Jim Miller

The evolving bio/pharmaceutical business model poses risk for CMOs.

During the past decade, big pharmaceutical companies have been making major efforts to restructure their manufacturing networks. In their haste to shed costs and assets, however, some may be adding risk to their product supply chains.

Is there a point in a CRO's life when contract services begin to look less attractive as a strategic business opportunity? Executives at PPD (NC, USA) seem to think so.

Despite the market downturn and financial meltdown, private equity investors are lining up for pharmaceutical services businesses.

The European dose CMO sector appears to be very vibrant, probably more so than the market in the US.

CMOs must find new business models and strategies that reflect the many dimensions of the industry's realities...

Most CROs are entering China with expectations that a significant local market opportunity will develop as major pharmaceutical companies establish research development operations there...

As globalization of drug development and manufacturing gathered steam in the early part of this decade, many pharmaceutical companies in the newly-favoured regions of Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America added contract services as adjuncts to their generic API and dosage form businesses. These new units, which in India are known under the unfortunate acronym of CRAMS (contract research and manufacturing services), were opportunistic responses to the growing outsourcing trends. Unfortunately, in many cases, they were not truly strategic commitments to the services business.

Contract manufacturers serving the biopharmaceutical market add capacity in a bet on renewed growth for biomanufacturing.

A big problem for the industry seems to be that Phase II has become something of a 'black hole' for drug development; new drug candidates can't seem to escape once they enter.