CMO

Also known as: Contract Manufacturing Organisation, CDMO

A company that manufactures drug substance or drug product on behalf of pharmaceutical sponsors.

Definition

A Contract Manufacturing Organisation (CMO) or Contract Development and Manufacturing Organisation (CDMO) produces APIs, drug products, or biologics under contract. Large CDMOs include Catalent, Lonza, Samsung Biologics, WuXi, Boehringer Ingelheim BioXcellence. CDMO capacity is a critical commercial bottleneck for biologics + cell/gene therapies.

See also

• GMP — The quality-control standards drug manufacturers must follow.

Other commercial terms

• Biosimilar
• Generic drug
• QALY
• NICE TA
• ICER (cost)
• WAC