Phlow Corp., a Richmond, Va.-based public benefit corporation providing access to essential medicines, closed a $20m Series A funding.

The company intends to use the funds to build its commercial business team, establish its commercial business unit’s data and analytics platforms, advance the commercial research and development of APIs and finished pharmaceutical products, and fund innovative initiatives to improve the delivery of essential medicines.

Led by Eric Edwards, M.D., Ph.D., co-founder, president and CEO, Phlow is using advanced manufacturing processes leveraging flow chemistry to produce active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and finished pharmaceutical products.

In May 2020, the company announced that it had been awarded a contract to manufacture essential medicines in shortage, funded by Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), part of the office of Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The total contract value awarded to Phlow is up to $812m which includes a four-year base award of $354 million with an additional $458m included as potential options for long-term sustainability.

In its first contract year, Phlow has already delivered millions of doses of essential medicines as part of a U.S.- based, surge capacity ramp-up supporting critical COVID-19 response efforts while boosting our national supply chain security. In addition, the company has developed and is operationalizing the United States’ first Strategic Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients Reserve (SAPIR). This national stockpile of key ingredients will be used to manufacture the most essential medicines on U.S. soil and further reduce America’s dependency on foreign nations to support its drug supply chain.