Wavelength Pharmaceuticals Expands Supplies of Drug Ingredients for Managing COVID-19 and Adds API CDMO Services

Israel-headquartered API supplier Wavelength Pharmaceuticals announced in an April 20, 2020 press release that it has expanded production of APIs for certain pharmaceutical products needed to manage respiratory critical care patients and has launched API contract development and manufacturing (CDMO) services.

Shortages of pharmaceuticals essential to successfully treating patients on ventilators have been a problem, as demand for these products, including midazolam, cisatracurium, and rocuronium, has skyrocketed as a result of the global pandemic, according to the press release. 

“Our robust supply chain and impeccable regulatory track record are enabling us to quickly respond to the urgent need for life-saving care for critically ill COVID-19 patients. We are proud of our highly experienced team, who is working tirelessly to treble and quadruple our production and supply of these essential APIs for patients in the US and Europe,” said Iftach Seri, CEO of Wavelength Pharmaceuticals, in the press release.

The company explains that it was able to debottleneck quickly to gain this capacity by using additional and larger equipment, designed to accommodate multiple products from grams to multi-ton scale, that was already on site. 

“When shortages started developing first in Europe and then in North America, national health agencies reached out to us directly and asked us to increase production,” says Seri. “We continue working 24/7 to make sure customers can manufacture these essential drug products and get them to hospitals and critically ill patients around the world.” 

The company says that they have been investing in strengthening and securing their supply chain over the past few years, with backward integration for simpler and more commonly available starting materials; approving multiple, carefully selected suppliers from different countries; carefully planning ahead for demand; and making sure they have safety stocks on hand to react to any unexpected increased demand. 

Wavelength also announced availability of its new API CDMO services that leverage the company’s core strengths in complex chemistry, crystalline forms, and particle design along with its strong culture of quality and regulatory compliance to provide customized solutions for development and manufacturing of new APIs. 

“Our commitment to being ‘always aligned’ with the needs of our customers drove us to invest in the required capabilities and expertise that now allow us to respond so quickly to the urgent need for respiratory critical care drugs for COVID-19 patients. It also underlies our decision to share our extensive experience with customers and collaborators via our CDMO service unit,” said Seri in the press release. “We are honored to be able to offer these products and services to support customers and patients during these challenging times.”

Source: Wavelength Pharmaceuticals