Eastman Kodak to secure US$765 million loan to manufacture pharmaceutical ingredients

(Reuters) – Eastman Kodak Co (KODK.N) will secure a $765 million loan from the U.S. government to produce pharmaceutical ingredients in the country, helping to reduce dependence on other countries by strengthening chains national procurement.

Shares of the company were trading at $8.80 after closing at $2.62 in the previous session.

The US International Development Finance Corp said on Tuesday it would sign a letter of interest to provide the loan to Kodak, a company best known for its cameras and imaging business.

The Trump administration has sought to build capacity to produce drugs and their raw materials in the United States after the COVID-19 pandemic exposed the industry’s dependence on China and the United States. 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 the Fox Network. Business.

In May, the administration awarded a contract worth up to $812 million to a new US company to manufacture drugs and drug ingredients in the country.

New York-based Kodak, founded in 1888, has a market capitalization of $114.6 million. The loan will allow him to launch Kodak Pharmaceuticals, a new branch of the company that will produce critical pharmaceutical components.

“By the time this thing ramps up, 25% of the (active pharmaceutical ingredients) for generics that we need in the United States will be in this facility,” Navarro said in the interview.

(Reporting by Dania Nadeem and Ankur Banerjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)