At this time of increasing geopolitical tensions, Claire Greenaway – Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) Delivery Team at the UK Ministry of Defence – explains why she is attending CDMO Live and what opportunities are for collaboration.
Claire Greenaway’s team manages both the Counter-CBRN UK Advance Development Programme (ADP) and in-service capabilities, working closely with the UK Health Security Agency to develop and maintain medical countermeasures.
The Counter-CBRN team oversees a portfolio which consists of five capability pillars of over 150 capabilities and a budget exceeding £900 million over the next decade. The Medical Countermeasure pillar focuses on developing products for pre-treatment, pre-exposure, post-exposure and post-exposure therapy for military use.
Supply Chain Challenges
The CBRN Delivery Team faces several supply chain challenges at the current time:
- Single-source, niche markets that can stifle innovation
- Supply chain bottlenecks that may halt production
- Multiple prime suppliers sharing sub-contractors at Tier 2, 3 or 4
- Limited global production of certain Medical Counter Measures
- Requirements that are small compared to typical pharmaceutical production
- Long development timelines with high risk
Recent global events, including COVID-19, the war in Ukraine, and increasing geopolitical tensions, have further highlighted vulnerabilities in traditional supply chain models.
Claire’s Key Objectives
At CDMO Live 2025, Claire will be focusing on several priorities:
- Supply Chain Resilience: Mapping and diversifying niche supply chains
- International Collaboration: Developing the Medical Countermeasures Consortium (MCMC) with Canada, Australia, and the US
- Production Scalability: Finding partners who can scale production for emerging CBRN threats
- Regulatory Alignment: Working towards harmonised regulatory standards across allied nations
- Innovation Pathways: Creating sustainable development frameworks for specialised medical countermeasures
Opportunities for Collaboration
The CBRN Delivery Team currently works with 9 prime contractors, with live contracts in the year ending March 2025 valued at approximately £108 million. They also maintain multiple Foreign Military Sales with international allies and purchasing arrangements with the UK Health Security Agency.
For CDMOs attending the event, Claire is seeking input on:
- Supply chain mapping that benefits all parties
- Key supply chain risks from the industry perspective
- Methods to make supply chains more resilient
- Maintaining and developing expertise in the market
- Enabling rapid production scaling to respond to emerging CBRN threats
- Models for multi-national cooperative procurement
Connect with Claire at CDMO Live to explore potential contributions to this critical national security mission and develop resilient supply chain partnerships for the future.
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