The global Covid-19 pandemic as well as geopolitical tensions and trade restrictions have drawn attention to profound geographical, technical, and structural shifts in pharmaceutical supply chains. Treatments are increasingly produced by highly capable contract development and manufacturing organizations (CDMOs)1. As new, extraordinarily sophisticated, advanced therapies (ATx) emerge to complement traditional large and small molecule treatments, this trend looks set to deepen and accelerate. Today, CDMOs are targeting an increasingly attractive business segment, in which pure play CDMOs and other market participants are taking on a growing role.
For the 2022 Global CDMO Study, we put together data from 150 of the world’s major players, classified according to the nature of their core business: pure play CDMO, PharmaCo CDMO, generics manufacturing CDMO, and pharma affiliate CDMO. This has given us vital insights into the routes to competitive advantages, especially for marketing authorization holders (MAHs) that are set up to collaborate with CDMOs, for CDMOs positioned to serve marketing authorization holders, and for others that aspire to closer commercial relationships (see Exhibit 1).