Civica Rx Delivers First Generic Drug

In what is being hailed as a model for provider-led innovation, Civica Rx, the startup formed last year by a group of health systems to combat rising drug prices and shortages of drugs long on the market, recently made its first delivery of generic medications to a hospital.

Riverton Hospital, an Intermountain Healthcare facility in Utah, received the initial batch of vancomycin hydrochloride, an injectable antibiotic that is often in short supply at hospitals nationally, Civica Rx reported. This is the first time a patient has been treated with one of the company’s medications since it was founded in September 2018.

Vancomycin, supplied through a partnership with Xellia Pharmaceuticals, is expected to be available to its member hospitals by the end of the month. Deliveries of daptomycin, another essential antibiotic, will follow soon after. Another 15 Civica Rx medications now in production with partners like Hikma Pharmaceuticals and Exela Pharma Sciences will be delivered later this year, Civica Rx officials say.

The Civica Rx collaborative now includes three philanthropies and 40 health systems representing more than 1,000 hospitals in 46 states.