The Future of Biotech Outsourcing

Biopharmaceutical innovation is accelerating faster than ever, driven by new modalities, digitalization, and the race to bring therapies to patients faster. The role of contract research, development and manufacturing organizations (CRDMOs) has never been more critical for bridging the gap between scientific discovery and scalable, cost-effective production, helping innovators to overcome technical and commercial barriers.

Nick Challoner, CEO of technology-driven CRDMO Ingenza, believes the next phase of growth in biotechnology will depend not only on scientific innovation but on the industry’s ability to translate discovery into scalable, commercially viable solutions. In this Q&A, he shares with Contract Pharma his perspective on what customers now expect from their partners, and where companies like Ingenza must focus to remain competitive.

Contract Pharma: Briefly describe your background and how it has shaped your approach to leadership.

Nick Challoner: I think my career path was a little bit different from others at Ingenza, because the majority of my experience is within the commercial areas of high-performance ingredients, but I did spend a good part of my early career in R&D. One of my drivers throughout my career has been to really understand the R&D process. I have spent a lot of time commercializing science and innovations, and I love working with really talented people within the research sphere. A key skill I have developed over the years is decoding complex science into something non-scientists can understand, and aligning it with current or future market needs.

CP: What attracted you to Ingenza?

Nick: I was looking for an organization where I could make a difference very quickly, to help them grow or achieve their objectives in a short period of time, but mostly, I was excited about the technology and the space that they are in. I know the pharmaceutical, consumer care, and sustainability sectors well from my career experiences, and I was excited about helping Ingenza prepare for growth and execute its strategy.

CP: What capabilities will be most important for CRDMOs to remain competitive in this environment?

Nick: The pharmaceutical sector is massive, with many players. CRDMOs need to understand exactly what their customers want to ensure that the service they offer and the way they do business align with the market’s needs. For customers, speed in this industry is everything; the longer you take to develop something, the higher the cost becomes, which creates a disadvantage for the company trying to bring that innovation forward. Organizations are therefore typically looking for CRDMOs that can accelerate development and reduce development risk. For example, at Ingenza, our InGenius chemistry manufacturing and controls (CMC) platform enables rapid, risk-managed project execution to develop and optimize bioprocesses and protein development for a range of complex biologics and enzymes.

“For customers, speed in this industry is everything; the longer you take to develop something, the higher the cost becomes, which creates a disadvantage for the company trying to bring that innovation forward.” — Nick Challoner, CEO, Ingenza

CP: Technology is transforming the way development is approached. How do you see AI influencing biotechnology?

Nick: AI is a tool that can help us significantly in moving towards customers’ end goals of improving speed and reducing risk. But unless you integrate AI closely with expert knowledge and real-world scenarios, you will never be effective in meeting customers’ expectations. Customers’ views are starting to mirror ours, and we’ve heard from the industry that they also see the need for AI approaches in areas such as gene design to be supplemented by skilled biotechnological capabilities to deliver effectively in practice. This understanding has been driven by frustration with AI-only front-end models, whose results have often been unachievable in the real world.

The key to Ingenza’s success in the past and in the future lies in accelerating the uptake of our dual-engineering biotechnology program. Dual engineering is essentially the concept of applying AI or machine learning front ends—including our codABLE gene design algorithm and UNVAIL enzyme discovery platform—then filtering them through the combined intellectual capacity and experience of our team, and into our wet laboratory to deliver what the client needs. Because we offer both the AI front end and the wet lab, these parts of the business can keep talking to each other, which is continuously improving our hit rate.

CP: Ingenza recently conducted a strategic review. What was the main objective of that process?

Nick: There is one fundamental thing that’s important for the future of this organization: understanding exactly what its customers and the market need. That is central to how we operate. Part of the strategy review was to understand exactly what our customers want and, therefore, how we can ensure our service offering is 100 percent aligned with their needs.

CP: What are your priorities for Ingenza’s next phase of growth?

Nick: In the recent strategy review, we redefined our sectors into Human and Animal Health, which is where our traditional pharmaceutical business sits, and Sustainable Technologies, markets where sustainably delivered performance and broader trends are important drivers of demand. And when we talk about ourselves being a biotech company, what we really mean is a protein company. We see ourselves as ‘the’ protein company because we believe we are better positioned to help customers with their protein problems or development than anyone else out there. The reason that’s important for our pharmaceutical customers is that, if you look at modalities outside of the small molecule space, virtually everything is protein or protein-related, i.e., biologics, monoclonal antibodies, and mRNA are all based on protein systems. The market for protein therapeutics is about $300 billion and growing at a 10 percent CAGR, making it a significant opportunity for us.

CP: What are your ambitions for the future?

Nick: Our 2030 vision is to strengthen our performance to become the leading protein CRDMO solution provider across the Human and Animal Health and Sustainable Technologies markets. We’re going to build on what is a strongly performing company with a stronger customer focus, ensuring a greater understanding of the market and the sector’s performance drivers.

To learn more about Ingenza, click HERE.