Pharma's New Manufacturing Playbook for Turbulent Times

CDMO Live 2025 Highlights: How Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, and Leo Pharma are rebuilding manufacturing strategies

• Complexity Challenge: With thousands of SKUs to manage (Bayer handles 5,000+, half outsourced), companies struggle with aging portfolios and aggressive commercial expansion.
• Geopolitical Reshuffling: A staggering 62% of pharma companies are restructuring their manufacturing footprints in response to global tensions.
• Different Resilience Approaches:

- Boehringer Ingelheim (family-owned) maintains dual sourcing despite higher costs

- Leo Pharma focuses on strategic partnerships for smaller-volume products

- Bayer's "Project Martini" shifts from Euro-centric to regional production

• AI Adoption: Still early days, but promising applications in contract management, document processing, and predictive maintenance are emerging.
• Sustainability Shift: While not top priority, sustainability is increasingly viewed as both an ethical necessity and long-term cost reducer.

Bottom Line: The industry is moving from pure cost optimization to balancing affordability with resilience. As Blue Jet Healthcare's MD put it: "resilience is becoming as important as costs."

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