VCU's Medicines for All Institute

This is a story about a humanitarian project whose innovations are poised to change a global industry. It’s a story about how saving money can also save the planet. And it’s a story about how providing accessible, affordable medicine saves lives — but sharing knowledge will save more.

Health is not a privilege. It’s a right.

The Medicines for All Institute (M4ALL), based at Virginia Commonwealth University’s College of Engineering, started as a global initiative to empower access to safe, affordable and effective medications. Today, we lead pharmaceutical advancements that combat everything from HIV/AIDS to COVID-19. Our institute optimizes the production of medications by creating lower-cost, self-sufficient, greener or more scalable manufacturing techniques. Everyone deserves access to lifesaving treatments, and we are designing processes that are affordable and efficient enough to be adopted by manufacturers across the globe.

In early 2020, M4ALL marshaled its resources to tackle the urgent new threat of the coronavirus. Our institute’s Global Health Division quickly focused on addressing the cost and availability of promising COVID-19 treatments. We're working with leading pharmaceutical companies to create more cost-effective ways to treat the virus. VCU and Medicines for All are committed to fighting today’s toughest diseases by sharing new breakthroughs with professionals around the globe at no charge.

VCU College of Engineering

VCU College of Engineering

Intensifying the process.

M4ALL approaches health care with a disruption mindset, finding new ways to maximize efficiencies and minimize expenses. We optimize each step in the process to generate results with fewer ingredients and less waste. By making the processes available to manufacturers, we enable them to produce medicines at lower cost — increasing access to the drugs in all parts of the world.

We reduce costs by using common ingredients that are available worldwide and creating new ways to successfully boost production. Our new methods benefit existing operations by requiring fewer steps and producing less waste. Several drugs around the globe are already being made with research provided by VCU’s Medicines for All Institute, including emerging COVID-19 medications and the antiretrovirals that will be used to treat over 90% of HIV/AIDS patients in 2022.

Innovating endlessly.

We are also leading the advancement of continuous pharmaceutical manufacturing, an innovative way to transform raw materials into active pharmaceutical ingredients using a non-stop flow. By avoiding the stops and starts of traditional batch methods, the final outcomes are more efficient and generate significantly less environmental waste. Because continuous systems reduce variations, they can also result in better quality and more consistent pharmaceuticals.

Diversifying sources.

The need for geographic diversity in the supply of lifesaving prescriptions is more important now than ever before. That’s why VCU and Medicines for All Institute are committed to making new discoveries and sharing that knowledge widely. We are training the next generation of chemists and pharmaceutical engineers in methods that revolutionize affordable, high-quality treatments. With VCU’s international prestige and M4ALL’s partnerships, we are improving the availability of global resources that fight disease.

Securing supply.

The ability to source medicines domestically has also become an urgent need in the United States. Of the more than 4 billion health-related drugs dispensed in the nation each year, only around 20% are made in the country. Even before COVID-19, it was becoming increasingly apparent that the U.S. had little independence in the pharmaceutical manufacturing arena. To prevent national shortages, we’ve joined forces with industry leaders to bring the supply of important treatments and their ingredients back to the United States.

Infusing practice with progress.

Fueled in part by M4ALL’s success, VCU formed the nation’s first Ph.D. program in pharmaceutical engineering. The doctoral program, a collaboration between VCU’s School of Pharmacy and College of Engineering, focuses on research and training students in areas of drug development such as continuous manufacturing and innovative drug delivery systems.

With skills honed by their training with VCU’s internationally recognized faculty — and immersed in the demands of real-world research — these pharmaceutical engineers will be part of the next generation of health care pioneers. Advancing skills and ideas that can only be dreamed of today, this emerging workforce will help ensure that our big ideas continue to change the world.

Medicines for All Institute is a powerful example of how VCU is transforming an industry.

See more of our impact

This content was paid for and created by VCU. The editorial staff of The Chronicle had no role in its preparation. Find out more about paid content.