New Silicon Slopes Company Aims To Disrupt Generic Drug Market, Drive Prices Down
Apr 18, 2019, 7:28 PM | Updated: 7:34 pm
LEHI, Utah — A new generic drug company on the Silicon Slopes of Utah County has big plans to disrupt the market and drive prescription drug prices down.
Civica Rx expects to have 14 drugs on the market later this year. It all seemed quite unlikely a couple of years ago.
When former State Senator Dan Liljenquist first approached the other founders of Civica Rx with his idea, they said he was crazy. As they launched their business in Lehi today, they now believe it will be a game changer that benefits millions of patients.
“It’s already starting to change the game in my mind,” said Dr. Marc Harrison, Intermountain Healthcare CEO.
Civica Rx plans to make generic drugs more affordable and change lives for patients, soon.
There’s a new company on the #SiliconSlopes of Utah County that aims to disrupt the generic drug market, and drive prices down. Tonight at 5&6:30 @KSL5TV I’ll show you how @CivicaRx plans to do that. @Intermountain @kslnewsradio #ksltv pic.twitter.com/giHxj1dplQ
— Jed Boal (@jedboal) April 18, 2019
“The best news is: we believe there is relief on the way,” he said. “We’ll start on the hospital side of things. But, Civica has a lot of plans to expand their operations.”
Nearly 1,000 hospitals and more than two dozen healthcare systems have joined together in the non-profit generic drug company to combat shortages and high prices of generic prescription drugs.
“Civica is incentivized to do the right thing, and not to monetize things for themself,“ said Harrison.
Dan Liljenquist, Intermountain Healthcare’s Chief Strategy Officer, came up with the idea and put together the company.
“This model is open to every hospital in the country,” he said. “We want everybody to be with us. We’ve got about 25% of the hospital beds in the country already lined up with us and that’s growing every day. ”
The drug company will work with the founding hospitals to line up the market ahead of time, said Liljenquist.
“Before Civica makes a drug, we understand that our hospitals are willing to buy it,” he said.
The company commits to manufacture those drugs in a redundant supply chain. Civica Rx will carry sufficient inventory, so, that if there is a problem in the supply chain, it won’t impact patients.
“This will help smooth out the demand and allow us to smooth out the supply,“ said Liljenquist.
Theoretically this will also eliminate volatile price swings.
“When a drug goes short, and you can’t get it, everybody scrambles to buy what is available, so the price shoots up. So, a drug that may cost two dollars a dose all of a sudden it’s $2000 a dose,“ he said.
Civica plans to have 14 drugs on the market later this year manufactured by contract drug makers in different parts of the country.
