what is cdmo in pharma

CDMO stands for Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization, which is an organization that serves the pharmaceutical industry and provides clients with comprehensive services from drug development through manufacture. CDMOs provide integral services incorporating external third-party projects and offering their knowledge and development and manufacturing capabilities. A CDMO is a contract development and manufacturing organization, meaning they not only handle the outsourced manufacturing of drug substances, but also all of the innovation and development work that occurs prior to manufacturing one. CDMOs offer access to additional expertise by offering researchers who have the needed experience and specialized skills at each stage of drug development and manufacturing without increasing payroll costs. Services often offered by CDMO companies include formulation, analytical services, blending, coating, converting, packaging, serialization, and shipment. CDMOs can help pharmaceutical companies meet deadlines or quickly scale up to meet production demand, reduce infrastructure costs by reducing or eliminating the need to invest in additional production and manufacturing space, and eliminate costs associated with purchasing specialized equipment, since the CDMO has access to equipment and facilities.