Michael Kadan, Ph.D., MBA, Chief Operating Officer, Vector BioMed
First, it’s imperative to address economic and market trends and stressors that developers face to gain a deeper understanding of the role of contract development and manufacturing organizations CDMOs. Various factors have impacted funding to drug developers: uncertain federal funding, recent safety concerns with some gene therapies, and the general tight economic environment from market instability. These factors are causing drug developers to delay or cancel programs. The impact this has on CDMOs (as a result) is fewer orders and longer development timelines.
From a cell and gene therapy (CGT) CDMO perspective, we’ve seen a step back in specialization and services from many CDMOs, and this has led to a sizable (negative) impact on CGT-specific capabilities. It has rerouted projects and developers/organizations to find capabilities and capacities elsewhere, which isn’t just a plug-n-play process. It brings along with it delays and a slowdown of innovation — which undoubtedly further disrupts funding and business feasibility/viability. Tech and therapeutic pipelines are likely retooling and consolidating to make realistic pushes from Q4 2025 through to early 2027. So, in 2026, the industry will be working feverishly to connect projects to the right service providers to maintain momentum and relinquish chances of commercial success. 2026 will be an important year for biopharma and CDMOs to sort out partnership success — within the existing climate.
Anil Kane, Ph.D., Global Head of Technical & Scientific Affairs, Pharma Services, Thermo Fisher Scientific
The pharmaceutical market is expected to see steady growth, with varying regional and therapeutic area trends. For example:
- GLP-1 obesity drugs will help drive overall prescription drug sales growth. We are likely to see approvals for many new molecules in this therapeutic area in the next few years, based on the number of ongoing clinical trials and a fierce race to prove their efficacy.
- High-growth areas include treatments for solid tumors, metabolic disorders, and diabetes. Oncology is a major market segment and will remain the most valuable therapy area into 2030, as pharma companies seek to address the growing unmet need for these therapies and improve patient outcomes.
- Therapies for inflammatory diseases, such as Dupixent and Skyrizi, will account for two of the top 10 drugs by 2030. This is a sign of the shift toward treating larger patient populations, as opposed to rare diseases.
- We’re witnessing an innovation era across new modalities and technologies, such as antibody–drug conjugates (ADCs), cell and gene therapies, and radiopharmaceuticals, all of which will grow steeply into 2030.
Alongside these drivers, a sharp rise in licensing deals between global biotech and big pharma companies means that CDMOs must prioritize innovation and create access to new technologies that can further cutting-edge drug development. That’s why, at Thermo Fisher Scientific, we continue to focus on working in lockstep with our partners to meet the demands of the industry, whether that’s increasing capabilities and capabilities or strategically planning to support high-growth therapeutic areas.
Chris Chen, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer, WuXi Biologics
There are two major trends shaping the industry. The first is the evolving landscape of biological products. The growth engine is gradually shifting from traditional mAbs to novel antibodies with more complex mechanisms and higher technological barriers, including bispecific antibodies (bsAbs) and ADCs. This surge in demand is driving CDMOs to develop new technology platforms and enhance our service capabilities to effectively support clients’ innovative therapies.
The second trend is the shift in industry structure. We have observed that an increasing number of biotech companies now possess the capabilities to bring their products to market, without the need to license or sell product rights at the early R&D stage. And they often choose to outsource certain tasks to CDMOs, as they lack comprehensive experience in chemistry, manufacturing, and controls (CMC) and manufacturing. Service providers like WuXi Biologics that offer integrated platforms spanning discovery, development and manufacturing are uniquely positioned to enable them and create greater value across the industry.
Randy Dyer, Vice President Marketing, Elegen
In 2025, one of the biggest bottlenecks for many CDMOs isn’t cleanroom space or bioreactor capacity — it’s the upstream supply of high-quality DNA. Whether for mRNA vaccines, personalized cancer therapies, or gene-modified cell therapies, every program starts with DNA, and delays at this early point cascade downstream.
Traditional plasmid-based workflows can add weeks to timelines due to cloning, linearization, and purification and are especially limiting when sequences are long, complex, or considered “unclonable.” This constrains how many programs a CDMO can run in parallel and slows technology transfer for new clients.
Cell-free DNA manufacturing platforms, which remove these upstream delays, are now gaining traction. New technologies from companies like Elegen, Touchlight, and 4basebio offer long, complex synthetic DNA that eliminates cell-based cloning and delivers high-fidelity DNA in days, not weeks, enabling CDMOs to:
- Iterate faster in process development
- Support more clients without expanding infrastructure
- Start production runs sooner
- Reduce supply chain risk by eliminating reliance on bacterial cloning
As cell-free DNA platforms gain adoption, DNA supply is shifting from a constraint to a competitive advantage — enabling faster project starts, higher throughput, and a more agile response to market demands.
Mike Kosko, Global Business Director, Grace Fine Chemicals Manufacturing Services
In my opinion, the single largest factor today impacting CDMO capacity and pipelines is the explosive demand and potential for GLP-1 drugs. This year, the global market for GLP-1s to address type 2 diabetes and obesity has been estimated at $53 billion by some sources, and by 2030 the market is projected to reach a staggering $157 billion. The results of a KFF tracking poll conducted in May of 2024 found that in the U.S. 1 in 8 adults (12.5%) has tried a GLP-1 medication at some point, with 6% of adults currently using one.
The impact on CDMOs will be significant, especially as the competitive landscape of companies with products in development becomes more diverse. Currently, GLP-1 products are supplied by two large companies, one based in the U.S. and one in Europe. But with dozens of new GLP-1 drugs in development, many by smaller companies, the use of CDMOs is expected to increase substantially as these companies are less likely to have the range of capabilities needed to produce products in-house.
As we head into 2026, I’d expect companies with products in development to secure their supply chains in preparation for continued development and eventual commercialization. This presents a great opportunity for CDMOs to partner with these drug sponsors for development and commercialization of not just the GLP-1 drugs but also precursor materials, such as complex peptide building blocks.
Saharsh Davuluri, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, Neuland Laboratories Limited
The rise of advanced modalities, combined with faster pipeline execution and innovators taking a more open stance toward outsourcing to ensure optimal capital allocation, has created a significant backlog in access to certain specialized capabilities and capacities. We see this trend continuing in 2026 even as this has a knock-effect on small molecules and especially peptides.
We are continuing to see geopolitical uncertainties play an increasing role in the decision-making criteria of sponsors, and CDMOs will need to ensure that they have a clear, differentiated value proposition to overcome any disadvantages posed by geopolitics. Biotech has faced a funding winter, but we see that easing — especially where the data are strong, and I believe conditions will improve in 2026.
As with other industries, CDMOs are also undergoing digital transformation with AI integration, enabling faster and more precise development, as well as manufacturing services. In the short to medium term, CDMOs are likely to use digital capabilities to differentiate themselves before they become table stakes.
Another long-term trend which is becoming more apparent is the increase in biopharma companies seeking CDMOs that act as strategic partners rather than as transactional service providers. This is being driven both by the complexities of the new modalities and the need for CDMOs to offer more than just manufacturing but also drive innovation.
Prasad Raje, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer, LGM Pharma
The most significant market trend affecting CDMOs in 2025 is the continued capital pullback from the biotech sector. After several years of strong inflows and development activity, the industry has experienced a notable contraction since its 2021 peak. Many programs that would typically progress from early-phase development into manufacturing are now paused or delayed, resulting in a growing backlog that impacts CDMO pipelines. This has made capacity planning and resource allocation increasingly complex.
Evolving regulatory and economic policies have increased uncertainty, leading investors to become more selective and risk averse. While recent circumstances have stalled a rebound in funding, we expect a shift in 2026 with economic conditions beginning to stabilize. As investment returns, we anticipate a reactivation of programs and a renewed focus on innovation that will help CDMOs restore more balanced portfolios.
Jeff Goldman, General Manager, Ensorcell
CDMOs are always subject to the number of programs advancing from research to process development and then to early-stage clinical batches, which can ebb and flow. This can lead to a mismatch one way or the other for available capacity. This is especially true in the CGT space, where a glut of investment around 2020 may have over-anticipated the demand for emerging therapies.
CDMOs need a healthy pipeline of client projects spanning process and analytical development and early and late-stage programs to be successful. The past few years have shown a lot of additional volatility with questions about changes in processes, people or scope of regulatory bodies, domestic sourcing in any given region, and lowered investment in new start-ups.
However, there have been some positive indications that funding is returning to prior levels for promising new therapies and modalities. But in many cases, CDMOs must anticipate demand and be in the right place at the right time with a long-term approach to the technology and service offer. The capacity, capabilities and equipment CDMOs have available/accessible deeply impacts the ability to gain and retain clients.
Timothy Compton, Chief Strategy Officer, Alcami
Several factors are driving the high demand for U.S.-based CDMO capacity. Key influences include tariffs and the Biosecure Act, which are significantly contributing to this growth and have already begun to change industry behavior. CDMOs like Alcami, which have recently expanded their domestic capacity and bandwidth to onboard programs swiftly, are well-positioned to continue experiencing growth in 2026 and beyond.
Tommy Duncan, Ph.D., Chief Business Officer, Touchlight
Cell and gene therapy CDMOs are facing a market that is different than was envisioned during the period of rapid expansion of CDMO capacity in the late 2010s and early 2020s. The current risk-averse funding environment, as well as regulatory uncertainty, have left CDMOs extremely underutilized. In the face of this challenging funding environment, development companies have shifted priorities away from platform development and emphasized pipeline hygiene, where there is a focus on fewer clinical programs and on delivering a single program, which has led to an underutilization of CDMO capacity. While development companies are concentrating on fewer clinical programs, they are also increasingly outsourcing development and manufacturing to CDMOs, driven by the availability of CDMO capacity and the high cost of building internal capabilities.
Greater investment in the cell and gene therapy industry in 2026 and beyond may lead to changes in development company pipelines. With more funding available for early-stage biotech companies, there would be greater potential to again have a more diverse portfolio of technologies and programs within a single development company, and therefore the opportunities for CDMOs could increase.
Bill Humphries, Chief Executive Officer, MedPharm
Two trends that stick out to me this year are tariffs/onshoring and GLP-1s. The impact of tariffs is becoming clearer over the calendar year, and with that clarity comes a call to action for life science companies as they examine their supply chains and their approach to manufacturing and to moving finished good around the globe to serve patients. My view is that the current administration sees a role for tariffs in economic policy and thus they are here to stay, in one form or another, for at least the next three years, so the impact will be from 2026 through 2028, and probably beyond, as unwinding tariffs is not a trivial matter.
GLP-1s are not new news, they continue to help patients with many different afflictions improve their health and their quality of life. Given the demand for sterile fill finish of already marketed products, plus demand that will result from the additional injectable and oral products in development, capacity constraints will continue to be a challenge. Many CDMOs are racing to serve those needs. As this well-known molecule continues to expand utility the demand will continue into 2026 and beyond, with the only major shift being the potential for oral GLP-1s to rival some of the market for injectables and the emergence of dosing schedules that mirror other injectables in the market by requiring less frequent dosing and loading doses.
Anil Busimi, Vice President Strategy and Marketing, Terumo
In 2025, several economic and market trends are reshaping the CDMO landscape, driving both capacity expansion and strategic pipeline evolution.
Among the strongest trends is the growing demand for biologics and complex molecules, particularly in cell and gene therapies and mRNA-based drugs. These advanced modalities require specialized infrastructure and expertise, prompting CDMOs to invest heavily in high-containment facilities and cutting-edge technologies. The injectable drug pipeline continues to expand rapidly, fueled by innovations and huge market demand in therapeutic areas, such as GLP-1 receptor agonists and weight loss drugs. These treatments are usually paired with intuitive self-injection systems to enhance patient experience. This is just one example of how a patient-centric mindset is influencing CDMO strategies. The shift from hospital to home care is accelerating demand for pre-filled syringes (PFS), auto-injectors, and wearable drug delivery devices. CDMOs must now integrate device development and assembly into their service offerings to remain competitive.
Meanwhile, geopolitical tensions and ongoing tariffs are impacting global supply chains, prompting CDMOs and their customers to seek regional diversification and supply chain resilience. This trend is driving nearshoring and dual-sourcing strategies, which in turn affect capacity planning and investment decisions. Furthermore, combining the just-mentioned supply chain instability with intense competition among molecules, rivalling for market entry, we observe an increased demand for flexibility and accelerated time-to-market, prompting the CDMOs to embrace modular manufacturing platforms, digital technologies, and agile project management methodologies to expedite development timelines. The industry is also undergoing consolidation through mergers and acquisitions (M&A) as larger players seek to expand capabilities, geographic reach, and service portfolios. This consolidation can enhance scalability but may also reduce competition and innovation in certain niches.
Finally, sustainability is becoming a non-negotiable priority. CDMOs are increasingly expected to reduce their environmental footprint through energy-efficient operations, waste reduction, and green chemistry practices, aligning with broader ESG goals of their clients. Together, these trends are redefining the CDMO’s value proposition, requiring strategic agility, technological investment, and a deep understanding of evolving market needs.
Key market trends seen above are not temporary, some of them — such as the patient centricity approach and the shifting from hospital to home care — are existing from some years now and are shaping CDMO capacity and pipelines. This effect will continue to influence the industry in 2026 and beyond. In response, we are actively investing across multiple dimensions, including advanced manufacturing technologies, capacity and global footprint expansion, device integration, supply chain resilience, sustainability initiatives, and strategic partnerships, to ensure we remain aligned with these evolving demands and deliver flexible, high-quality solutions to our customers.
Yann D’Herve, Chief Executive Officer – CDMO, Cohance Lifesciences
The mega trends remain unchanged. The global population continues to grow, and access to healthcare and medicines is steadily increasing. Overall, this means that innovation in the pharmaceutical industry will continue.
In parallel, the U.S. government is now focusing more on chronic diseases, such as respiratory conditions, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer. This shift will likely lead to increased demand for CDMOs across the board, from small molecules to biologics and advanced therapies.
Andreas Raabe, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer, Adragos Pharma
The CDMO capacity and pipelines landscape of 2025 is being significantly shaped by several key economic and market trends. These include rising costs, driven by increased prices for raw materials and transportation, which are causing the compression of margins, especially as pharmaceutical companies face limits on their ability to pass costs on to customers. At the same time, there is a shift in demand toward discretionary therapies. These drive pharmaceutical companies and CDMOs to dedicate their most precious resources — capacity, capital, and talent — to high-value products.
The inevitable result is a capacity crunch: a critical bottleneck in complex injectable dosage forms, such as pre-filled syringes. Looking ahead to 2026, this capacity constraint is expected to intensify, especially as a greater number of complex products, including more biologics, enter the market.
Compounding these pressures is the upcoming patent cliff for major drug products, which will unleash a torrent of demand for the manufacturing of biosimilars. Critically, these products will be competing for the very same specialized, complex injectable capacity that is already in short supply.
In this evolving environment, CDMOs that have the foresight to secure capacity for complex injectables ahead of the curve will not just navigate this challenging market but are perfectly positioned to command it.
John Lee, Ph.D., Global Head of Cell & Gene Therapy, SK pharmteco
In 2025, one of the biggest forces shaping CDMO pipelines is the policy-driven push toward onshoring and regional diversification. While the BIOSECURE Act has softened and some Chinese players have divested U.S. assets, the current administration’s focus on tariffs and reshoring incentives is putting real pressure on sponsors to rethink their global manufacturing footprints. Even the possibility of tariffs on imported pharmaceuticals has accelerated investment in U.S. and European capacity and the FDA’s recent moves to highlight onshoring reinforce the expectation that policy will continue to favor localized supply.
Looking ahead to 2026, I expect this momentum to build. Sponsors are increasingly prioritizing redundancy and resilience over cost, which means more tech transfers, dual-sourcing strategies, and capacity commitments in lower-risk regions. A key dynamic will be how much work sponsors bring in-house versus what stays with CDMOs; most companies will likely invest in strategic facilities for core programs while continuing to rely on CDMOs for flexibility, surge capacity, and specialized expertise. The limiting factor may not be infrastructure but talent — operating complex, highly regulated plants requires skilled workers, and the U.S. talent pool is already stretched. CDMOs that can pair resilient networks with proactive workforce development will be best positioned to thrive in this environment.
Steven Facer, Senior Vice President, Global Sales and Marketing, Adare Pharma Solutions
In 2025, several economic and market dynamics are shaping CDMO capacity and pipelines. Ongoing tariff pressures, inflation, and supply chain disruptions are prompting sponsors to regionalize operations and prioritize partners with dual U.S. and European footprints. This is shifting where new capacity is being built and strengthening the case for reshoring. At the same time, pipelines are increasingly dominated by complex molecules and formulations that require advanced formulation expertise and smooth scale-up capabilities.
Patient-centric dosage forms are also accelerating, with pediatric and geriatric populations driving demand for orally disintegrating tablets, sprinkles, and dispersible multiparticulates. These formats demand both innovative formulation technologies and packaging solutions tailored for convenience and portability.
The role of digital technologies is growing exponentially, as CDMOs increasingly adopt AI and automation to accelerate R&D, streamline manufacturing, and improve decision-making across the value chain. At the same time, advanced manufacturing approaches like 3D screen printing have become viable for both development and large-scale commercial production, enabling the creation of complex, multi-compartment tablets and tailored formulations that address specific therapeutic needs.
Looking to 2026, these trends are expected to intensify. Regionalization and reshoring will gain further momentum, sustaining demand for domestic manufacturing and dual-region capacity. Specialized investments will expand, with new deeper analytical capabilities and broader adoption of 3D screen printing. Outsourcing demand will continue to grow, positioning integrated, end-to-end CDMOs with flexible capacity and advanced delivery technologies as the most competitive players.
Christian Seufert, Executive Committee Member and Head of Advanced Synthesis, Lonza
Small molecules and bioconjugates have seen steady outsourcing growth, a trend expected to continue as the CDMO market expands 8–10% annually from 2024 to 2029. While big pharma remains a major source of outsourcing, growth is largely driven by small and emerging companies lacking in-house manufacturing, particularly for small molecule APIs and bioconjugates such as ADCs.
Small molecules remain a key driver, comprising 54% of all molecules in clinical development. In addition, 70% of new molecular entities approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA); in the last decade were derived from small molecule APIs. The outsourced small molecules market is expected to grow at a rate of 6% to 7% per year through 2029, shaping CDMO capacity and pipelines over the next few years.
Three main therapeutic areas are driving the growth in the small molecules market: oncology, central nervous system (CNS) disorders, and endocrine disease (particularly diabetes and weight loss medications). The market for small molecule oncology drugs is especially active, constituting 30% of small molecule New Molecular Entity (NME) approvals by the FDA; this market area is expected to sustain double-digit sales revenue growth per year through to 2029.
The antibody–drug conjugate (ADC) market is experiencing a robust growth phase, projected to reach $44 billion by 2030, driven by rising cancer prevalence and continuous innovation in ADC design. Emerging formats, such as bispecific ADCs and dual-payload constructs, are reshaping therapeutic potential by enhancing efficacy and overcoming resistance. These innovations demand increasingly sophisticated conjugation technologies and integrated supply solutions that span linker–payload synthesis, mammalian, bioconjugation, and drug product services. The small molecule high-potency drug linker segment plays a pivotal role in this ecosystem, serving as the bridge between biologics and cytotoxic payloads. As ADCs evolve in complexity, the need for seamless integration across the supply chain becomes critical to ensure manufacturability, scalability, and regulatory compliance — making strategic partnerships and end-to-end capabilities essential for success in this dynamic landscape.
Kayleigh Coxon, Business Analyst, Business Intelligence and Insights, FUJIFILM Biotechnologies
In 2025, the expansion of mammalian drug substance (DS) capacity by major players like FUJIFILM Biotechnologies has reshaped the landscape, and boosted capacity achieving titers of 8–10 g/L.
We expect in 2026 that the pipeline mix will evolve, with ADCs experiencing a boom, evidenced by over 300 candidates in clinical trials. This trend increases the demand for outsourcing in payload/conjugation services. Bispecifics add complexity, and CDMOs like FUJIFILM Biotechnologies excel in addressing these challenges with robust purification and analytical capabilities. By 2026, the focus will be on solving process challenges rather than merely expanding capacity.
Beyond conventional modalities, the market for viral vectors remains strong due to approvals in treating conditions like sickle cell disease. By 2026, scalable, closed-system manufacturing will be essential for success in these areas.
Michael Nonnenmacher, Ph.D., Director of Differentiating Technologies, Evonik
This year, the CDMO sector has been shaped by a complex mix of geopolitical shifts, tariff pressures, and the growing risk of trade disruptions. These dynamics have intensified concerns about supply security, particularly the reliance on APIs and intermediates from regions vulnerable to instability. In response, many pharmaceutical companies are reevaluating their supply chains and placing greater emphasis on domestic manufacturing capabilities — especially in the U.S. — as a way to enhance resilience and reduce exposure to external risks.
Within this evolving landscape, CDMOs with a global footprint and deep expertise in complex chemistry are playing a critical role. Evonik, for example, is supporting customers through its integrated network of facilities and its ability to localize advanced technologies close to customer operations. This approach not only strengthens supply chain reliability but also enables more agile and collaborative development.
Looking ahead to 2026, the trend toward reshoring and diversification is expected to continue. As a strategic partner to the pharmaceutical industry, Evonik remains committed to helping customers navigate uncertainty and build more secure, future-ready supply chains.
Franco Negron, Chief Executive Officer, Simtra BioPharma Solutions
In 2025, CDMO capacity and pipelines are being shaped by the rising complexity of innovative therapeutics, especially biologics, cell therapies, and oligonucleotides. We are seeing increased demand for outsourced manufacturing of specialized oncology treatments, such as ADCs, cytotoxics, and other highly potent compounds, that require advanced handling and containment. This shift reflects a broader industry trend to accelerate access to complex therapies while ensuring safety and quality. To ensure that Simtra is prepared to meet this growing need for injectables, Simtra recently expanded capacity in Halle, Germany with the opening of a new, production manufacturing building. It also acquired a 65-acre property in Bloomington, IL. with more than 300,000 square feet of available space for expansion.
Matthew Bio, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer, Cambrex
In 2025, the CDMO market is being shaped by two major forces: supply chain localization and the shift toward more complex modalities. Innovators with late-stage and commercial molecules are increasingly reserving capacity in the U.S. and Europe to hedge against tariffs, geopolitical risk, and potential supply disruptions. At the same time, demand is rising for specialized capabilities to support ADCs, peptides and oligonucleotides, radiopharmaceutical ligands, novel excipients, and tissue-targeting moieties.
Looking ahead to 2026, the push for supply chain security will continue to reinforce localization of manufacturing. Meanwhile, the complexity of the pipeline will intensify, with ADCs, tides, and other complex modalities moving further into late-stage development and commercial supply, amplifying the demand for high-containment assets and specialized expertise. Rather than easing, these pressures will keep U.S. and European capacity tight, requiring CDMOs to prioritize investment in manufacturing capacity and technology.
Russell Miller, Vice President of Global Sales & Marketing, Enzene
Worldwide, affordability is as important as it has ever been, and yet despite the efforts made to simplify development, relatively slow change in the regulatory environment has yielded only small opportunities to increase the speed of, and reduce the costs of development. Speed of manufacturing makes an immense impact on the cost of a product, and more so for large molecule drug substance, so I think we’ll see a continued focus on companies eliminating steps from manufacturing processes.
I’m hearing much talk of over-supply in biomanufacturing, but in my experience that’s not the situation across the board. There may currently be too much capacity for cell and gene therapy supply, but elsewhere I don’t see that there is too much capacity and even if there is that situation will change dramatically in five or so years when several biosimilars will come off patent. Then, the industry will be grateful for all the capacity added for mammalian drug substance. I am aware of half-a-dozen countries that have approached Enzene to ask how best to deploy new or additional local manufacturing capacity in their region.
