COVID-19 Ushers In Surge of Global Pharma-Bio Capital Construction Investment Topping $14 Billion

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--As demand soared across the world for products to prevent, cure or treat COVID-19, life science companies rushed to fill the need. The roster goes far beyond the big-name companies like Pfizer Incorporated (NYSE:PFE) (New York, New York) or Moderna Incorporated (NASDAQ:MRNA) (Cambridge, Massachusetts). Catalent Incorporated (NYSE:CTLT) (Somerset, Franklin Township, New Jersey), already a strong contract manufacturing organization (CMO) prior to the pandemic, gained major prominence as it invested millions to beef up capacity for everything from bulk biologicals (drug substance manufacturing) to fill-and-finish services. Some seemingly appeared overnight, such as Phlow Corporation (Richmond, Virginia) and ApiJect Systems Corporation (Stamford, Connecticut), as the clamor for a cure and the subsequent federal funding came into being.

Phlow was launched in 2020 and had never produced a drug when it received a federal contract worth $354 million as a four-year base award, followed by another $458 million option to manufacture essential medicines at risk of shortage. At one time, Phlow Chief Executive Officer Eric Edwards, who co-founded the drug company Kaleo (Richmond, Virginia), was later criticized for hiking the price of its opioid overdose drug, Evzio, by more than 600% between 2014 and 2017.

ApiJect Systems Corporation (Stamford, Connecticut) has a much less storied past. It was founded in 2018 to produce the prefilled, single-use ApiJect injector. The company was tapped to get more than $500 million to help vaccinate the masses. Prior to the award, the company had only made an estimated 1,000 prototypes of the device. The company's 1-million-square-foot grassroot giga-factory in Durham, North Carolina, is currently on hold. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Pharmaceutical & Biotech Project Database can click here for the project report.

Industrial Info is tracking more than 580 active, completed and on-hold COVID-19-related Pharmaceutical & Biotech projects across the globe, worth more than $14 billion. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Pharmaceutical & Biotech Project Database can click here for a list of detailed project reports.

Click on the image at right showing COVID-19-related Pharmaceutical & Biotech project activity across the globe.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, six offices in North America and 12 international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities. Follow IIR on: Facebook - Twitter - LinkedIn.