Chinh Ngo, a senior process chemist at the API Innovation Center, leads a tour of the new research and development labs that opened Monday in UMSL’s Science Complex. Among those taking the tour were (from left) Missouri Sen. Brian Williams, UMSL Vice Chancellor Chris Spilling, Ferguson Mayor and UMSL alum Ella Jones, State Rep. Marla Smith, UMSL Chancellor Kristin Sobolik, and APIIC Founder and Chair Tony Sardella. (Photos by Derik Holtmann)
Tony Sardella had a clear vision to reshore production of small-molecule active pharmaceutical ingredients, or APIs, needed for essential medications in the United States.
But as he moved to establish the API Innovation Center in St. Louis’ Cortex Innovation Community, he needed to find partners to aid in that effort. University of Missouri–St. Louis Chancellor Kristin Sobolik and Vice Chancellor for Research and Economic and Community Development Chris Spilling were quick to see the potential of the initiative, as was Missouri State Sen. Brian Williams.
“Their openness to an idea to have impact on our nation when it may have seemed quite extreme – they believed in it,” Sardella said. “They believed that we could have an impact nationally, to our state and to our region. For that, I’m always grateful that they accepted the challenge.”
Chancellor Kriston Sobolik cuts a ribbon to mark the opening of the API Innovation Center’s research and development labs in UMSL’s Science Complex. Joining Sobolik for the ceremony were University of Missouri Curator Lyda Krewson, APIIC Founder Tony Sardella, Missouri Sen. Brian Williams and UMSL Vice Chancellor Chris Spilling.
The collaboration continues to blossom and reached a milestone Monday morning with the opening of the API Innovation Center’s research and development laboratories in UMSL’s Science Complex. More than 60 people gathered in the lobby of the Science Learning Building for a reception to celebrate the occasion, and Sobolik, Sardella, Spilling, Williams and University of Missouri Curator Lyda Krewson took part in a ribbon-cutting ceremony to officially open the labs.
“UMSL leadership early on identified the excellent opportunity we had before us to align our Tier-1 research capabilities with the local effort to reshore active pharmaceutical ingredients production,” Sobolik said. “This collaboration provides UMSL students real-world access to cutting-edge technology, increasing their ability to transition into employment and eventually industry-leading roles.”
Sobolik praised Spilling, a tenured professor of chemistry, for spearheading the collaboration with APIIC. UMSL leaders have joined Sardella and APIIC Chief Operating Officer Kevin Webb in meeting with state and federal legislators to win support for the project.
They view it as imperative for U.S. national health security. Most APIs are currently manufactured outside the United States, and the overreliance on foreign-sourced pharmaceuticals poses a threat to the quality and availability of essential medications domestically.
Williams was instrumental in securing a $15 million grant that helped kickstart the effort during Missouri’s 2022 legislative session. The API Innovation Center more recently received $14 million in federal funding from the Department of Health and Human Services through the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response’s Center for Industrial Base Management and Supply Chain. APIIC and UMSL also received $9.55 million in state funding aimed at advancing critical research and development in the lab.
“During the pandemic, three out of every four COVID-19 drugs were made overseas,” Williams said during remarks at Monday’s reception. “Right now, 92% of all antibiotics are made overseas, and nearly 100% of all antiviral medications are made overseas. With instability around the world, relying on the foreign manufacturing of the medicine we need, we put our state and our country at a national risk. That’s why Missouri, and St. Louis in particular, is poised to play such an important role in the American manufacturing of active pharmaceuticals.”
APIIC Founder and Chair Tony Sardella expressed gratitude to UMSL Chancellor Kristin Sobolik and Vice Chancellor Chris Spilling as well as Missouri Sen. Brian Williams for being quick to see the potential impact of the API Innovation Center.
Attendees of Monday’s opening had the opportunity to tour the labs and learn about the specialized technologies and equipment at work. APIIC scientists, as well as representatives of partners such as Corning and the Waters Corporation, were on hand to answer questions and discuss the new continuous flow routes of synthesis being advanced in the process development stage.
The lab is beginning with a focus on the development of APIs propofol, bupivacaine, albuterol, metoprolol and lorazepam. Propofol is used as a general anesthetic. Bupivacaine is a local anesthetic. Albuterol is used to treat patients with asthma. Metoprolol can help alleviate high blood pressure. Lorazepam can be used to treat anxiety disorders.
“This lab is critically important on our work to reshore the manufacturing of those medicines,” Sardella said. “Reshoring critical active pharmaceutical ingredients – the element of a medicine that is what makes the medicine effective – allows us to continue our goal within the next five years to produce 25 medicines that are key and critical to the nation’s health security.”
