A company’s ability to pivot and adapt — its agility — is more than just an asset. In today’s dynamic contract manufacturing landscape, it’s a necessity. Agility allows a CDMO to respond and adapt quickly and efficiently to changes in the marketplace.

In fact, according to observations at the 2023 CPHI worldwide pharma industry event, flexibility in response to project demands— such as scope expansions, volume increases, project termination or adjustments in response to research outcomes—is considered the single most important characteristic of CDMOs.

Pharmaceutical contract manufacturers must always stay aware of and keep pace with ongoing supply chain disruptions, unprecedented technological advances, geopolitical instability, regulatory uncertainties, environmental changes and more. The nature of this current industrial reality makes agile manufacturing more important than ever.

This post explores five crucial ways in which agility helps your API CDMO partner respond to your changing needs – ensuring they have the flexibility and production capacity to scale and speed delivery of your products.

The Benefits of Agility in a CDMO

Agility supports competitive advantage, reduces downtime, and leads to significant cost savings, all of which drive profits for pharma companies and their manufacturing partners. Time saved means more support for further research and testing. And all of this ultimately paves the way to increased market share and higher profits.

Here are five ways agility drives speed to market.

1. Enhanced Risk Management

Risk mitigation is based on a proactive approach to management that helps reduce downtime in the manufacturing process. Agile CDMOs can more easily mitigate risks related to market volatility. Since agile companies are by nature more productive and efficient, they can quickly adapt to market changes, supply chain challenges or changing customer needs and are well equipped to find new solutions to potential problems before they escalate into major issues.

2. Optimized Cost Management

Agile manufacturing systems are responsive by design. This means agile API manufacturers offer their partners optimized cost management and efficient resource allocation. This avoids the financial implications of process inefficiency. And more efficient processes not only increase productivity, they reduce waste, which also adds to cost savings.

3. Accelerated Time-to-Market

Ideal contract manufacturing partners offer accelerated time-to-market. Rapid scaling of processes ensures timely product launches. This is critical in a highly competitive industry. Whether changes are being driven by consumer demand, technology, or market dynamics, an agile manufacturer can keep pace, delivering on time as needed.

Agile projects have been shown to reduce time to market by 55 percent or more. This reduction in time to market can lead to earlier realization of revenue, from which higher profits result.

4. Innovation and R&D

Agile API contract manufacturers collaborate seamlessly with drug sponsor R&D teams in support of new drug formulations. This is essential as new drug formulations often require novel manufacturing processes and techniques.

Contract requirements can also change suddenly due to results of clinical trials and other research outcomes. Swift adaptation to research, development, and market changes is made possible by integrating emerging technologies and responsively iterating novel innovations and adaptations. The responsiveness of teams ensures effective collaborations that support timely product launches and efficient processes.

5. Regulatory Compliance

The regulatory environment of the pharmaceutical industry is constantly changing. The inherent responsiveness of agile processes makes them ideal for adapting to evolving global regulatory standards and requirements.

The ultimate end result of properly implemented agility is stakeholder satisfaction. Agile manufacturers are adept at ensuring a consistent and timely API supply, which boosts stakeholder confidence.

Agility at Neuland Labs

At Neuland Labs, our strength lies in our ability to take swift actions and realign ourselves with market trends. Our commitment to decisive action has helped us steer our partners through 39 years of unpredictable market dynamics and helped us emerge as a leader in agile manufacturing.

Here’s how we help your drug product succeed:

• Adapt quickly to changing market dynamics. When the pandemic caused an unexpected drop in demand for some products, we rapidly reallocated capital to areas needing additional capacity. This agility ensures our partners can confidently meet shifts in patient needs.
• Maintain a strategic focus on flexible capacities. We continuously modernize and automate our plants to enable efficient scaling. We consistently improve systems and processes to optimize changeovers between projects. This allows us to rapidly configure operations based on partner requirements.
• Provide a project-oriented approach. Our systems have transitioned from a product-centric to a project-oriented approach. Structural and functional changes now orient all operations around partner projects versus specific products. Our enhanced project management systems give real-time visibility across the product lifecycle. This focus makes launching new partner products faster and more efficient.

An agile, adaptable mindset steers every decision we make. We rapidly respond to market dynamics, focus on flexible operations and partner needs to drive reliable speed, efficiency, and profitability for our customers.

Choose an Agile API Manufacturing Partner

When your API partner has optimized their manufacturing capacity for agility, you’ll benefit from increased organizational adaptability, collaborative capacity, rapid scaling, and accelerated time to market. Your choice of API partner must support your efforts to meet the needs of the customers you serve.

Have questions about how our agile manufacturing focus at Neuland Labs can help you meet your goals? Contact us to learn more.