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Contract development and manufacturing organizations (

) are invaluable to the pharmaceutical industry, supporting ever-growing demand with efficiency, consistency, and innovation.

 expected to be worth more than $800 billion by 2028, CDMOs—especially those working with complex cell and 

—will be critical to ensuring that these advanced, targeted therapies can reach the most patients possible.

Below are 5 CDMOs who are poised to make the biggest impact on the pharmaceutical industry in 2025:

 now complete, Catalent is set to assume an even more significant role in the development and manufacture of advanced therapies. In 2024, Catalent announced several new development and manufacturing partnerships, including with IsomAB for its first-in-class antibody for peripheral artery disease; and Siren Biotechnology for its adeno-associated virus (AAV) immuno-gene therapies. It also recently expanded its OneBio integrated platform to include antibody and recombinant proteins, cell and gene therapies, and mRNA.

Coining the phrase “IDMO,” Cellares is innovating cell therapy development and manufacturing by offering a fully integrated experience for its customers. Touting process automation and seamless tech transfer to the company’s global network of “smart factories,” several major cell therapy players have partnered with the company to validate Cellares’ Cell Shuttle platform for cell therapy manufacturing, including Caballeta Bio for its CABA-201 candidate for autoimmune disease, and Lyell’s CAR-T cell therapy.

A long-standing CDMO powerhouse, Lonza is continuing to expand its footprint in the space with continued investment into their 

 sites, including a new drug substance and active pharmaceutical ingredient plant and a commercial drug product facility, both in Switzerland, and the addition of a biologics manufacturing site in the US that it acquired from Roche.

A CDMO spinoff of its larger parent company, WuXi Advanced Therapies continues to lead the cell and gene therapy space thanks to tools and technologies that help bring new therapies to market faster. Cell banking tools and scalable AAV production, as well as advanced analytical techniques, speed up the development process and help keep clients in compliance with regulatory standards.

The Seattle-based biologics CDMO is already the manufacturing partner for several FDA-approved advanced therapies, including a CAR-T therapy from Autolus Therapeutics and a gene therapy from Orchard Therapeutics. It’s expanding portfolio of services is designed to bring speed and precision to the space, making it a strong competitor in several burgeoning sectors, including monoclonal antibodies, lentiviral vectors, AAVs, and antibody drug conjugates (ADC).

Of course, there are many other players in the CDMO ecosystem who are rapidly expanding their offerings to keep up with pharma’s demands. Emerging CDMOs, including South Korea’s Lotte Biologics, have our attention with their rapidly expanding focus in the cell and gene therapy, monoclonal antibody, and ADC sectors. We’re also keen on watching how CDMO-adjacent service providers, including Ori Biotech and AiCella, continue to mold their offerings to help bring life-changing therapies to market faster.

Articles

Contract development and manufacturing organizations (CDMOs) are more critical than ever as the demand for advanced therapies continues to grow. Here are the CDMOs and service providers that are poised to make the biggest impact on the pharmaceutical industry. 

5 CDMOs to Watch in 2025

Melissa Green, head of global marketing for the healthcare division at TekniPlex, shares highlights from the company's presentation at INTERPHEX 2024. 

TekniPlex at INTERPHEX 2024: Advances in Materials Science

 sat down with Melissa Green, head of global marketing, healthcare division, at TekniPlex, to discuss the company's offerings and recent additions to its capabilities. 

TekniPlex is a global, integrated company that provides materials science and manufacturing technology solutions for healthcare, including the medical device, pharmaceutical, and diagnostics industries. 

During the show, TekniPlex demonstrated its expertise to support the burgeoning biologics market, including solutions for upstream and downstream processing and final fill operations, as well as single-use bioprocessing applications. 

“As the biologics sector continues its steady growth, so does the need for high-quality materials and components suppliers who can also be innovative solutions partners," said Chris Qualters, CEO of TekniPlex Healthcare, in a 

. “With our expanding capacities and innovative mindset, TekniPlex Healthcare is poised and ready to respond to the evolving needs of the sector, providing value-added solutions that help bring life-changing therapies to market.”

During the interview, Green also spoke to the advantages of the company's 

 in late 2023, which elevated the company to a full-service contract development manufacturing organization for medical materials science, specifically within the minimally invasive and interventional therapy devices space. 

Learn more about what TekniPlex has to offer by watching the video interview above. 

Videos

TekniPlex recently acquired Seisa Medical, which has expanded the company's services into that of a CDMO. 

How TekniPlex is Expanding to Support Innovative Solutions in Materials Science

Operations professionals address the impact of new regulations on manufacturing facility design. 

Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Facility Design

When it comes to manufacturing facility requirements, regulations and expectations never get less stringent, says Nadiyra Walker Speight, senior director, Drug Product & Finished Goods, at Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies. With that in mind, Speight, who recently sat down for an interview with 

, said that industry should always be aiming to exceed compliance expectations knowing that it's a moving target. 

Speight, who was joined by Christa Myers, senior fellow and vertical market leader, Aseptic and Sterile Products at CRB Group, agreed that new regulations, especially those spelled out within the European Union's Annex 1 guidance, can pose a significant challenge for pharmaceutical manufacturers. 

"Cost is ever-present. These facilities get bigger and bigger and bigger. We're starting to understand capacities for patients and companies so we can right-size facilities and get down to right costs for these facilities," Myers commented, agreeing with Speight that having an operations professional closely involved in facility design can help navigate difficult decisions that pin construction cost and time against efficiency in facility operations. 

In the interview, Myers and Speight further address the effects that the Annex 1 guidance are having on facility design and the importance of ongoing, quality-focused training for operations-level professionals to ensure the delivery of an optimal product. 

Click here for more coverage of INTERPHEX 2024. 

New regulations, including those put forth by Annex 1, require many pharmaceutical manufacturers to rethink their facility designs to promote compliance. 

How New Regulations Are Impacting Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Facility Design

Experts in sterile processing address challenges related to implementing guidance from the EU's Annex 1.

Annex 1 Alignment: Addressing Contamination Control and Risk Assessment

 updated guidance on the manufacture of sterile products is imperative for industry working within the EU or servicing EU-based clients. In an interview at 

sat down with two experts in the field to discuss some of the major challenges being faced by industry in their continued effort to align with the sterile processing guidance. 

"Across the industry, what we're seeing is a lot of people are at different states for Annex I in their facilities; many have done their gap analysis, they have a timeline to compliance, and are starting to work on projects, [while] others are just starting to understand where they are in the Annex 1 world and what that really means," said Christa Myers, senior fellow and vertical market leader, Aseptic & Sterile Products at CRB Group. 

Myers noted that for many in the industry, implementing a contamination control strategy has proven complex, requiring manufacturers to take a very close look at project-related risk. That requires accessing and evaluating data, which may necessitate some companies having to retrofit or replace in order to obtain those data. 

Another challenge is standardization. "When we have these industry workshops, I think that's more of what we're looking for is, 'How do we get a site to that point, instead of kind of leaving every individual site to do it on their own, and to figure it out on their own?' And that's how we end up with so many different looks to address the same issue," Nadiyra Walker Speight, senior director, Drug Product & Finished Goods at 

, pointed out. "That's one of the mindsets that I'm looking for is that we're not all attacking this from different angles, that we're able to interpret the regulation together and actually come up with solutions together," she continued. Myers agreed, calling for a more "harmonized approach" to implementation. 

Click here for more coverage from INTERPHEX 2024

At INTERPHEX 2024, Pharmaceutical Technology sat down with Christa Myers of CRB Group and Nadiyra Walker Speight of Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies to discuss implementation of Annex 1. 