ST. LOUIS, Mo. – Missouri Gov. Mike Parson signed a $15 million manufacturing bill in St. Louis last week designed to increase production of technology and medicine in Missouri.
Signed at the Cortex Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient Innovation Center (APIIC), the bill aims to increase production of active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) and semiconductor computer chips in the Show-Me State. Currently, the U.S. relies primarily on foreign imports for these products, and domestic production could significantly bring down costs and increase access.
“This investment in the advanced manufacturing of active pharmaceutical ingredients and semiconductor computer chips will help strengthen our domestic supply chains and create quality jobs right here in Missouri,” Parson said at the bill signing.
“One of the greatest lessons we learned from the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent supply chain crisis, is our over-reliance on foreign manufacturing. Missouri is a leader in bioscience, health care and advanced manufacturing, and when we find ourselves in the next crisis, the last thing we want to do is rely on other countries for goods we can produce – and produce better – right here in Missouri.”
United States Pharmacopeia identified Missouri as the state with the best infrastructure to produce API.
“The APIIC at Cortex is proud to partner with the governor and the state of Missouri to strengthen drug API manufacturing in the United States,” said Tony Sardella, CEO and Chair of the APIIC at Cortex to Globe Newswire. “The center’s efforts to foster adoption of innovative and advanced manufacturing capabilities will help build our nation’s health security, reduce drug shortages and production costs while accelerating time to market.”
The goal of APIIC at Cortex is to create a U.S.-produced supply of lomustine, a chemotherapy drug used to treat glioblastoma, an aggressive brain cancer. The bill will also provide funds to Brewer Science, a semiconductor producer in Rolla, Missouri.
To learn more about APIIC at Cortex, visit www.apicenter.org or contact info@apicenter.org. For more information about Brewer Science and the semiconductor industry, visit www.brewerscience.com.
