Avenacy launches as a specialty pharma for essential drugs

Avenacy has made its debut as the latest specialty pharmaceutical company for medications that often are in short supply.

The company, based in Schaumburg, Illinois, said in a Monday release that it's supported by a "global network" of development and manufacturing partners. The company plans to build out a portfolio of FDA-approved products that are used regularly in hospitals, outpatient clinics and physician offices.

Avenacy said it's committed to acquiring products that have historically faced supply shortages. The drugmaker has an open dialogue in place with the FDA about products that are at risk of being in short supply, it said.

Investment details related to the company’s launch weren’t disclosed. Avenacy also didn't reveal the list of medicines it will focus on first.

Avenacy is co-founded by Jeff Yordon and Kam Phulwani. Prior to this venture, Yorden was chief operating officer and president of the pharmaceutical division of the biotech Athenex, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in May.

The downfall of Athenex was mostly due to string of issues that followed the FDA rejecting the company’s application for approval of its oral chemotherapy candidate paclitaxel in 2021.

Meanwhile, Avenacy is the latest in a string of new pharmaceutical companies or related manufacturers to hit the scene in the last few years.

Take National Resilience, for example, which launched in November 2020 with an aim to "overcome one of the biggest challenges the biopharmaceutical industry is facing in pioneering novel treatment modalities–manufacturing." The company operates nearly a dozen sites in the U.S. and Canada.

Aside from National Resilience, the CDMO ten23 health launched in Switzerland in 2021, while Vector BioMed debuted early this year.

Actylis is also among the new companies on the manufacturing scene, with an aim to become a “global specialty ingredients manufacturing and sourcing powerhouse."