Patrick Lavery is an Editor for the MJH Life Sciences brands 

. Previously at MJH, he filled the same role for 

Patrick Lavery

CPHI Americas 2025 Interview - Christy Eatmon

As part of its coverage of CPHI Americas 2025, which was held in Philadelphia from May 20–22, 2025, 

® interviewed Christy Eatmon, global subject matter expert for Sterile Drug Products at Thermo Fisher Scientific, about the company’s presence at the event, and some of its latest ventures including the Accelerator Drug Development services that Thermo Fisher rolled out in the fall of 2024.

Also included in the discussion was Thermo Fisher’s contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) perspective on world events in 2025 and how they relate to the pharmaceutical industry, particularly higher global tariffs and the emergence of more widely used and available smart technologies such as automation and artificial intelligence (AI).

“I think in the past, CDMOs functioned as ‘just the hands,’ just a manufacturing house. Now we really want to partner with our customers,” Eatmon says in the interview. “We want to be the trusted partner, the team that’s bringing innovation to the market. We have added some aspects of AI to our processes. One of those to know, especially on the drug product side, is that we’ve integrated AI-assisted inspection. This is for large-scale commercial programs right now, but basically, we have a module where we’ve been able to decrease rejects, improving our yields, and then also using very expedited, very fast automated visual inspection—as every serial product, every unit, needs to be inspected, either by person, manually, or automated by a system of cameras.”

Click the video above to watch the full interview.

, where she and other representatives of CDMOs across the industry discuss the changing nature of outsourcing models.

Videos

Christy Eatmon of Thermo Fisher Scientific reviewed her company’s experience at CPHI Americas 2025 and discussed recent industry trends that are driving strategic partnerships.

CPHI Americas 2025: The Evolving Role of the CDMO

A doctor in a white lab coat shaking hand showing symbol of medicine innovation, treatment, discovery and healthcare analysis. | Image Credit: © chadchai - stock.adobe.com

 felt by many subject matter experts and key opinion leaders in the bio/pharmaceutical industry as the tariff policies of United States President Donald Trump's administration became a dominant topic of discussion at INTERPHEX 2025, held from April 1–3, 2025 in New York City.

These changes figure to shape what partnerships, and which types of partnerships, companies seek in R&D, manufacturing, commercialization, and other areas of the drug product lifecycle over the next several years.

What follows is a recap of some of those company representatives’ opinions, speculations, and in some cases, even preemptive plans to tackle a landscape that may not yet have definitively changed, but may be constantly shifting sooner rather than later.

Widespread uncertainty over evolving US tariff policies is delaying capital projects and supply chain decisions across the pharmaceutical sector.

Tariff impacts vary widely—US-based firms see supply-side disruptions, while foreign companies fear reduced access to US partnerships and markets.

Policy-driven incentives may accelerate domestic pharmaceutical manufacturing and automation, but progress hinges on clearer long-term guidance.

William Wainwright, business development manager at Iwata Label USA, a division of Japan-based IL Group, 

 many in the industry are feeling—a sense of not quite knowing what might come next.

“It's obviously a very dynamic situation, and it's changing quite daily, sometimes by the hour,” Wainwright said (1). “Definitely, if the tariffs do stick long-term, the business will have to adjust to that. But I think a lot of players in the industry are waiting to see if and how long the tariffs are going to stick around. Because, as we've seen ... they're there, they're not there, the percent is changing. Obviously, all that goes into the calculus.”

Christopher Murphy, director of Global Business Development and Service Customer Support at Environmental Specialties, 

 a slowdown of sorts in the progress of new projects.

“The biggest impact is the uncertainty, because we are in a capital investment world,” Murphy said (2). “Many companies, it would appear at the moment, are taking a wait-and-see attitude. Many projects are starting to become delayed, maybe pushed back, until it's understood what the environment is.”

A dichotomy emerged in these interviews, between the outlook of those companies based in the US and those that are not. Chris Gooding, general manager at CRL Solutions of Red Wing, Minn., said he 

did not anticipate his business would be significantly impacted

 in the near term, but did say that it does not operate entirely in a vacuum.

“The way that our products are made, as a government contractor, we source everything locally in the US, so for any of our US customers, obviously there's no impact,” Gooding said (3). “As we export and things change, there could be an impact there ... Like everybody else, I'm trying to see how this unfolds, but as of today, everything that we do is sourced through the US suppliers.”

 co-founder and CEO of RheaVita, which is headquartered in Ghent, Belgium. But de Beer’s concern was 

“This is all pretty new for us, as a European company,” de Beer said (4). “It creates some uncertainty for pharmaceutical manufacturing innovation. Some substantial savings are done toward the regulatory authorities, [and the] pharmaceutical industry, they need the regulatory authorities to support their innovation. So hopefully, these savings toward the regulatory bodies are not, let's say, limiting or making innovations slower. And of course, we also strongly hope that these tariffs will not scare American companies to invest in European technologies, which are also very beneficial for American companies.”

 head of Sales for Automation NTH, and David Loula, global product director for ITT Engineered Valves, noted their respective companies’ positions as US-based businesses that rely, or may rely, on foreign equipment, and the relationships they must foster to procure what they need.

“The biggest impact right now is on our ability to price components and lead time for things,” Sarvey said (5). “We do final assembly, and everything is designed and built, here in the States for Automation NTH; we're based in [the] Nashville, Tenn. area. But a lot of the components that we get, whether it be raw materials, aluminum, steel, or even electronic components like sensors or cord sets or even cameras or robots, are coming from overseas. So we have to make sure that we've got language in our proposals to say that although this might be the price right now, and this is the lead time right now, in 30 days that might change. It's been hard to hold on to that price and lead time for a longer period of time. It hasn't affected our design or what we use yet. So right now, it's just a little bit of uncertainty of, how quickly can we come to a solution with one of our customers or clients, and can they make a decision on it? And a lot of times on large capex [capital expenditure] purchases, it's a longer decision period, so the price is just in flux.”

Given the present rise in smart technologies, artificial intelligence, and the like, Sarvey said he is observing an effort to 

“Long-term, we have seen a few companies that are our customers that are reaching out to look at automated manufacturing stateside, where they had been producing the parts overseas,” he said (5).

Loula was already looking specifically at some of the most prominent countries the Trump administration had prioritized setting its sights on, China, Canada, and Mexico, in trying to assess 

how US manufacturers would act going forward.

“There's a lot of puts and takes that are taking place ... If you are procuring components or some of your supply chain is based, for example, today in China, you've seen a recent increase in tariffs on components coming out of China that has a direct impact on our costs, and it's something that we have to decide as to whether we're going to pass those costs along to our customer base or we're going to eat those costs ourselves,” he said (6). “The tariffs that are being applied to Canada and to Mexico and some of the other countries where other metals are being imported has almost more of an indirect implication on cost, because you don't always know if the steel components that you're buying have metals that were sourced in one of the target countries. So that one's a little trickier to figure out, but we're working closely with our supply chain to identify which of those items might have direct impact on our cost position.”

 from higher tariffs imposed by the US, said 

 co-founder and CEO of the biotechnology company Sunflower Therapeutics.

“I think if we think about the impact that it potentially can have on, for example, the biologics industry here, it provides not only an opportunity, but a strong incentive to onshore manufacturing, and potentially to actually do it in a way that, combined with automation, can create kind of the facility of the future,” Love said (7). “That's more of a distributed manufacturing concept, or a micro facility like we're seeing revolutionize the electric vehicle space or new textiles or food production. I think it's time that we think about how this could be a driver for us to do something similar for protein and biologics production.”

Murphy agreed that the policies could indeed lead to a business boom, but worried that progress was being halted as companies formulate responses and action plans that fit their unique needs.

“If the practices are successful in onshoring more manufacturing, then it could eventually be a net gain for our business and additional facilities being constructed,” Murphy said (2). “But at the moment, it just seems that many projects are being held while people are trying to determine what their spending model will look like.”

Similarly, although de Beer had expressed some doubt about the pace of innovation continuing at a robust clip, he said the changing tides don’t mean companies should stop developing themselves and their offerings entirely, or seeking out new and useful partners.

“Today, I would say there is some uncertainty,” de Beer said (4). “But on the other hand, I think we as innovative companies should also try and think on how to deal with that. And I think we should stay positive.”

Sarvey, meanwhile, attempted to put the US government’s intentions for the pharmaceutical industry in perspective.

“The end goal, I'd have to imagine, is to bring that manufacturing back,” Sarvey said (5). “It is a journey. It's a many-year journey. But we are seeing a few signs of opportunities where a company that was manufacturing elsewhere is interested in what a concept for an automation line would look like stateside. So, that's kind of the two ends of the spectrum.”

As alterations in US policies continue, so will pharmaceutical partnerships. However, the full impact of these changes may not be seen by the end of the current Trump term, and could have the potential to outlast it by years or more.

INTERPHEX 2025: How Functional Labeling Can Protect Parentals in Vials and Syringes.

, April 1, 2025.
2. Lavery, P. and Mirasol, F. 

INTERPHEX 2025: Use of Walk-In Chambers for Bio/Pharma Development and Manufacturing.

, April 2, 2025.
3. Lavery, P. and Haigney, S. 

INTERPHEX 2025: Beta Bags and Sterile Manufacturing.

, April 3, 2025.
4. Lavery, P. and Haigney, S. 

INTERPHEX 2025: Continuous and Controlled Freeze-Drying.

, April 2, 2025.
5. Lavery, P. and Haigney, S. 

INTERPHEX 2025: AI and Automation in Pharma.

, April 2, 2025.
6. Lavery, P. and Mirasol, F. 

INTERPHEX 2025: Innovations in Advanced Sensing Technologies that Answer the Need for Reliable Valve Function.

, April 3, 2025.
7. Lavery, P. and Haigney, S. 

INTERPHEX 2025: Automation for Protein Manufacturing.

Articles

The concerns of industry experts expressed at INTERPHEX in April 2025 are still pertinent in an uncertain global political climate.

Geopolitical Shifts Change Nature of Pharma Partnerships

This episode of Drug Digest will discuss the oral solid dosage market and the main challenges to drug developers, explain how CDMOs are leveraging expert techniques to improve OSD bioavailability, and look into the future of advancements in drug delivery.

Patient Preference Driving Solid Dosage Trends

In this exclusive Drug Digest video interview, Patrick Lavery, Editor, 

Group, interviews an industry expert about solid dosage formulation trends. During the discussion, the expert will detail what the challenges to developers are, what are currently some of the most frequently sought-after expert techniques, how contract development and manufacturing organizations (CDMOs) can leverage their experience in performing those techniques to improve oral solid dosage (OSD) bioavailability, and what the future holds in terms of advancements in OSD drug delivery.

Adi Kaushal, Director and Technology Head, Bioavailability Enhancement, Lonza

Adi Kaushal is the Director and Technology Head for Bioavailability Enhancement (BAE) at Lonza Bend. He has over 20 years of formulation experience and has been with Lonza (previously Bend Research) since 2010. Adi is responsible for overall BAE technology strategy and progression of customer programs from feasibility to commercialization. Adi’s group of over 50 experienced scientists and engineers are engaged in bringing new BAE technologies to product development, customer-centric advancements, and continuous improvement of Lonza internal systems. Adi also supports collaboration with internal R&D within the Lonza Small Molecules business unit.

Drug Digest is a tech talk video series with the 

® editors, who interview industry experts to discuss the emerging opportunities, obstacles, and advances in the pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical industry for the research, development, formulation, analysis, upstream and downstream processing, manufacturing, supply chain, and packaging of drug products.

 Developments in Small Molecule APIs, Excipients, and Ingredients

In this exclusive Drug Digest video, Adi Kaushal from Lonza summarizes the current state of the oral solid dosage market, identifies the main challenges to drug developers, explains how CDMOs are leveraging expert techniques to improve OSD bioavailability, and looks into the future of advancements in drug delivery.

Drug Digest: Patient Preference Drives Solid Dosage Trends

Abnormal plasma cell or b-cell in multiple myeloma emitting paraprotein 3d illustration | Image Credit: © LASZLO - stock.adobe.com

CellCentric’s $120 million Series C funding supports late-stage development of inobrodib, a novel oral p300/CBP inhibitor for multiple myeloma.

Inobrodib’s mechanism targets MYC and IRF4 expression, addressing therapy resistance in relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma patients.

Planned trials include phase II/III studies and combination therapies with bispecific antibodies, advancing toward potential regulatory approval.

A $120 million Series C funding round was completed by CellCentric, a Cambridge, UK-based clinical-stage biotechnology company, for the advancement of inobrodib, which CellCentric is developing as a potential first-in-class oral treatment for several specific types of cancer, notably multiple myeloma (1).

CellCentric describes inobrodib as a novel, oral p300/CBP inhibitor (1). The p300/CBP coactivator family is comprised of p300—also known as adenovirus early region 1A, or E1A, binding protein p300—and CBP, or CREB-binding protein, in which CREB represents cAMP response element-binding protein, with cAMP standing for cyclic adenosine monophosphate (2,3). Targeting this has a desired end result of lowering the expression of transcription factor MYC and interferon regulatory factor 4 (IRF4), two key drivers of cancer (1,4).

New pathway for multiple myeloma treatment

According to CellCentric, the majority of patients diagnosed with multiple myeloma eventually succumb to the disease, and many are either not eligible for, or become resistant to, available therapies (1). Inobrodib’s oral delivery and mechanism of action provide another option, and a phase IIa dose optimization clinical study is currently ongoing that is combining inobrodib with two oral treatments, pomalidomide and dexamethasone.

The Series C funding will be used to support initiation of a phase II/III study in heavily pretreated patients with multiple myeloma, development activities for a phase III program to start in mid-2026, and initiation of trials to start almost instantaneously, within the second quarter of 2025, combining inobrodib with bispecific antibodies (1).

Financing was co-led by RA Capital Management and new investor Forbion, with participation from Avego Bioscience Capital and BrightEdge, the venture capital and impact investment arm of the American Cancer Society.

“We are delighted to secure the investment required to continue to advance inobrodib fully and as effectively as possible,” Will West, CellCentric CEO, said in a company press release issued May 19, 2025 (1). “This is a significant raise in a challenging market. Today’s announcement is a testament to the data we have in hand, the clear clinical and commercial opportunity inobrodib represents, and the strength of our expanded team.”

“CellCentric has developed an innovative and impactful therapy for multiple myeloma with inobrodib, a first-in-class oral p300/CBP inhibitor,” Jasper Bos, general partner at Forbion, said in the release; Bos is joining the CellCentric board (1). “This novel agent has demonstrated promising efficacy and a manageable safety profile in early clinical trials. We are enthusiastic about supporting CellCentric as it advances inobrodib into registration studies, aiming to transform multiple myeloma treatment across various stages of the disease.”

The European Medicines Agency (EMA)’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) has moved forward several potential treatments for multiple myeloma since late 2024. 

 resulted in a recommendation for approval for a generic form of pomalidomide made by Teva, while conditional marketing authorization was granted for a trabectedin generic, from Accord Healthcare, for treatment of relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma at CHMP’s February 2025 summit (6,7).

CellCentric Secures $120 Million Investment to Advance Inobrodib for Treating Multiple Myeloma.

 Press Release. May 19, 2025.
2. National Cancer Institute. 

Definition of p300/CBP Bromodomain Inhibitor CCS1477.

 (accessed May 20, 2025).
3. ScienceDirect. 

 (accessed May 20, 2025).
4. Bae, S.; Park, P. S. U.; Lee, Y.; et al. MYC-Mediated Early Glycolysis Negatively Regulates Proinflammatory Responses by Controlling IRF4 in Inflammatory Macrophages. 

Meeting Highlights from the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) 16-19 September 2024.

Meeting Highlights from the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) 24-27 February 2025.

Inobrodib is being developed as a first-in-class oral cancer drug that the company says will be able to treat not only multiple myeloma, but other specific cancers as well.

CellCentric Completes $120 Million Series C Funding Round for Multiple Myeloma Treatment Inobrodib

After consulting with the World Health Organization, marketing authorization holders, and international partners and examining worldwide and animal study data, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) announced on May 16, 2025, that its Emergency Task Force (ETF) would be recommending that COVID-19 vaccines be updated for the 2025-2026 vaccination campaign (1).

The recommendation is based on ETF’s desire to target LP.8.1, a variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that caused COVID-19, which is the most prevalent variant circulating worldwide as of the first third of 2025 (1). It has passed the previously dominant JN.1 variant, for which previous vaccine formulas were updated, and is different from the JN.1 family.

 detailing the recommendation, EMA said LP.8.1 and XEC—the latter being another variant that had become dominant as 2024 turned to 2025—were both part of the BA.2.86 family of Omicron variants, antigenically different from the XBB variant that circulated in 2023 and others that circulated previously (2).

“A large body of evidence is now available to anticipate that, even if COVID-19 vaccines remain effective at preventing severe disease and death caused by new emerging variants, protection tends to decrease as the virus evolves into more antigenically distant variants,” the document said (2). “Studies have shown that matching the content of vaccines to the circulating viruses improves protection against the disease.”

Vaccines for other variants still approved

Novavax’s recombinant protein-based, non-messenger RNA (mRNA), marketed as Nuvaxovid, has gained full market approvals in the European Union and other countries and areas around the world as a COVID-19 treatment, and yet has only been available to date under emergency use authorization in the United States. On May 19, 2025, FDA approved the Biologics License Application for this vaccine in adults aged 65 and older, and individuals aged 12-64 who have at least one underlying condition putting them at high risk for severe outcomes (3).

However, the Novavax vaccine is formulated to target the JN.1 variant. While JN.1 sublineages are still emerging, EMA said, LP.8.1 has been shown to exhibit strong humoral immune evasion and holds potential to have the greatest growth advantage and increased transmissibility compared with other variants (2).

Despite that, the ETF said that vaccines targeting the JN.1 or KP.2 strains could still be considered for vaccination campaigns beginning later in 2025, until treatments specifically targeting LP.8.1 become available (1,2).

In the United States, the 2024-2025 COVID-19 vaccination campaign was launched with 

 that it had granted an emergency use authorization for updated versions of the mRNA vaccines manufactured by Moderna and Pfizer, both of which targeted the KP.2 strain, another Omicron descendant (4). Following FDA’s approval, those vaccines were available to the general public within days.

EMA said in its May 16, 2025, release that marketing authorization holders contact the agency immediately to discuss updates, as should companies still developing new vaccines which may be targeting other strains (1).

ETF Recommends Updating COVID-19 Vaccines to Target New LP.8.1 Variant.

 Press Release. May 16, 2025.
2. EMA, EMA/166854/2025, 

EMA Recommendation to Update the Antigenic Composition of Authorised COVID-19 Vaccines for 2025-2026

US FDA Approves BLA for Novavax's COVID-19 Vaccine.

FDA Approves and Authorizes Updated mRNA COVID-19 Vaccines to Better Protect Against Currently Circulating Variants.

The LP.8.1 variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus differs from the JN.1 family that previous vaccines had been designed to target, and has surpassed JN.1 as the variant circulating most widely worldwide.

EMA Recommends Update to COVID-19 Vaccines for 2025-26 Campaign

IRVINE, CALIFORNIA - 16 APRIL 2020: Student Center and Visitor Center Building on the campus of the University of California Irvine, UCI. | Image Credit: © Steve Cukrov - stock.adobe.com

The laboratory of University of California, Irvine (UC Irvine) Charlie Dunlop School of Biological Sciences assistant professor Reginald McNulty has published research on the current drug candidates that target the nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain (NOD)-like receptor pyrin domain-containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome, a protein complex that plays a central role in causing inflammation in response to infection or tissue damage. The research team has stated that it has discovered the first and only known drugs that bind directly to the pyrin domain (1).

No such drug has yet been approved by FDA despite years of investigation, according to a UC Irvine press release (1). And when left unchecked, the McNulty lab said, NLRP3 can contribute to chronic inflammatory diseases affecting millions globally—everything from arthritis to Alzheimer’s disease to rare genetic disorders—or otherwise damage the body rather than protecting it.

“The NLRP3 inflammasome is a key mediator of the innate immune response to pathogen infection or tissue damage,” McNulty said in the press release (1). “Some humans have mutations in NLRP3 that make them more susceptible to the plethora of disorders and diseases NLRP3 is involved in, ranging from autism and arthritis to liver disease. Yet there are currently no FDA-approved drugs that target it.”

McNulty’s team concluded that the present crop of candidates to treat it, their discovery excluded, falls short in numerous areas, such as poor targeting or unwanted side effects (1).

“A significant challenge is to design an NLRP3 inhibitor that doesn’t bind domains previously shown to have ill-desired off-target effects,” McNulty said (1). “We showed that the pyrin domain has a similar structure to human glycosylase, and that inhibitors targeting one could be repurposed to inhibit the other.”

 describes its design of molecules that resemble damaged pieces of DNA, using oxidized guanine, which were deployed to block NLRP3 at the pyrin domain, preventing it from jump-starting a series of reactions that result in inflammation (1,2).

With an eye on next-generation anti-inflammatory therapies, the lab is now using cryo-electron microscopy to visualize the binding of the molecules to the pyrin domain, with safety and efficacy testing in a clinical setting being the next step (1).

“Progress in clinical trials will be key in advancing our understanding of mitigating inflammasome-based diseases,” McNulty said (1).

Investigation into the NLRP3 inflammasome can be lucrative. In September 2022, 

 for exclusive, worldwide rights to develop and commercialize candidates from Ventus Therapeutics’ portfolio of peripherally restricted NLRP3 inhibitors (3). At that time, Ventus’ lead NLRP3 inhibitor program had been indicated for nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, chronic kidney disease, and several other cardiometabolic conditions. Ventus retained the right to develop NLRP3 inhibitors for certain systemic diseases, including specific inflammatory and respiratory diseases, as well as worldwide rights to the company’s brain-penetrant NLRP3 inhibitor program.

UC Irvine Researchers Explore Promising New Pathway for Treating Inflammatory Diseases.

 Press Release. May 15, 2025.
2. Cabral, J. E.; Wu, A.; Zhou, H.; Pham, M. A.; Lin, S.; and McNulty, R. Targeting the NLRP3 Inflammasome for Inflammatory Disease Therapy. 

Ventus Therapeutics Enters Exclusive Development and License Agreement with Novo Nordisk for NLRP3 Inhibitor Program.

Researchers say they have discovered the first drug mechanism that binds to the pyrin domain to block NLRP3 and prevent a series of reactions resulting in inflammation.