Manufacturing
The pharmaceutical supply chain and device development have become intricately linked. Harmonizing formulation development with drug delivery device design—and leveraging a single‐vendor ecosystem—can deliver significant time, cost, and regulatory advantages for US‑focused drug products, according to industry experts.
Following FDA rejections, Regeneron and Scholar Rock are turning to other facilities to clear regulatory logjams created by quality problems at an ex-Catalent facility in Indiana. Novo Nordisk, meanwhile, has been tight-lipped about whether its own FDA applications have been affected.
As bispecifics, ADCs, protein degraders, and AI-designed mini-proteins move into the clinic, discovery teams face a new bottleneck: engineering and producing molecules whose complexity challenges conventional workflows.
Experts suggest the FDA’s Advanced Manufacturing Technologies designation could be a lifeline for improving production processes for approved cell and gene therapies.
The industry’s ability to generate a return on billions of dollars of investment rests on a heavily regulated supply chain defined by time-pressured logistics.
In 2025, landmark obesity drug deals, China’s biotech surge, and AI’s deeper integration into pharma operations drove a year of transformation and renewed momentum for life sciences.
Representatives from companies such as Sanofi and Forge Biologics point to the potential for PreCheck to drive activation of idle production capacity and help companies that are already building plants.
Having seen Congress spend money to onshore semiconductor production, pharma groups are pushing for similar incentives for domestic drug manufacturing.
Industry leaders say uncertainty in funding, clinical development and manufacturing is driving companies to embrace digital transformation, streamlined operations and strategic partnerships to navigate a turbulent market and global tariff pressures.
In this episode presented by Element Materials Technology, BioSpace’s head of insights discusses how China, historically focused on manufacturing, is increasingly becoming an innovation leader, particularly in pharmaceuticals, with guests Dr. Jihye Jang-Lee and Dr. Khanh Courtney. Ultimately, balanced strategies involve domestic capacity investments coupled with global collaboration.
PRESS RELEASES