Walmart Joins the Alliance for Building Better Medicine to Create a Reliable Supply of Safe, High-Quality, and Affordable Medicines
Richmond/Petersburg, VA – Alliance for Building Better Medicine, a coalition powered by multi-jurisdictional public and private sector stakeholders in the Richmond-Petersburg region, is honored to announce that Walmart has joined its mission to create a reliable supply of safe, high-quality, and affordable medicines for all.
As the Alliance for Building Better Medicine’s newest member, Walmart will collaborate with the founding board to define a new era in R&D, advanced pharmaceutical manufacturing, workforce development, and supply chain development. Joining the Alliance is an example of one of Walmart’s efforts to expand the manufacturing of products in the United States. Their commitment toward purchasing $350 billion in products made, grown or assembled in the U.S. supports the creation of American jobs while creating a dependable supply of quality, affordable medicines for U.S. consumers. Walmart’s investment in U.S. manufacturing includes supporting emerging clusters of innovation and manufacturing, like the coalition in the Richmond-Petersburg region, as a way to create robust domestic supply chains and jobs.
“The Alliance is certain to benefit from Walmart’s vision, commitment, and expertise. Together we hope to move more quickly to our common goals of reshoring manufacturing of medicines to the U.S., creating great American jobs, and improving the supply of affordable, quality medicine to our customers and communities,” said Jeff Gallagher, interim executive director at the Alliance for Building Better Medicine.
By becoming a full member of the Alliance, Walmart joins 12 other public and private organizations on the Leadership Board working together to scale the Richmond-Petersburg Advanced Pharma Manufacturing and R&D hub. The public-private coalition has worked together for two years to design and start to implement a multi-faceted development strategy, including building regional infrastructure, a talented workforce, a local supply chain, and innovation capacity to accelerate the emerging cluster into a global leader.
The unprecedented collaboration in the Richmond-Petersburg region was seed funded by Go Virginia and Alliance members, leading to the successful pursuit of a $52,942,702 Build Back Better Regional Challenge grant. Funded by President Biden’s American Rescue Plan and administered by the Commerce Department’s Economic Development Administration (EDA), the Regional Challenge provides each award winner funding to rebuild regional economies, promote inclusive and equitable recovery, and create thousands of good-paying jobs in industries of the future such as clean energy, next-generation manufacturing, and biotechnology. The region is one of only 21 winners from 500-plus regions across the nation that competed in this historically ambitious EDA program. The Build Back Better Regional Challenge grant will be matched by $13,607,184 of funding from local private and public organizations, for a total Build Back Better Regional Challenge investment of $66,549,886. An additional $44.6 million will be invested by the Commonwealth in the 2022/2023 budget.
“Phlow is honored to welcome Walmart to the coalition of public and private stakeholders collaborating as the Alliance for Building Better Medicine in an effort to create a reliable supply of affordable, high-quality medicines developed and manufactured in the United States,” said Eric Edwards, M.D., Ph.D., a founding board member of the Alliance for Building Better Medicine and co-founder, president, and CEO of Phlow. “We are thrilled to have the support of Walmart and to collaborate together as our region becomes a central access point for advanced pharmaceutical R&D and manufacturing. Together we are building a resilient and sustainable future while protecting America’s medicine cabinet.”
“We applaud Walmart’s commitment to sourcing medications that are made in the United States,” said Ned McCoy, a founding board member of the Alliance for Building Better Medicine and president and CEO of Civica. “We enthusiastically welcome them to the Alliance and our shared efforts to grow the pharmaceutical hub in the region.”
About the Alliance for Building Better Medicine
Alliance for Building Better Medicine is driven by an immediate and urgent need to create a reliable supply of safe, high-quality, and affordable medicines for all. The Alliance is powered by multi-jurisdictional public and private sector stakeholders in the Richmond-Petersburg region working together to define a new era in R&D, advanced pharmaceutical manufacturing, workforce development, and supply chain development. For more information, visit buildingbettermedicine.com.