API Innovation Center gets $8.3M ASPR award to expand US production
The Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR), part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), awarded $8.3 million to API Innovation Center (APIIC) to expand domestic manufacturing capacity for critical active pharmaceutical ingredients propofol and metoprolol.
Propofol is an injectable sedative used for anesthesia and intensive care unit sedation, while metoprolol is a medication used to treat cardiovascular conditions such as arrhythmias and hypertension and to reduce lung inflammation in intensive care settings.
According to ASPR, their investment is intended to establish the first end-to-end U.S. supply chain for metoprolol in decades while increasing domestic production of essential hospital medicines. Both APIs are included on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration list of essential medicines and critical inputs.
APIIC said the project will leverage advanced manufacturing technologies, including continuous flow processes, across its consortium network. Partners such as Sentio BioSciences and Par Health are working to modernize API production and enable scalable, end-to-end supply chains for key medicines.
The $8.3 million ASPR award builds on a previous $14 million investment in 2024, bringing total federal funding for APIIC to more than $22 million. The funding is part of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority-supported BioMaP Consortium, which focuses on strengthening U.S. biopharmaceutical manufacturing preparedness.
The announcement aligns with broader efforts to reshore generic drug production. APIIC recently outlined a strategy to pair advanced manufacturing technologies with underutilized U.S. facilities, which the organization said could add up to 30 billion doses of domestic capacity while reducing reliance on overseas suppliers. According to APIIC, continuous manufacturing approaches are also being applied to metoprolol production to improve efficiency and scalability.