Dive Brief:
- Civica Rx, a coalition of health systems that banded together in 2018 to make prescription drugs, has made its first delivery. A patient has now been treated with one of its medications as well.
- Riverton Hospital, an Intermountain Healthcare facility in Utah, received the first batch of vancomycin hydrochloride, an injectable antibiotic that is commonly in short supply for hospitals across the country, Civica Rx said Wednesday.
- The antibiotic will be available to all health systems by the end of the month. Shortly after that, another essential antibiotic, daptomycin, will be made available, according to the company.
Dive Insight:
About one year after launch, Civica Rx has delivered on its promise to supply hospitals with generic medications.
Fed up with rising drug costs and ongoing shortages, Utah-based Intermountain Health and other nonprofit systems joined forces in hopes of providing more predictable pricing and access to drugs.
Dan Liljenquist, the architect behind the generic drug company, previously outlined for Healthcare Dive what member hospitals could expect when buying from Civica Rx.
The company pledges that every hospital, regardless of size, will have the same access to products, and says it will only set one market price. Larger systems will not receive discounts on larger volume purchases and every hospital will have the same contracting terms.
Civica Rx partnered with Danish company Xellia Pharmaceuticals to supply antibiotics like vancomycin, which is used to treat serious infections that can be resistant to other antibiotics.
The coalition has also teamed up with London-based Hikima Pharmaceuticals to manufacture 14 other injectable drugs that are usually in short supply at U.S. hospitals.