Top 10 CDMOs for 2019–2020
The stiff competition endemic to the international pharmaceutical industry has led drug companies to explore increased avenues for outsourced manufacturing. Contract Manufacturing Organizations (CMOs) have been filling this requirement by providing competitive services from drug development to drug manufacturing. Though the primary criterion for outsourcing and CMO selection was public pressure on drug and medicine prices, drug companies now choose CMOs based on a number of factors, including technology, location, current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP) adherence, and quality of services.
Listed below are the top 10 CMOs for 2019–2020 based on the above criteria:
1. Thermo Fisher Scientific (https://www.thermofisher.com/us/en/home.html)
The company was created in 2006 by the merger of Thermo Electronics and Fisher Scientific in Waltham, Massachusetts with a total value of $9 billion. Over the past 13 years, numerous acquisitions of other reagent, consumables and CMO service providers, including major ones such as Life Technologies Corporation in 2013 (for $13.6 billion), Affymetrix in 2015 (for $1.7 billion), FEI Company in 2016 (for $4.2 billion), Pantheon in 2017 (for $7.2 billion) and Becton-Dickenson in 2018 have made it the prominent player in the CMO/CDMO space. Thermo Fisher today is a Fortune 500 company, with assets worth $21 billion and revenue shares of over $24 billion.
2. Boehringer Ingelheim (https://www.boehringer-ingelheim.com/)
The German manufacturing company was established in 1885 and evolved into its current form through the merger of Boehringer Ingelheim KG and Dr. Karl Thomae GmbH, making it one of the largest biopharmaceutical companies in the world. In 2008 it acquired Actimis Pharmaceuticals (for $515 million) and had an asset swap with French drug maker Sanofi (worth $12.4 billion). The company also entered immuno-oncology therapy with OSE Immuno-therapeutics in 2018 worth $1.4 billion. As of now, the company has assets worth $30 billion and an operating revenue of $20 billion.
3. Lonza Group AG (https://www.lonza.com/)
Lonza Group is a Swiss pharmaceutical and biotechnology company founded in 1897 and headquartered in Basel, Switzerland. In 2011, Lonza acquired the American chemical manufacturers Arch Chemicals for $1.4 billion and the gelatin-capsule manufacturer Capsugel for $5.5 billion in 2016. Lonza group has procured CMO projects for producing monoclonal antibodies from GlaxoSmithKline and biological manufacturing from Bristol-Myers Squibb in 2010 and 2014 respectively. The company has assets worth $21.8 billion and sales revenue of $5.7 billion.
4. Fujifilm Holdings (https://www.fujifilm.com/)
Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd. was established in 1934 as a manufacturer of photographic films. The company later ventured into the medical imaging field, followed by expansion into the pharma and CMO sector. They acquired Biogen Inc.’s biologicals manufacturing facility for $890 billion, cementing their presence in this sector. The company has assets in the range of $21.5 billion and is located in Japan.
5. Samsung Biologics (https://samsungbiologics.com)
Samsung Biologics was established in 2011 when its parent company decided to diversify into the biopharmaceuticals and CMO space. Headquartered in Incheon, South Korea, the company boasts the largest biologicals manufacturing facility in the world, with a built-up capacity of about 360,000 litres. The company was built with a $22 billion investment and has already secured FDA approval for its monoclonal antibody manufacturing.
6. Catalent, Inc. (Catalent Pharma Solutions) (https://www.catalent.com/)
Catalent is a multinational corporation involved in biologicals, drugs manufacturing and gene therapy services based in New Jersey. The company acquired Paragon Bioservices in 2019 (for $1.2 billion) to expand into the gene-therapy arena and has an operating revenue of $2.52 billion.
7. Lupin Limited (http://www.lupinpharmaceuticals.com/)
Lupin Ltd. is a multinational pharmaceutical company located in Mumbai, India. They entered the US generic market in 2003 and are one of the leading manufacturers of API for antibiotics like cephalosporins. They have an asset value of about $2.5 billion.
8. Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories (http://www.drreddys.com/)
Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories is a multinational pharmaceutical company based in Hyderabad, India involved in producing generics, APIs, biologicals, chemicals and diagnostic kits. The company obtained its first FDA certified facility in the 1990s and has a current asset worth of about $2.1 billion.
9. Cadila Healthcare Ltd (Zydus Cadila) (https://www.zyduscadila.com/)
Zydus Cadila is a leading manufacturer of generics located in Ahmedabad, India. The company acquired the Brasilian firm Química e Farmacêutica Nikkho do Brasil Ltda (Nikkho) in 2007 for an unknown amount, and has an operating revenue of about $2 billion.
10. Cambrex Corporation (https://www.cambrex.com/)
Cambrex Corp. is a small molecule API manufacturing company that is headquartered in New Jersey. The company was involved in biologicals manufacturing, but sold this part of their business to Lonza Group in 2007. It has a net value of about $550 million.
