An Executive's Checklist For CDMO Selection

By Mark Robbins, Chief Executive Officer, UQUIFA

New and emerging pharma companies have become innovative engines in the evolving landscape of today’s industry. Using novel therapeutic approaches, these small and midsize startups are filling current pipelines with niche drugs that address the unmet needs of smaller, targeted patient populations. Bringing these medicines to those who need them, though, requires outsourcing partnerships that can provide them with the resources and capabilities necessary for flexible and efficient drug development and manufacturing. This growing demand has resulted in widespread growth of the CDMO market, which is expected to reach a value of over $224 billion by 2025.¹

C-level executives typically focused on tasks related to the company’s financial goals often delegate the selection of their CDMO to others and do not become involved until they have to make or approve the final decision; however, with the future of small to midsize companies often riding on the success of only a couple or even one molecule, the consequence of failure is too high. Therefore, picking the right partner from the large field of contenders requires insight and experience of their entire team, all the way to the top. This calls on C-level executives to take an early and active role in vetting potential partners using a deeper understanding of the capabilities and characteristics a CDMO should have to successfully bring a product to market.