Petersburg is at the center of a nonprofit’s push to lower sky-high insulin costs.

What’s happening: Utah-based Civica Rx is in the final stages of building a $140 million insulin production plant in the city. It’s currently staffing up the facility and expects to begin retail sales in 2024, per Richmond BizSense.

Why it matters: Insulin is a lifesaving drug, but has become unaffordable for many patients, even with insurance.

• Civica Rx has pledged to sell the three most common types of insulin for just $30 a vial, a huge markdown from the more than $300-a-vial retail price patients face now.

What they’re saying: “I think it’s going to be transformative,” Aaron Kowalski, CEO of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, told the Times-Dispatch.

• The foundation contributed $6 million to Civica’s insulin initiative.

Details: Civica was formed in 2018 by a consortium of hospitals and philanthropic groups, and both HCA and VCU Health have signed on as partners.

• The company plans to produce generic versions of the three most popular types of insulin: Lantus, Humalog and Novolog.
• The plant will have the capacity to produce 90 million vials and 50 million pre-filled pens a year.

The intrigue: Civica chose Petersburg in part because of its partnership with Richmond-based pharmaceutical manufacturer Phlow Corporation, Civica’s senior vice president Allan Coukell said during a panel last week.

• Phlow was the beneficiary of a massive Trump-era contract to manufacture cheap generic drugs in the U.S. and has fallen under industry scrutiny for missing production deadlines.
• The company, which plans to sell raw materials to Civica, contributed $100 million to help fund Civica’s manufacturing facility.

What’s next: Civica announced last September that it’s also planning to open a 55,000-square-foot lab in Chesterfield at the Meadowville Technology Park.

• The company says the lab will provide quality testing for the Petersburg production plant and serve as a research and development facility.
• Between the two facilities, the company expects to employ 250 people in the region.

💼 Check out these fresh open positions in the city.

1. Business Marketing Communications & Branding Director at Vantage Specialty Chemicals.
2. Communications Manager at Clean Virginia.
3. Director Information Security Assurance at HCA Healthcare.

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🏛️ Senate Democrats refused to confirm three of Gov. Yougnkin’s appointees, including the state’s top public health official, Colin Greene, over his past remarks on race. (Virginia Mercury)

• They also blocked the appointment of Board of Education member Suparna Dutta, who was one of the most vocal supporters of Youngkin’s anti-equity education policies.
• Youngkin called the move shameful and “an appalling show of partisanship.”

🧑‍⚖️ The family of Adam Oakes, a VCU student killed in a hazing incident, is suing the frat he was trying to join for $28 million. (WRIC)

🐈 A kitten stolen six months ago from the Richmond SPCA was safely returned after she was picked up as a stray and identified by a Short Pump vet via her microchip. (NBC12)

🤠 Efforts to preserve one of the last giant cowboy hat Arby’s signs appear to have stalled. (Richmond Magazine)

• Local history museums said they didn’t have the resources or interest to add the sign to their collection.

🍳 Brick House Diner opened Tuesday in the former Kitchen 64 space and is now open daily for breakfast and lunch. (BizSense)

Hardywood West Creek may not have its in-house restaurant up and running yet, but the Goochland brewery did add 24 acres to its site last year — and a brand new disc golf course.

What's happening: Hardywood Disc Golf Course opened in late October and is already tied for second as the best disc golf course in Richmond, according to UDisc, an app devoted to the sport.

• It's the eighth course in the Richmond area.

How it works: Hardywood Disc Golf Course is open Tuesday-Sunday and costs just $2 per round or $3 for the whole day.

• Reservations can be made online, and discs are available for rent if you forget your own.
• Drinking Hardywood brews along the course is encouraged, but not required.

While it sometimes seems like pickleball is the only young sport anyone talks about, disc golf has been around just as long and also saw a huge surge in popularity during the pandemic, the New York Times reported last year.