Kodak gets US$765 million for drug business, in move to cut US dependence on China and India
- Trump describes move as ‘latest step to build the greatest medical arsenal in history’, after pandemic exposed US dependence on foreign supply chains
- Government loan will allow struggling photo giant to launch pharmaceutical arm
Photo industry giant Eastman Kodak will get a US$765 million loan from the US government to produce pharmaceutical ingredients in the country, helping reduce dependency on other countries by strengthening domestic supply chains.
The US International Development Finance Corp said on Tuesday it would sign a letter of interest to provide the loan to Kodak, a company known more for its cameras and imaging business.
The loan is the first of its kind under the Defence Production Act in collaboration with the US Department of Defence. It is intended to speed production of drugs in short supply and those considered critical to treat Covid-19, which may include hydroxychloroquine, the controversial antimalarial drug touted by US President Donald Trump.
The Trump administration has been looking to bolster the ability to produce drugs and their raw materials in the United States after the Covid-19 pandemic exposed the industry’s dependence on China and India for its supply chain.
“This is the beginning of American independence from our pharmaceutical dependence on foreign countries,” White House trade adviser Peter Navarro said in an interview with Fox Business network.
In May, the administration awarded a contract worth up to US$812 million for a new US company to manufacture drugs and drug ingredients in the country.
“By the time this thing ramps up, 25 per cent of the [active pharmaceutical ingredients] for generics we need in the United States is going to be right at that facility,” Navarro said in the interview.
New York-based Kodak, which was founded in 1888, has a market capitalisation of US$114.6 million. The loan will allow it to launch Kodak Pharmaceuticals, a new arm of the company that will produce critical pharmaceutical components.
The money could provide a lifeline to Kodak, whose business and shares were devastated by the switch to digital cameras. The company’s stock closed the regular trading session with a gain of 203 per cent, bringing it to its highest price in 2½ years.
Trump, speaking on Tuesday afternoon in a news conference at the White House, said the deal was “a breakthrough in bringing pharmaceutical production back to the United States”. About 10 per cent of the national generic drug supply is manufactured in the US. The shares rose another 40 per cent in extended trading after Trump’s remarks.
The ingredients in hydroxychloroquine are among those being targeted, according to a Dow Jones report.
The antimalarial medicine has been touted by Trump as a treatment for the virus responsible for the pandemic, although scientists like the national virus expert Anthony Fauci have said it is not effective against Covid-19.