1. What roles do contract research organizations (CROs) and contract manufacturing organizations (CMOs) play in the drug discovery/development value chain today, and how will their role change in the future?

As catalyst supplier to the pharmaceutical industry, we also work with CROs/CMOs as extended workbenches of our customers. We see them as efficiency boosters now and in the future. If they develop the chemistry for making the molecule, we work with them in the same way as we work with the pharma companies directly.

2. How have the requirements by pharma companies changed over the years, and how can suppliers manage to live up to them?

Pharma companies used to go to the market looking for products to fit with the production parameters they developed in-house. Increasingly, we have seen that a growing number of firms are going to the market looking for solutions to certain production steps instead of a standard product search. For Evonik, this means we can demonstrate our flexibility, creativity and reliability. In order to stand out from other suppliers, we develop and provide current solutions as well as proactively working on optimizing our customers' catalytic processes with the next generation of catalysts. Here, the early involvement of Evonik's catalyst experts pays off.

Another challenge for the pharma industry is to reduce complexity so it can concentrate on its core business of developing new chemical entities and bringing them to the market. For example, catalysts in pharmaceutical syntheses invariably contain expensive precious metals. Careful management of this key raw material is critical. To support the industry, Evonik offers a comprehensive precious metal management consisting of precious metal sales/leasing and refining once the catalyst has been used in production.

3. Which new business models, like project-based or value-based outsourcing, could turn out to be the most promising guarantors for a successful cooperation with the pharmaceutical industry?

Value-based collaborations are becoming more and more prevalent in the pharmaceutical industry. For the Business Line Catalysts of Evonik, our mutual success with the pharmaceutical industry depends mainly on a close partnership. When we become involved in development work, the earlier and more openly we are brought into the knowledge exchange, the more precisely we can adapt our products and services to our customers' requirements, and the faster and more smoothly the process flows.