Curia Enters Cooperative Agreement with US Government to Expand Sterile Fill/Finish Capability

Curia, formerly AMRI, announced on March 9, 2022 that it is entering a cooperative agreement with the US government to expand and advance fill/finish capabilities for injectable medicines. The groups of the US government involved in the agreement include the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), part of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR); the Department of Defense Joint Program Executive Office or Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defense (JPEO-CBRND); and the US Army Contracting Command.

The agreement will focus on funding to add a new high-speed fill/finish vial line, which includes biosafety level 2 (BSL-2) containment. Curia is also supporting smaller batch advanced therapies with two lyophilizers for the high-speed fill/finish line and an isolated flexible filling line for vials, syringes, and cartridges, all of which are self-funded.

The expansion will be housed at Curia’s Albuquerque, NM facility, which already supports the supply of various treatments and vaccines for cancer, cardiovascular, auto-immune, infectious, and rare diseases. The facility also is home to Curia’s “Sterile University,” a training program focused on simulating a sterile manufacturing environment for employees to develop skills that improve safety, efficacy, and accuracy in the workplace.

“This agreement assures our ability to meet urgent demands for the supply of critical medicines well into the future,” said John Ratliff, chairman and CEO of Curia, in a press release. “Scientific advances including biologics and vaccines require injectable formulations. The fill-finish of this type of product demands specialized expertise and equipment. Our investments in Curia’s Albuquerque facility have already increased capacity and added to our talented team in New Mexico. This agreement not only secures our continued contribution to the nation’s pandemic response plans, it also enables us to meet the need to deliver life-changing life science to patients into the future.”

Source: Curia