The world’s COVID pandemic experience brought so much of the drug development and manufacturing process into the public eye. The average Joe/Jane who never thought about how the cholesterol med or flu vaccine got to the pharmacy shelf received a “behind the scenes” crash course on the nightly news. Participants and observers of contract manufacturers knew the opportunity was there, but importantly, the industry acquitted itself well in this process, for the most part. As a result, those collective efforts raised the industry’s profile with its biopharma customers and accelerated the industry’s long-term opportunity. At the same time, emerging platform areas like cell & gene therapy seem to be approaching escape velocity, driving rapid growth and feverish acquisition activity in those specialized areas.

Major themes:

• Industry growth drivers, drug pipeline evolution
• Recent growth trends by vendor type/market segment and prospects
• Compare/contrast of service-line strategies
• M&A strategies and valuations