Reviewing the Contract Services Market

In his annual presentation, Jim Miller, founder and president of PharmSource Information Services, will offer a detailed review of the contract services landscape. Topics will include the financial market conditions and consolidation in the CMO market, manufacturing capacity, pricing pressures, changing relationships with bio/pharma companies, and the industry outlook for the next few years. The presentation will be held on the INTERPHEX show floor's Innovation Stage on Wednesday, April 22, from 11 am to noon.

The bio/pharma industry can expect consolidation in the contract manufacturing industry to continue, said Miller in an October 2014 article, and contract service providers, therefore, must understand the global nature of the pharmaceutical business. A global network of manufacturing facilities, including both North America and Europe, is increasingly important, noted Miller in a December 2014 article.  

One area of interest to CMOs in the United States is biosimilars, since FDA's approval of the first US biosimilar came just last month (Zarxio [filgrastim-sndz] from Sandoz, approved in March). CMOs may wish to be cautious, however, because biosimilar ventures require assuming some level of financial risk, noted Miller in a February 2015 article, "Gauging the CMO Biosimilar Opportunity." Miller noted that US-based CMOs can learn from examining the experience of the biosimilar market in Europe, where the European Medicines Agency (EMA) first approved a biosimilar product in 2005.