Three Key CDMO Trends for 2022 and Beyond

The past two years have been particularly impactful for the bio/pharmaceutical industry, causing unseen levels of growth, set to reach over $1.5 billion US by 2027.

From the race to develop vaccines for COVID-19 to innovations in novel biologics treatments and more, this scale of innovation has never been seen before.

But there have been many obstacles standing in the way of this progress, from supply chain disruption to lack of specialist capabilities to get niche treatments to market and more.

Here, our Contract Manufacturing Lead, Tom Wilson, looks back at these challenges and discusses the CDMO trends pharmaceutical companies must prepare for in 2022 and beyond.

CDMO Trend 1: Digital Transformation

The disruption to global supply chains caused by COVID-19 has led many CDMOs to rethink their business priorities and focus their attention on enhancing their operational risk profiles.

Many are turning towards digital transformation technologies and analytical tools to do so. Digital disruption of the pharma industry has been a recurring theme for a number of years now, but as calls for these new technologies continue to grow, they will become too loud for CDMOs to ignore.

For pharma to keep up, companies must prioritize their uptake and implementation of advanced digital manufacturing and analytical technologies. These are the connected, collaborative tools the CDMO industry needs to realize shorter development timelines and achieve the stable, secure supply chains that assure patients’ safe affordable access to pharmaceutical-based healthcare.

CDMO Trend 2: The Biologics Boom

We’ve seen an undeniable boom in the biologics space, which has been driven by the race to develop vaccines and immunotherapies for COVID-19. In 2021 alone, there were 61 new healthtech and 23 biotech unicorns created, many of which have now crossed the $1 billion milestone.

Although they’ve achieved incredible levels of growth, these biotech companies face real challenges when it comes to successfully bringing their new discoveries to market. Developing and manufacturing biologics is complex, requiring specialist equipment, aseptic processing and expert insight and support across the entire journey. Many new biotechs simply lack the infrastructure or in-house capability to develop their own discoveries themselves.

Those best placed to support companies in getting their innovations to market will be specialist CDMOs with a dedicated biologics capacity. We can expect more CDMOs to invest in new lines and facilities this year to accommodate further growth and support accelerating patient access to the latest biotech innovations.

CDMO Trend 3: OSDs for Cancer Treatment

Serving as a more patient-centric alternative to parenteral administration, the rise of oral solid dose (OSD) forms for cancer treatments is a key trend taking place across the pharma industry.

Treatments for these conditions increasingly harness highly potent active pharmaceutical ingredients (HPAPIs) with poorly soluble chemistries. This means that they often require resource-intensive, sophisticated formulation solutions to enhance their bioavailability as they enter the gastrointestinal tract.

However, while parenteral drugs are often easier to develop and can be brought to market faster, the patient centricity of OSDs mean that they are worth the additional time and financial investment.

Looking ahead of these CDMO trends

As the biologics space continues to grow, we can expect CDMOs to prioritize their investment into expanding their specialist expertise and capabilities in 2022 and beyond to achieve the ever faster development timelines and supply continuity demanded by the market post COVID-19.

To find out more about how Pfizer CentreOne can support you in the development and manufacture of your drug product, contact us today.