The Geopolitical Impact on Outsourcing Decisions in the Pharmaceutical Industry
Anna Codina from Bruker BioSpin discusses the Biosecure Act, outsourcing, and other pharma industry trends.
What we asked: “Looking ahead to the next 5–10 years, what will be the key disruptors and/or what can be improved upon in the pharma industry?”
Response from: Anna Codina, Senior Director Biopharma & Strategic Market Development, Bruker BioSpin
“Concerns surrounding national security have led to the US instigating the Biosecure Act, soon set to become law, which restricts federally funded drugmakers from doing business with ‘biotechnology companies of concern’.
“Given the drug development industry’s reliance on contract manufacturers, the Act could have far reaching implications for R&D and medicine manufacturing, with the potential to affect more than 120 US biopharmaceutical drugs in development, including those in clinical-stage development and early-stage preclinical trials. It could also lead to a rise in drug prices, with many biopharma companies losing access to low-cost R&D and manufacturing partners.
“In 2019, only around 28 percent of manufacturers producing APIs for the US market were based in the US, where they are unable to offset the labor and other cost advantages provided by contractors in China. Given the current geopolitical situation, pharmaceutical companies are re-evaluating their outsourcing strategy, considering other regions, reshoring, insourcing and strategic alliances. The migration of services from cost-driven companies to specialized CROs/CDMOs in expensive parts of the world will have an overall short term cost impact for the sector.
“The rapid outsourcing landscape changes, along with the associated cost and risks, the post-COVID therapeutic areas readjustment and patent expirations, are forcing key players in the sector to re-size. With ‘do more with less’ becoming the norm, companies are seeking to automate and digitalize to increase efficiency and profitability. Automated, self-driving labs are becoming a must have in drug discovery, with a firm promise to reduce attrition. Those are combined with digitalization platforms, including AI-powered medicinal chemistry and self-describing data assets that expand through the drug life cycle enabling data reutilization across the value chain, not only within a company but also with its ecosystem of partners.
“The use of technology to integrate resources and share knowledge across organizations expedites the scientific discovery process, particularly in finding global solutions to emerging global challenges. Disruptive automation and digitalization systems will empower biopharma to accelerate innovation and reduce time to market through improved collaboration.”
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