Outsourcing Biomanufacturing Continues To Grow In Frequency

By Kate Hammeke, Contributing Editor

Nice Insight has learned from its strategic partnering surveys that the long-term strategies of many businesses in the pharmaceutical industry for maintaining a strong drug development pipeline include integration of biopharmaceuticals.

This integration can take several  different forms, from partnerships with large biopharmas (56 percent), purchase of a small biopharma company (51 percent), partnering with a small biopharma (37 percent), or simply purchasing a biopharma’s compounds (22 percent). These activities are motivated by the demonstrated profitability of biopharmaceuticals. The practice of partnering with or acquiring biopharmaceutical companies is mirrored in the results of Nice Insight’s annual survey, where the percentage of respondents whose businesses are engaged in the development of biologic-based therapeutics continues to increase — up two percentage points from 71 percent in 2012 to 73 percent in 2014.