More and more companies are encountering added pressures to reduce costs, risks, and time-to-market while maximizing efficiencies. They have converged on a common strategy of outsourcing non-core functions. A trend is developing where companies as small as start-up biotechs to the major pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical producers are outsourcing their peptide production needs. Whether a company needs research or GMP-grade materials, they are realizing enhanced cost-effectiveness and efficiency by doing so…
Tag: <span>contract manufacturing</span>
One of the major concerns facing relatively young biotechnology companies once a lead product has been identified is the issue of manufacturing. Usually this involves the upscaling of a lab-scale process while at the same time, complying with good manufacturing practice (GMP) to ensure a reproducibly-produced and consistent product. It also involves the establishment of specific and robust assays in process controls and release criteria. This issue has become more acute in the EU since 2004 due to the EU Clinical Trials Directive requiring GMP-certified production of investigational medical products even for phase I trials. Startup biotech companies are often limited in their finances and resources, as well as being bound by tight milestones. Quite often the expertise in upscaling and GMP-compliant production as well as the facilities and equipment required are not available in-house…
In today’s aggressive biopharmaceutical market, many drug discovery organizations, including both big pharmaceutical companies and small technology start-up companies, are outsourcing the development and manufacturing of their biopharmaceuticals to specialized contract manufacturing organizations (CMOs). Outsourced biopharmaceuticals range from those in early phase production to products that are well advanced down the development pipeline. As a result, there has been an expansion of CMOs that specialize in all aspects of biopharmaceutical manufacture, from process invention and development, through small-scale GMP production, to process validation and large-scale manufacture. The CMOs provide R&D services, quality function, and state-of-the-art good manufacturing practice (GMP) facilities needed for the production of biopharmaceutics. Using CMOs for biopharmaceutical process development and manufacture provides major cost savings by dispensing with the need to invest in experienced personnel and expensive manufacturing facilities…
Total market share of biopharmaceuticals is estimated to increase from $33 billion now to more than $45 billion in 2007. These numbers are accounted for by the 64 products approved by European and US regulators and some of the 500 products currently under clinical evaluation. More than 2,000 products are in discovery and preclinical development. Monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) and recombinant glycoproteins constitute a major part of these new biotech leads. The estimated demands for MAbs alone are more than 6,000 kg per year in 2006. Currently, 16 MAbs are licensed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for pharmaceutical use and more than 130 are in clinical trials. This fast-growing class of biotherapeutics is expected to reach worldwide sales of more than $15 billion per year in 2008. In the coming years, mammalian cell culture technology will remain the production system of choice for MAbs and other recombinant glycoproteins. Therefore, efficient, cost-effective production systems need to be in place to meet the demands…
It has been reported that the biotechnology-derived medicines area of the pharmaceutical industry led to 133 marketed entities with sales of $22 billion by the year 2001. By 2002, the therapeutic protein market had reached $32 billion, with biologics representing more than 50 percent of all drugs approved by FDA — up from a modest 16 percent in 1995. The biopharmaceutical market is predicted to grow to $50 billion by 2008. Currently, approximately 40 percent of biopharmaceutical products are in Phase I and Phase II clinical trials. It is anticipated that from 2003 to 2008 there will be a more than 45-fold increase in demand for access to product development facilities capable of supplying clinical material…
Several developing countries, including India and China, have young biopharmaceutical industries that have based much of their growth potential on the production of what are currently known as “biogeneric” products, or “bioequivalent” versions of biologics that have already been licensed in Western countries. With a disdain for foreign patents, an established philosophy of copying Western innovations, and success in generic pharmaceutical manufacturing, this approach appeared to be the logical way to build a biologic manufacturing industry. However, there are numerous problems with this development strategy. First and foremost is the inherent incompatability of the very concepts associated with biogeneric products…
Singapore’s vision is to become a global hub for the biomedical sciences (BMS) with world-class capabilities ranging from basic and clinical research to manufacturing and healthcare delivery. This vision encompasses pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, medical technology, and healthcare services. Singapore’s BMS initiative was launched in June 2000 with the goal of developing the industry into a key pillar of Singapore’s economy. It is overseen by a Ministerial Committee chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Dr. Tony Tan and implemented by an executive committee led by Mr. Philip Yeo, who is chairman of the Agency for Science, Technology, and Research (A*STAR) and co-chairman of Singapore’s Economic Development Board (EDB)…
In general, the industry has gone through another of its realignment periods, where much was learned, but a lot of restructuring and refocusing took place. Driven by the need to keep the doors open, small to medium sized firms had to do some severe belt tightening, or completely redefine themselves as to technologies, products, and personnel. Many of the larger firms reevaluated their product pipelines, and then made the changes they felt were necessary to assure future revenues, or to make themselves attractive merger partners. Numerous large mergers took place with some that were the largest the biopharmaceutical industry has ever seen. In addition, several medium-sized companies merged, or otherwise found strategic alliances that energized their product pipelines, or simply provided the cash they needed to keep going. Antibody products did very well with a number of blockbusters receiving license approval in 2003…