Since the beginning of the 21st century, pharma M&A activity has exploded. Mergers and acquisitions, layoffs, and outsourcing of research and manufacturing have become common place in an industry that had previously been nearly immune to these activities. Whether or not this will translate into a more viable industry, however, has yet to be determined. Many of the mergers and acquisitions were predicated on increased efficiency in the discovery and development of new drugs and therapies as the lack of new products is a major threat to many branded pharmaceuticals companies.

Contract research and contract manufacturing organizations (CROs/CMOs) today are an integral part of the pharmaceutical industry. CROs and CMOs, however, do not only benefit from growth opportunities but they also face some new challenges. These issues were broached at a well-attended panel discussion during the recent edition of Chemspec Europe.

The well-established “Pharma Outsourcing Best Practices Panel”, a distinctive landmark of the pan-European trade show that in early June set up camp in Basel, Switzerland, was once again chaired by pharma industry veteran Magid Abou-Gharbia. The panelists included industry experts from Bristol Myers-Squibb, Merck, Pfizer, Siegfried, Johnson Matthey, and Piramal. They discussed global outsourcing strategies, the identification of outsourcing partners and approaches to mitigate risks, challenges associated with outsourcing and how to effectively manage partnerships with an audience from pharma, chemical and service companies engaged in contract research and custom synthesis of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs).

The attendees agreed that despite the tremendous challenges the pharmaceutical industry is facing the sector will maintain its commitment to innovation and the discovery of innovative drugs to address unmet medical needs. To succeed, pharma will continue partnering with CROs and CMOs as well as with academic institutions to provide quality drug candidates and APIs, improve efficiencies and productivity and address the innovation gap.