Governor Youngkin proclaimed September 8, 2022, as ESSENTIAL MEDICINE SHORTAGE AWARENESS DAY in the Commonwealth of Virginia officially by signing the proclamation as part of a same day celebratory event at Brightpoint Community College.
The governor’s visit was to celebrate and honor National Essential Medicine Shortage Awareness Day by announcing that $111 Million has been invested by federal, state, local, and private supporters over the past three months to accelerate the development of the advanced pharmaceutical and manufacturing cluster emerging in Central Virginia.
Governor Youngkin celebrated the recent Build Back Better Regional Challenge investment awarded to the Alliance for Building Better Medicine—a coalition comprised of public and private sector stakeholders in the Richmond-Petersburg region working together to scale up the region’s advanced pharmaceutical manufacturing and R&D cluster to address the nation’s pressing need for quality, affordable essential medicines.
Read more about this transformational award in a press release posted online by the Alliance for Building Better Medicine. The press release mentions that Governor Youngkin and the Alliance for Building Better Medicine leaders detailed the series of recent investments designed to address the nation’s pressing need for quality, affordable essential medicines as an example of the region’s progress toward addressing critical medicine shortages.
Coalition members from across the Richmond-Petersburg region who joined together to make these historic investments possible were recognized at the September 8th event. GENEDGE is one of those supporting organizations of the coalition and is quoted in the September 9th press release:
- “GENEDGE, the NIST MEP National Network Affiliate for Virginia is exceptionally pleased with this award. Our team will provide core services to develop an equitable and robust supply chain to support this rapidly growing advanced pharma cluster. In addition, Phlow recognizes that information security is paramount to the success of maintaining a technological advantage. We will establish appropriate cyber security risk management systems throughout the supply chain, to assure that intellectual property is not compromised,” said Bill Donohue, GENEDGE President & Executive Director.
GENEDGE is honored to be a part of this coalition to help expand a world class pharmaceutical manufacturing cluster in the Richmond-Petersburg region. The Build Back Better Regional Challenge award will allow us and other supportive organizations of the coalition to continue building on previous investments that are building capacity and capability in the Central Virginia region. Success of this endeavor is essential in securing the critical supply chain for our national health and security. This approach is already becoming a model for regional economic development in other regions of the state.
- “On Essential Medicine Shortage Awareness Day, I was pleased to celebrate the public and private partnerships and company expansions that play a critical role in combating Virginia’s pharmaceutical supply challenges. The Richmond-Petersburg region and it’s pharmaceutical companies are key to developing novel technologies that will ensure access to affordable, lifesaving medications while providing high-quality jobs, an incredible boost to Virginia’s economy and the Commonwealth’s people,” said Governor Youngkin.
GENEDGE is in total agreement of the governor’s statement in the September 9th press release that domestic manufacturing is essential to have a strong and resilient supply chain. We look forward to help build this supply chain—using our experience and expertise in Supply Chain Development and Cybersecurity to develop Virginia’s capacity to support the growing pharmaceutical cluster in Central Virginia as part of the Alliance for Building Better Medicine coalition.