable to achieve with legacy technologies and infrastructures,” said Richard Sherwin, SVP of Commercialization at Antheia. “I am proud to join Antheia at this exciting moment and I look forward to being a part of the amazing team that is paving a bold new pathway for KSM and API manufacturing.” About Antheia Antheia is the next-generation pharmaceutical ingredient producer transforming essential medicine supply chains to end drug shortages. Using its novel whole-cell engineering approach, Antheia’s biomanufacturing platform enables the reconstruction of biosynthetic pathways of unprecedented complexity in yeast cells and the scaling of fermentation processes to commercial levels. This highly flexible approach enables on-demand, agile, and resilient biomanufacturing of critical pharmaceutical ingredients, replacing legacy approaches that cannot support the needs of modern healthcare. Antheia’s team of scientists and technologists is headquartered in Menlo Park, California. For more information, visit www.antheia.bio. MEDIA CONTACT: Mission North for [email protected]
Introducing Antheia’s Reinvigorated Brand Identity
Since launching Antheia in 2015, we’ve made tremendous strides toward our mission to transform pharmaceutical supply chains for essential medicines. We’ve strengthened our leadership team with veteran executives across R&D, operations, supply chain, and quality and regulatory, we’ve repeatedly validated our technology at commercially-relevant scales, and we are now actively moving into full-scale production to bring our products to market.
Antheia Appoints John Nicols to Chair its Board of Directors
Antheia, the pharmaceutical ingredient manufacturer transforming supply chains, today announced the appointment of John Nicols to Chair its Board of Directors. Nicols joins co-founders Dr. Christina Smolke (CEO) and Dr. Kristy Hawkins (CSO), as well as Ram Shriram and Dr. Patrick Yang on the Antheia Board of Directors.
Antheia’s 2022 in Review: A Year of Value
This year has been ripe with growth, major achievements, and opportunities to showcase who and what make Antheia the visionary business it is. Nearly eight years ago, we co-founded Antheia…