The Patient-Centric Synergy of Pharmaceutical CDMO and CRO Collaborations

Pharmaceutical collaborations are nothing new to the industry. Increasingly complex drug development programs, calls for supply chain resiliency, and the involvement of all key stakeholders throughout a drug’s development lifecycle are pushing contract development and manufacturing organisations to partner with their counterparts in research.

Deals between pharmaceutical CDMOs and CROs have resulted in billions of dollars in M&A transactions. 48 deals between pharmaceutical CDMOs and CROs were made in the first half of 2021 alone. The CMO industry counted 479 deals between 2018–2022 of either whole companies or individual facilities. 

The benefits of these partnerships and M&A decisions include: 

• Efficient speed-to-market processes 

The drug discovery, development, and commercial pipeline will benefit from fewer disruptions and transfers of samples, products, and technologies between companies. Ultimately, a pharmaceutical CDMO and CRO collaboration aims to provide ample product availability on shorter timescales. 

• Clinical trial support 

The organisation and orchestration of a clinical trial will benefit from clear and concise communication between pharmaceutical CDMOs and CROs in partnership. Expanded geographic reaches offered by both organisations can increase access to expertise in specialised therapeutic areas and establish patient-centred trial frameworks. Decentralised clinical trials are also on the rise as patients become more invested in their healthcare treatment journeys.  

• An industry-wide mindset shift 

"Companies and their leadership have to be very intentional about the values that they are embedding into the organisation,” states Brenda Bruker, Thermo Fisher Scientific’s Executive Director, Integrated Supply and Delivery Services. “A shared vision and values from the top and across all teams is critical. That’s part of what we do – we drive that level of communication and training across the organisation to ensure that everybody understands their role in the process, even down to each individual and what role they can play in maximising the customer experience.” 

This idea of optimising a patient’s experience with the drug they are taking is not a new idea. Patient-centricity has been a main topic of discussion throughout the pharmaceutical supply chain. Pharmaceutical players who want to position themselves as leaders in the industry must begin to consider the patient as integral to the design and manufacture of their product. As the industry blurs the operational designations between CDMOs and CROs, an intentional collaboration between the two can result in the patient-centric future the industry has been discussing for years. 

Our latest Trend Report in collaboration with Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. takes a look at how collaborations between CDMOs and CROs have developed and where they intend to go. We also examine how such partnerships can ultimately lead the drive towards patient-centricity within the pharmaceutical industry, paving the way for a true nexus between patient and Big Pharma.