As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, demand significantly increased for the manufacture of sterile injectable drugs, due to the extensive outsourcing of vaccine production and insufficient capacity worldwide for the scale required, says GlobalData. According to the leading data and analytics company, revenues from companies that were contract manufacturing injectable drugs grew at unsustainable levels during 2020-2021.

GlobalData’s recent report, ‘Contract Pharmaceutical Dose Manufacturing Industry: Composition, Size, Market Share, and Outlook – 2022 Edition’, found that the total commercial dose contract manufacturing organization (CMO) contract revenue in 2021 grew by 7.1% over 2020 revenue. The COVID-19 pandemic has provided significant commercial-scale manufacturing opportunities, in the form of COVID-19 vaccines and therapies, and by sponsors seeking greater supply chain security for other drugs.

Adam Bradbury, Pharma Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Demand for vaccines is starting to cool due to the waning appetite for boosters and the advanced stages of immunization programs globally. The Omicron variant tended to produce less serious illness and fewer deaths compared to the previous Delta variant.”

All COVID-19 vaccine revenues are projected to fall during the forecast period of 2021–25 as an increasing proportion of the global population is vaccinated, the appetite for boosters decreases, and the number of competing vaccines increases.

Bradbury concludes: “Contract manufacturing agreements for COVID-19 products were significantly weighted towards vaccine deals in 2021. There were a substantial number taking place between Q2 2020 and Q3 2021; however, contract service agreements have started to decline since late 2021 as established marketed vaccines have emerged. CMOs opportunities appear to be becoming more limited for vaccine production.”