Washington Post
by Carolyn Y. Johnson

A group of major American hospitals, battered by price spikes on old drugs and long-lasting shortages of critical medicines, has launched a mission-driven, not-for-profit generic drug company, Civica Rx, to take some control over the drug supply. Backed by seven large health systems and three philanthropic groups, the new venture will be led by an industry insider who refuses to draw a salary…The consortium, which includes health systems such as the Mayo Clinic and HCA Healthcare, collectively represents about 500 hospitals.

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Additional coverage:

Bloomberg, Generic-Drug Venture Backed by Hospitals Taps CEO From Amgen by Zachary Tracer — A drugmaking venture backed by major U.S. hospitals has picked a chief executive officer, hastening the arrival of another threat to generic pharmaceutical manufacturers. Martin VanTrieste, 58 and a former top executive at biotechnology giant Amgen Inc., will run the organization, a not-for-profit called Civica Rx. Dan Liljenquist, 44 and an Intermountain Healthcare executive, will be chairman. Health systems with a total of about 500 hospitals -- including Intermountain, HCA Healthcare Inc., Mayo Clinic and Catholic Health Initiatives -- will help govern the venture, alongside several philanthropies.

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Context: Civica Rx, the initiative previously known as Project Rx, is the name of a new, not-for-profit generic drug company that will help patients by addressing shortages and high prices of lifesaving medications. Since the initiative was announced in January 2018, more than 120 health organizations representing about a third of the nation’s hospitals have contacted Civica Rx and expressed a commitment or interest in participating with the new company. The company is organized as a Delaware nonstock, not-for-profit corporation, and will be headquartered in Utah. Initial governing members of Civica Rx will include Catholic Health Initiatives, HCA Healthcare, Intermountain Healthcare, Mayo Clinic, Providence St. Joseph Health, SSM Health, and Trinity Health. These seven organizations, representing about 500 U.S. hospitals, will each provide leadership for the Civica Rx Board of Directors and will provide much of the initial capitalization for the company. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) will also work in consultation with Civica Rx to address its particular needs. Other health systems participating with Civica Rx will be announced later this year. You can read more about the initiative here.

Contact: Duska Anastasijevic

Tags: Civica Rx, Dr. John Noseworthy, generic drugs, Uncategorized