ASPR Invests $9 Million to Strengthen Domestic Production of Critical Ingredient Used in Pain Management, Alcohol Use Disorder, and Overdose Reversal Medications

The Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR), part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), awarded $9 million to Antheia Inc. to support the expansion of the domestic production of thebaine. Thebaine is a key starting material used to manufacture analgesic and antagonist medications. These medications are included on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) List of Essential Medicines, Medical Countermeasures, and Critical Inputs, and support pain management, alcohol use disorder, and the reversal of opioid overdose.

Under the agreement, Antheia, Inc., based in Menlo Park, California, will build on a 2024 award to accelerate expansion of its biomanufacturing capacity to include domestic production of thebaine. Antheia’s advanced biosynthesis platform packs unprecedented complexity into engineered microbial hosts, enabling efficient and commercial-scale production of critical pharmaceutical ingredients that are vital to national public health systems.

“Thebaine-derived medicines are critical for pain management, alcohol use disorder, and opioid overdose reversal, yet they remain in short supply and rely on vulnerable global supply chains,” said ASPR Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary John Knox. “Supply interruptions from India and Turkey – our major supplier of opium-based medicines and their raw materials – can limit our health care system’s ability to respond to public health emergencies, including mass casualty incidents and opioid-related exposures, such as a potential chemical incident involving fentanyl.”

This award supports efforts to onshore and bring back domestic manufacturing. Strengthening domestic manufacturing of critical pharmaceutical ingredients enhances national health security, reduces reliance on concentrated foreign sources, supports high-skilled job creation, and helps ensure a stable supply of medicines that save lives.

This award was made through the Biopharmaceutical Manufacturing Preparedness Consortium (BioMaP-Consortium), managed by Advanced Technologies International under an other transaction agreement with ASPR’s Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA). The investment builds on prior efforts to expand domestic biopharmaceutical manufacturing capabilities.

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