What are “3 Key Trends” shaping the CDMO industry in 2023 and beyond? Sofgen Pharmaceuticals’ vice president of business development, Alvaro Franco, shares his thoughts with Contract Pharma.

Rethinking operation models
The Pharma industry is expected to reach $1.9 trillion in revenue by 2027, increasing at a rate of 3-6% per year, according to IQVIA,¹ with some regions being driven by volume, and others by innovation. Growth in developed economies is projected to be slow, while other regions such as Latin America, Eastern Europe and parts of Asia are expected to have a strong growth. As the pharmaceutical industry continues to evolve, CDMOs will play an increasingly important role in drug development and manufacturing.

According to PWC,² companies will have a renewed focus on outsourcing as the pandemic evidenced some activities do not need to be co-located. Companies are redefining which operations are worth to have in-house and which would be better to outsource to take advantage of CDMO knowledge, capabilities, and services to improve the efficiency and quality of processes.

Sofgen Pharmaceuticals, part of Procaps Group, Latin America’s largest softgel CDMO, offers contract manufacturing and development services in softgel advanced technologies for pharmaceutical companies looking for differentiation, while simultaneously improving efficiency, and gaining access to specialized expertise, and unique technologies for fixed dose combinations in softgels as an example.

NASs launches increase
The demand for new therapies is growing. In 2021, a record 84 novel active substances (NASs) were launched, double from five years ago, the U.S. being the country with the highest number of launches.³ CDMOs are increasingly focused on developing and manufacturing these novel drugs by providing solutions adopting advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, and data analytics to optimize drug development and manufacturing processes. Some companies are looking to ease the delivery of drugs to patients by switching from more traditional, sometimes uncomfortable delivery forms such as injectables or topical formulations to more convenient oral dosage forms. This is the case withq some testosterone therapies launched recently in soft gelatin capsules, a proprietary therapy to help millions of patients suffering from the unwanted symptoms of testosterone deficiency.

Shift towards personalized medicine
The pharmaceutical industry is moving towards personalized medicine, which involves developing drugs tailored to specific patient needs. CDMOs are also increasingly focused on providing customized drug development and manufacturing services to meet the specific needs of their clients. Sofgen Pharmaceuticals, as an integrated CDMO, is investing in investigating what these specific needs are, so we can integrate our advanced oral technologies and services to tackle these needs in a more direct and specific way.

References
1. IQVIA. Global Use of Medicines 2023 Outlook to 2027. Jan 2023.
2. Next in pharma: Thriving in 2023.
3. IQVIA. Global trends in R&D. Feb 2022.