Off Script: A Pharma Manufacturing Podcast

The State of CDMO Funding: 2025 in Review (Part Two)

In part two of our conversation with Brian Scanlan, Advisor of Life Sciences at Edgewater Capital Partners, we explore how today’s CDMO funding trends are shaping the next phase of growth and specialization across the contract research and manufacturing ecosystem.

Brian shares his perspective on:

• The outlook for cell and gene therapies, where clinical setbacks, overcapacity, and high costs are balanced by steady innovation and cautious optimism;
  
  
• Why “specialization over scale” is defining the next wave of CDMO success, as niche providers in radiopharma, peptides, and other complex modalities gain traction; and
  
  
• How the evolving Biosecure Act and U.S. reshoring efforts are reshaping global supply chains and creating new opportunities for domestic manufacturing.

The State of CDMO Funding: 2025 in Review (Part One)

As we near the end of 2025, the CDMO industry finds itself at a pivotal financial and strategic juncture — shaped by constrained funding, shifting demand, and renewed investor scrutiny. 

In this episode of Off Script, we speak with Brian Scanlan, Advisor of Life Sciences at Edgewater Capital Partners, to examine how the year’s market and investment trends align with his predictions from an earlier CPHI Annual Report.
Brian shares his perspective on:

• How accurately his forecast of stability and growth for clinical CROs and CDMOs has held up amid tighter capital markets;
• The ongoing softness among early-stage pharma service providers and what it reveals about funding flows across the sector; and
• Where investor interest is gravitating — from ADCs and small molecules to biologics — and what this signals for the next phase of CDMO evolution.

Corporate compliance involves more than just cGMP and quality

This episode of Off Script: A Pharma Manufacturing Podcast features a conversation with Jana Falkenberg, senior legal counsel and corporate compliance officer at Vetter Pharma, a global contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) headquartered in Germany.

Falkenberg, who is responsible for the continuous improvement of the compliance management system at Vetter, makes the case that corporate compliance encompasses legal, ethical, and internal standards. At Vetter, which this year is celebrating its 75th anniversary, building trust and fostering an environment of integrity is a critical component of the company’s culture and operations as a family-owned business.

This episode is sponsored by Vetter Pharma.

Charting Pharma Manufacturing Trends: Part Two

Building on insights from CRB’s Horizons: Life Sciences 2025 report, this second installment of our conversation with Peter Walters, Fellow of Advanced Therapies at CRB, explores the modalities driving forward momentum across the life sciences industry, the expanding role of standardization in manufacturing networks, and how tariffs and domestic investment strategies are shaping the future of pharma manufacturing.

If you missed Part One, catch our discussion on the rise of continuous manufacturing and its growing adoption across large pharma.

Charting Pharma Manufacturing Trends: Part One

Based on insights from CRB’s Horizons: Life Sciences 2025 report, this episode of Off Script: A Pharma Manufacturing Podcast features a conversation with Peter Walters, Fellow of Advanced Therapies at CRB. Walters discusses how the industry is advancing toward continuous manufacturing, highlighted by a key finding from the report — 65% of large companies are pursuing end-to-end continuous manufacturing.

This is part one of a two-part series. In part two, dropping Oct. 14, 2025, Walters will return to explore advanced therapies, tariffs, and regulatory changes shaping the global pharma manufacturing landscape.

Editor’s (re)View: It matters if Big Pharma is fudging its US investment numbers

Large biopharma companies in recent months have pledged billions of dollars in capital expenditures for U.S. manufacturing and R&D facilities. What if it’s not accurate?

Greg Slabodkin

Read by Brittany Duncan 

https://www.pharmamanufacturing.com/editors-review/article/55314470/editors-review-it-matters-if-big-pharma-is-fudging-its-us-investment-numbers 

Can CDMOs keep up with the increasing demand for GLP-1 medications?

The wildly popular drugs, prescribed for weight loss and type 2 diabetes, are putting a strain on the capabilities of contract development and manufacturing organizations.

Greg Slabodkin

Read by Brittany Duncan

https://www.pharmamanufacturing.com/sector/contract-manufacturing/article/55314756/can-cdmos-keep-up-with-the-increasing-demand-for-glp-1-medications 

FDA’s program to speed up US manufacturing buildouts is short on detail

 

While the agency’s PreCheck regulatory framework is a good first step, it remains to be seen whether the program boosts U.S. drug manufacturing, says former FDA official.

Greg Slabodkin

 

Read by Brittany Duncan

 

https://www.pharmamanufacturing.com/all-articles/article/55309136/fdas-program-to-speed-up-us-manufacturing-buildouts-is-short-on-detail 

New Jersey remains hot life sciences hub despite macroeconomic, funding headwinds

 

The Garden State, called the “medicine chest” to the world, continues to show robust activity with life sciences firms accounting for nearly 30% of all Q2 leasing activity.

Greg Slabodkin

 

Read by Brittany Duncan 

 

https://www.pharmamanufacturing.com/all-articles/article/55308250/new-jersey-remains-hot-life-sciences-hub-despite-macroeconomic-funding-headwinds 

Critical Timing: Hikma’s Billion-Dollar U.S. Investment

Generics, which make up approximately 90% of prescription volume in the U.S., are produced primarily in India as Hikma looks to onshore production of these critical drugs.

Greg Slabodkin

Read by Brittany Duncan 

https://www.pharmamanufacturing.com/all-articles/article/55302441/hikmas-planned-1b-us-investment-comes-at-critical-time-for-generic-medicines-supply