Phlow raises $37M in Series C round

Richmond pharmaceutical manufacturing company Phlow announced Tuesday that it had raised $37 million in a Series C funding round led by Align Private Capital.

The funding round, which was also supported by additional new and follow-on investors, contributed to the more than $93 million in private capital Phlow has raised since it was founded in 2020. The company has also secured more than $600 million in government contracts.

Phlow says the Series C funds will help accelerate its expansion in the U.S., with a focus on scaling the company and investing in AI-powered systems and advanced pharmaceutical manufacturing technologies.

“The most recent funding round for Phlow validates our vital mission and accelerates our ability to support small molecule API development and manufacturing programs for small and large clinical and commercial volumes,” Phlow CEO Dr. Eric S. Edwards said in a statement.

Align Private Capital CEO Anna Nekoranec applauded Phlow’s initiatives to prevent pediatric drug shortages, advance API (active pharmaceutical ingredient) manufacturing and support the U.S. military. “We are excited to support the Phlow team as they address the inefficiencies and challenges in the current U.S. pharmaceutical supply chain,” she said.

In 2021, 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. Since then, the contract has been renewed in one-year phases. Phlow’s major partners in the regional pharmaceutical manufacturing effort include Civica and Novo Nordisk.

Phlow currently has two manufacturing plants in Petersburg and an R&D lab in Richmond. It specializes in developing and manufacturing active pharmaceutical ingredients for the federal government and the biopharma industry. The company has around 100 employees.

Phlow notes that it has recently partnered with the Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear Defense to develop medical countermeasure drug products that support the joint force and its allies in counteracting chemical and biological threats.

In the pediatric space, the company has shipped over 1.6 million vials of essential medicines to children’s hospitals nationwide through the Children’s Hospital Coalition, a initiative to combat pediatric drug shortages.

Phlow was founded by Edwards and Frank Gupton, chair of the department of chemical and life science engineering at Virginia Commonwealth University. The company is part of the Alliance for Building Better Medicine — a group representing public sector and private pharmaceutical manufacturers and research organizations working to grow the regional advanced pharmaceutical manufacturing cluster and domestic pharmaceutical manufacturing.