Transforming Supply Chain Risks Into A Competitive Advantage In The CRO-CDMO Space

By Veera Oruganti, Head, Strategic Sourcing – Development & Manufacturing Services, and Nikhil Krishnan, Lead – Supply Chain Strategy, Syngene International Ltd.

The COVID-19 pandemic, which led to a widespread supply crunch in the life sciences industry, revealed to the world how inadequate existing supply chains are in managing unexpected disruptions of a global scale. The biopharma industry was affected due to unavailability/shortage of raw materials arising from country-wide lockdowns, border closures, and a sudden spike in demand. This severely impacted the lead times for developing and supplying life-saving drugs to patients worldwide.

The aftermath? Supply chain operations emerging from decades of back-office obscurity to becoming the focal point of board rooms and C-suites today.

The change is visible even in selecting contract research organizations (CROs) and contract development and manufacturing organizations (CDMOs) for outsourced services across drug discovery, development, and manufacturing. Biopharma companies are now critically evaluating their outsourcing partners on supply chain strength to ensure business continuity in the event of similar disruptions in the future.

In this point of view, we discuss the typical supply chain challenges faced by global CROs and CDMOs. You will also learn how Syngene, a leading CRO-CDMO for small and large molecules, has transformed its supply chain to mitigate these risks and turned them into a competitive advantage.