CDMO Live 2025: 6 Critical Themes Redefining Pharma’s Manufacturing Playbook

As biopharma manufacturing leaders prepare to gather in Rotterdam for CDMO Live 2025, six critical themes have emerged.

These six issues will form the new manufacturing playbook that will be essential for navigating the unprecedented volatility reshaping our industry.

1. Network Resilience in an Era of Geopolitical Volatility

How do you plan for the unplannable? The intensifying US-China trade tensions, pressure to reshore and expected pharmaceutical tariffs are transforming supply chain design from a tactical exercise into a strategic imperative.

Manufacturing networks optimised for efficiency now face existential threats as protectionist policies force pharmaceutical companies to reconfigure their global footprint – creating a difficult balancing act between resilience, regulatory compliance, and cost control.

Key sessions:

• The Network Strategy 2025 and Biologics External Manufacturing panels will feature leaders from pharmaceutical companies such as Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, UCB, Polpharma and Valneva sharing the real-world impact this is making on their outsourcing strategies

• Gil Roth , President – Pharma & Biopharma Outsourcing Association (PBOA) will share his analysis of the latest news from Washington and what it means to contract manufacturing.

• Elisabeth Stampa, Medicines for Europe, will outline emerging opportunities within the European manufacturing landscape.

• Ryan Kelly, Rx-360 will share a tactical framework for building adaptable, resilient operations that can withstand geopolitical shocks without sacrificing market competitiveness.

2. CDMO Market Dynamics & Investment Trends

Every month brings news of another CDMO acquisition or investment as private equity reshapes the manufacturing landscape. This consolidation wave isn’t merely changing ownership structures – it’s fundamentally altering capacity availability, technical capabilities, and partnership models.

For CDMOs, these insights determine whether you’ll be acquired or become an acquirer. For sponsors, they directly impact development timelines, costs, and ultimately patient access to innovative therapies.

Key sessions:

• Exclusive new research by Simon Kucher and PharmaSource will quantify growth opportunities for Sponsors and CDMOs across different areas of business.

• L.E.K. Consulting‘s horizon scanning presentation will present a range of forecasts and emerging modalities.

• Kurt Nielsen will be leading “Follow the Money” panel with financial experts together to dissect this financial transformation and what it means to outsourcing.

• Fuliginous Management Consulting will provide a comprehensive mapping of the European CDMO landscape. 

3. Strategic Partnerships & Virtual Team Excellence

The complexity of modern external manufacturing necessitates new approaches to virtual collaboration across organisational boundaries.

As manufacturing networks grow increasingly distributed, the human elements of partnership management have become essential differentiators between good and great outsourcing relationships.

Key sessions:

• The “Quality as a Catalyst” panel focuses on how forward-thinking organisations such as Johnson & Johnson, UCB and MSD are leveraging quality not merely as compliance functions but as strategic enablers that simultaneously accelerate development and strengthen regulatory positioning.

• Learn practical strategies by joining a series of roundtables including “Partnership Excellence” with Alfasigma’s Rocco Paracchini, and “Virtual Factory Excellence,” MSD’s Federica Fraschetti and ‘The Perfect RFP‘ roundtable with Daiichi Sankyo’s Philip Coetzee. These sessions will highlight practical frameworks for governance, communication, and collaboration that enable teams to work together seamlessly.

4. Speed, Efficiency & Investment Readiness

90% of biotechs rely on CDMOs to advance their candidates to the clinic, making the right manufacturing strategy a critical factor in hitting milestones.

As investors grow increasingly sophisticated about development risks, they now scrutinise manufacturing plans with the same rigor as clinical data – making a robust approach to external manufacturing a significant competitive advantage in funding rounds.

Key sessions designed to help early-stage biotechs to accelerate their timeline:

• “Fast-Track to Market – Cutting timelines without cutting corners” with Marta Kijanka

• Winning Investor Confidence with your CMC strategy” with Afton Scientic’s CEO Thomas Thorpe

5. Digital Transformation & Manufacturing Excellence

The digital divide between CDMO and sponsor operations represents one of pharma’s most significant unrealised opportunities. While companies have invested heavily in digitising their internal operations, the interfaces with contract partners often remain frustratingly analogue – creating information silos, delayed decision-making, and quality vulnerabilities that impact both speed and compliance.

Key sessions

• ‘Digital Integration Mastery‘ will explore how Johnson & Johnson and other industry leaders are breaking down these digital barriers. From real-time batch monitoring to integrated quality management systems that span organisational boundaries, these technologies are fundamentally redefining what’s possible in external manufacturing oversight – transforming the sponsor-CDMO relationship from periodic updates to continuous collaboration.

• ‘Next-Generation CDMO Performance Management’ with Alkermes’ Stephen Sheehan will explore the new KPIs for effective governance

6. Sustainability Implementation

Industry reports highlight that while pharmaceutical companies have established ambitious Net Zero goals, only a fraction are on track to meet their commitments. This implementation gap represents both a reputational risk and a strategic opportunity for companies that can successfully embed sustainability into their manufacturing networks.

Key session:

• Pharmaceutical Supply Chain Initiative (PSCI) chair Robert Williams and Manufacture 2030‘s CEO Martin Chilcott will explain how to move beyond aspiration to implementation. They will share concrete approaches to reducing environmental impact throughout the pharmaceutical supply chain – recognising that environmental responsibility is now a business necessity in a world where stakeholders increasingly demand demonstrable sustainability performance.

1,000 meetings booked so far

When volatility strikes, having the right CDMO-sponsor partnerships in place makes the difference between catastrophic disruption and resilient adaptation. CDMO Live delivers this critical competitive advantage through its proprietary PartnerMatch system that connects external manufacturing leaders with 50+ qualified CDMOs through targeted 1-to-1 meetings.

Over 1,000 meetings have already been booked at the conference, validating the industry’s urgent need for strategic partner connections. Unlike traditional conference networking, these structured interactions match specific requirements with relevant capabilities, transforming two days in Rotterdam into relationships that deliver value for years. The exclusive CDMO Live, Boat Party, Rotterdam Run and HALIX facility tour will further strengthen these connections.

We look forward to welcoming you to Rotterdam for two days of insight, connection, and collaboration that will help shape your manufacturing strategy for years to come.

CDMO Live 2025 takes place on 7-8 May at the World Trade Center Rotterdam. For more information or to register, visit CDMOLive.com.