Health Care 2025: EDWARDS, DR. ERIC

Frustrated that the U.S. had so many medications on the Food and Drug Administration’s drug-shortage list, Edwards partnered in 2020 with Frank Gupton, a Virginia Commonwealth University professor, to launch Phlow, which develops and domestically manufactures active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and finished pharmaceutical products.

That year, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services awarded Phlow a four-year, $354 million contract to create a domestic supply chain for essential drugs and pharmaceutical ingredients in short supply. In July 2024, Phlow’s plant in Petersburg started production.

In March, Phlow announced it had filed a drug master file with the FDA for its epinephrine API production, meaning the API is ready to be converted into a finished drug product. It also selected tech company Apprentice to provide an AI-driven manufacturing system to accelerate production, and Phlow also expanded its Richmond labs.

Edwards co-founded Kaléo, and the VCU triple graduate serves on the boards of Phlow subsidiary MedPhlow (where he’s also CEO), the Food Allergy Science Initiative and BioHealth Innovation.

WHAT PEOPLE WOULD BE SURPRISED TO LEARN ABOUT ME: My identical twin is much better looking and is aging slower than me.

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