Externalised activities help to circumvent existing bottlenecks in business processes and, at the same time, accelerate innovation and business efficiency. According to the Pharma & Biotech 2017 — Review of Outsourced Manufacturing, the total outsourced market was estimated to be worth $71.5 billion in 2015 and is predicted to grow to $105 billion by 2021. In this study, 83% of activities were attributed to small molecule manufacturing; however, this number is likely to change as the demand for biologics supply increases.
In another survey, more than 70% of respondents indicated that there was an increasing demand for contract services, with primary motivations being the outsourcing of key competencies, owing to the fact many pharma companies lack in-house capabilities or because they are now working virtually. Overall, the contract manufacturing sector has above GDP growth expectations at 6.6%, mainly driven by
- emerging markets and an ageing global population increasing the consumption of medicine
- the entrance of smaller (sometimes virtualised) pharma companies that have limited manufacturing capacity
- a rise in patent expiry, with more generics competition driving a higher need for cost efficiency
- the increasing complexity of both small and macromolecule drugs, such as antibody-drug conjugates, which require access to specialised skills and novel technologies to produce.
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