Parenteral Sector

Oral delivery is still the Holy Grail for drug products, but plenty of new drugs (and many more in development) require injection. With so many large molecules like oligonucleotides and PEGylated versions of drugs in the pipeline, and so many smaller and virtual firms developing them, the market for parenteral outsourcing remains robust.

We spoke to a number of providers and sponsors about the market for contract production of parenteral drugs, and found a very healthy outlook. “There’s rapid growth going on,” said Craig Mastenbaum, director for business development at HollisterStier Contract Manufacturing, a Spokane-WA based CMO. “There are a lot of companies—both classic pharma and newer biotechs—that are doing a lot of research. Plenty of drugs are coming out of this research, and many will reach the clinic.”

We all know the stats out there on how many are discovered, how many hit the clinic, and how many end up commercialized; it’s a diminishing number as you climb the pyramid, but the sheer volume of new entities has been a boon for manufacturers. “Demand is still extremely high, even with our (and the industry’s) higher capacity,” said Peter Hansbury, general manager, contract manufacturing services, for Bedford, OH-based Ben Venue Laboratories. “We’re noticing a higher proportion of commercial contracts to clinicals; that’s definitely a change in the field. It looks like some of the early-stage work we’ve been doing is paying off with commercial approvals.” He added that the two key drivers for growth in the parenteral CMO market are demographics (“More people are getting older”) and getting access to drugs for Third World populations.

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