Some great reward ?
CDMOs are under increasing pressure to ensure that their whole supply chain is ‘ green ’. Andrew Warmington reports from the Pharma Outsourcing Best Practices Panel at Chemspec Europe 2022
Making both APIs and regulated starting materials involves a high level of control and regulatory scrutiny , said Dr Robert Waltermire , chief pharmaceutical development officer at Madrigal Pharmaceuticals , who was moderating the Pharma Outsourcing Best Practices Panel at Chemspec Europe 2022 in Frankfurt . “ To keep quality at a very high level and cost at a very low level , we all have some real serious challenges in front of us ,” Waltermire said , particularly in view of the current economic and geopolitical backdrop of COVID , the Ukraine war and massive supply chain disruption . For one of the panellist , Joachim Kaus , managing director of Curia Germany , the key challenge has been logistics . Like almost all CDMOs and API manufacturers , Curia relies on raw materials from Asia . Many were not moving at the time because of the lockdown in Shanghai ; in fact it was during Chemspec that this ended “ Supply chain issues have been very significant in our industry over the last couple of years ,” said Olivia Boyce , director of project management at SK Biotek Ireland , an SK Pharmteco company . For her company , this began earlier still , with Brexit . Now with COVID-19 and the wider geopolitical situation , Boyce observed , “ we have had to plan forward much more significantly than we would have in the past , because lead times are extending ”. This has all been compounded by rising raw material prices for
Späne – Industry should be better rewarded for adopting ‘ green ’
logistical and other reasons , plus container shortages and other supply chain problems . “ I think the lack of raw materials has changed the strategy of supply chain ,” agreed Marianne Späne , chief business officer at Swiss firm Siegfried , one of the world ’ s largest pharmaceutical CDMOs . Before this , companies looked to bring in raw materials ‘ just in time ’. Now , deliveries that were promised next day can suddenly face one- to two-month delays . As a result , companies need to think about ‘ safety stock ’ again . That means having to think about net working capital because capital that might have been used for investments is blocked in inventory . Siegfried , like others , is increasingly
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