Wednesday 5 September 2012, Amsterdam

A new report by a London-based business information company, predicts that global contract manufacturing revenues will reach $64.07bn in 2016. Manufacturing of finished dosage forms will drive revenue growth, with the market expected to grow with a CAGR of 8.7% between 2010 and 2016. From 2011 to 2021, revenues for this industry will more than double, according to Pharmaceutical Contract Manufacturing: World Market Outlook 2011-2021, published in August 2011.

API manufacturing remained the largest market sector in 2010, accounting for 71.1% of the total market. API manufacturers in India and China will achieve increasing demand for their services, visiongain’s market analysis shows. Demand for generic and highly potent APIs will drive growth in this market from 2011 to 2021.

Richard Lang, pharmaceutical industry analyst, said: “The global pharmaceutical contract manufacturing industry will benefit from a continued move to strategic outsourcing by the pharmaceutical industry. That industry will look more to long-term relationships with a few selected CMOs as the decade goes on. Becoming a full-service CMO or specialising in a niche area will best allow contract manufacturers to take advantage of these strategic partnerships.”

Between 2011 and 2021, demand for contract manufacturing services will continue to come from developed market-based pharmaceutical companies. The US accounted for 42.0% of market demand in 2010. This decade, pharmaceutical companies will outsource increasing amounts of manufacturing, as companies focus on activities such as R&D and marketing. Growth in the biotechnology market will also provide a great opportunity for contract manufacturing organisations (CMOs).

This report forecasts that the overall pharmaceutical contract manufacturing market will grow steadily to 2021. Opportunities exist for CMOs to expand, buying out pharma’s facilities or acquiring smaller CMOs to become a “one-stop-shop” for outsourced development and manufacturing. Companies offering specialised manufacturing services will also benefit throughout the decade, the published report concludes.