Will the consolidation in the pharmaceutical industry level off at any time soon or is it here to stay and will even intensify?

Marcus Hannakam: We think consolidation will proceed as far as merged companies can still handle themselves in such dimensions. Currently we see the wheel of M&A turning even faster, although the financial burden of M&A may be substantial. A key objective of M&A is consolidation and thus improvement of financial KPIs. Therefore, changes in portfolios and pipelines are likely, and early projects in freshly merged companies are subject to review in their new environment. Financial restraints can hamper bringing early innovation to commercial launch.

How is Heraeus as a CDMO for anti-cancer hAPIs influenced by such dynamics?

Marcus Hannakam: Heraeus has been a key manufacturer of selected anti-cancer hAPIs for some 30 years. With its continuous history in Platinum processing since 1851, Heraeus has also reached its outstanding #1 position in making Cisplatin, Carboplatin and Oxaliplatin. Top quality and comprehensive service bundled with our team’s expertise in precious metals is our key here. Heraeus’ excellent track record with all major health authorities expedites our business into every corner of the globe. Today our portfolio also comprises various organic hAPIs and specialties. The clear focus of our strategy is on challenging hAPIs for oncology. Heraeus entered into its CDMO activities for new entities some years ago. Despite a fast ramp up, Heraeus, as always, has proven to be a reliable and confident hAPI partner through all the preclinical and clinical phases of our valued customers.

So far we haven’t been affected, because all of our customers and partners for hAPIs count on our long-term reliability as a value, which is independent from their in-house set-up. But reshaping companies could put off early projects if their strategy changed. However, they could outsource advanced projects to a CDMO with proven expertise and reputation. We see both approaches in the market.

Follow to read the full set of expert statements.