Capra Biosciences Secures Additional ASPR Funding To Expand Domestic API Manufacturing Program

Capra Biosciences, a biomanufacturing company developing modular, continuous bioreactor technology for flexible and cost-effective pharmaceutical ingredient production, has received additional funding under its project agreement with the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR), part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). 

The latest investment increases the company's total ASPR funding to approximately $17 million and will support its efforts to bring the production of critical active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) back to the United States, reducing dependence on overseas suppliers.

According to Capra, the funding will help advance its manufacturing platform from successful proof-of-concept studies toward current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP) production and future regulatory submissions. Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer Dr. Andrew Magyar said biotechnology offers significant advantages over traditional chemical manufacturing because it is less dependent on complex raw material supply chains. 

He added that the company's earlier ASPR-supported work demonstrated its ability to manufacture high-quality APIs using its modular bioreactor technology, and the new funding will help move these products closer to commercialization.

The investment builds on Capra's initial $7.5 million ASPR award announced in July 2024 under its CoMPASS (Continuous BioManufacturing Process Analysis for Scaling API Synthesis) project. As part of that initiative, Capra partnered with Google X's A-Life team to develop an AI-enabled platform that combines advanced artificial intelligence with the company's synthetic biology technology to accelerate strain engineering and the development of biologically produced pharmaceutical ingredients.

Using this platform, Capra successfully produced two widely used APIs — aspirin and acetaminophen, in its modular bioreactors in less than two years, a timeline the company says is significantly faster than conventional industry development. The successful demonstration validated the flexibility of its manufacturing platform and helped secure additional government investment to expand production to more pharmaceutical ingredients.

With the new funding, Capra will use its rapid development and scale-up capabilities, together with technology developed alongside Google X's A-Life team and Next Rung Technology, to expand its domestic manufacturing program to a total of seven critical APIs. The company aims to strengthen the U.S. pharmaceutical supply chain by increasing domestic production capacity for essential medicines that are currently sourced primarily from international manufacturers.

Capra also plans to collaborate with the United States Pharmacopeia (USP) to advance five of the seven APIs toward commercially mature, population-scale manufacturing at Technology Readiness Level 10. USP will support analytical development, testing, chemistry, manufacturing and controls (CMC), regulatory activities, and manufacturing control strategies through its Pharmatech subsidiary. 

The project is funded through ASPR's Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) Biopharmaceutical Manufacturing Preparedness (BioMaP) OTA Consortium and is part of broader federal efforts to strengthen the resilience of domestic biopharmaceutical manufacturing and supply chains.