Big pharma’s 40-year love affair with outsourcing everything, must end

otherwise investors will take their money elsewhere

Trialsite News Interview from 2 years ago

About two years ago, I was interviewed by Megan Redshaw, here:

Drug Development Expert Sounds Alarm Over Rushed-to-Market COVID-19 Vaccines

The hypothesis was that Big pharma’s 40-year love affair with outsourcing everything must end, otherwise investors will take their money elsewhere.

Why—three main reasons

• Pharma manufacturers divested their physical storage, logistics and distribution skills and assets to the wholesaler network. Through consolidation, this network is now dominated by three major corporations – McKesson, Cardinal, and AmerisourceBergen. Pharma manufacturers’ crucial link with the users of its products has been lost.

• Outsourcing drug development and commercialization activities to Contract Research Organisations (CROs) and Contract Development and Manufacturing Organisations (CDMOs) has created a highly complex network of third-party contractors working on a fee-for-service basis. These tactical, arms-length relationships have res…