Are CDMOs Shaping Up a More Holistic Pharmaceutical Industry?

 

It is not news, but it has to be said – industry expectations for "full service" CDMOs are changing.

Many pharmaceutical firms have, in recent years, begun to limit the number of service providers with whom they engage, developing strategic alliances with contractors that offer a larger variety of services. The goal is to reduce the time to market, boost efficiency, and reduce oversight and supervision duties.

While this trend continues, other variables such as growing customer and government quality expectations have also developed, impacting the breadth of skills that a full-service contractor is required to supply.

The CDMO pharmaceutical company sector is rapidly growing as a result of certain demands being placed on this sector. These demands are helping to shape a more holistic industry, all thanks to consistent engagement. Here are some of those demands and how they are helping CDMOs:

Demand 1: CDMO Consolidation

Initially, the CDMO sector was made up of experts from different pharmaceutical sectors and subfields who provided a narrow range of services with less-than-frequent overlap into some other requirements. However, as the market has gotten more competitive over time, consolidation has occurred, with larger CDMOs purchasing these smaller specialists to increase their range of capabilities.

Since CDMOs with a broad variety of services and a worldwide footprint are ideally positioned to relieve their consumers of complexity, M&As seem a good path to tread through.

Large pharmaceutical businesses are increasingly favoring a small number of suppliers who can provide a wide range of services linked with a specific but wide range of goods. Similarly, virtual pharma firms, specialized pharma, and generic suppliers expect a comprehensive and complete set of services, including manufacturing, development, and regulatory support. 

Demand 2: Technical expertise and quality

Full-service CDMOs should also have a larger breadth of technical competence. Customer expectations reflect rising quality demands, and it’s no surprise that some are requesting that their contractors meet greater quality standards than even regulators expect.

Also, making and selling high-tech, high-value items, such as those that require lyophilization, for example, is a challenging issue. Such items, for example, might be extremely delicate, necessitating specialized equipment and expertise.

These needs are forcing full-service contractors/CDMOs to further extend their skills in a range of sectors, either via investment (VC) or purchase of (again) smaller experts that consistently handle requirements of specific nature.

Outsourced services are becoming more popular in fields such as lyophilization and sterile liquid fill & finish processes, which require expertise and large investments.

Demand 3: Manufacturing Capacity and Flexibility

Another important factor for full-service CDMOs is the rising worldwide demand for pharmaceuticals. The pharmaceutical sector is experiencing massive volume demand at the moment, and this is due to the rising aging global population and new emerging economies and markets.

Catering to rising demand necessitates increased capacity for manufacturing. The best way for a CDMO to be effective is to possess and successfully run a diversified and well-established network of companies with different specialties.

Similarly, assisting pharmaceutical businesses in supplying medicines to new economies necessitates an established and flexible production infrastructure. It also requires proper knowledge of the requirements of cost-sensitive markets.

Conclusion

The growth of the pharmaceutical business is fueling the expansion of the CDMO sector, particularly full-service contractors that spend to provide complete and cutting-edge services. CDMOs that can handle more than one service are the best option at the moment.

One such CDMO is Sovereign Pharmaceuticals. We are a solid dose CDMO, formulation development CDMO, liquid manufacturing CDMO, and many other services you require of us. Contact us if you need any of these services. And you’ll be glad you did.