Pharma in-licensing of NMEs signals new business for contract manufacturers

SPRINGFIELD, Va. - Jan. 12, 2015 - PRLog -- Rather than fearing the consequences of pharmaceutical in-licensing, contract manufacturing organizations should view announcements of such deals as a potentially “hot” business development opportunity – especially when the licensee is a small or mid-sized bio/pharma company.

This insight is well documented by PharmSource, a trusted provider of market and business intelligence for the global contract bio/pharma industry. PharmSource’s experts explain their research and conclusions in a recent trend report, Opportunity Knocks: In-Licensed Drug Products Can Signal Outsourcing Opportunity.

Analyzing the outcomes of 230 new molecular entities (NMEs) approved between 2003 and 2013, PharmSource researchers found that more than one-third of them were in-licensed by the sponsor receiving approval. Some  66 percent of those in-licensed NMEs then were outsourced partially or completely, compared to 44 percent for internally discovered candidates.

What this means, said Saul Richmond, Ph.D., director of market intelligence for PharmSource and the report’s principle author, is that NME in-licensing is an important positive signal that a drug candidate likely will be successful and its manufacture likely will be outsourced.

“Rather than fearing the consequences of a licensing deal, contract pharmaceutical development and manufacturing organizations should view announcements of licensing deals as hot business development opportunities,” he said. “This is especially true when the licensee is a small or mid-sized bio/pharma company.”

PharmSource is the recognized unbiased authority of knowledge about the global bio/pharmaceutical contract services industry. The company’s proprietary publications, databases, research tools and analyses inform buyers and sellers of bio/pharma contract services about industry trends, activities and partnership opportunities. Since 1996, CMOs, CDMOs and CROs worldwide have looked to PharmSource for critical information delivered with timeliness and integrity. Learn more at the PharmSource website.