Can you introduce CDMO Advisor and the gap it fills in the pharmaceutical and biotech ecosystem?

CDMO Advisor is a free, web-based platform that helps biotech and pharmaceutical companies find the right contract development and manufacturing organizations for their projects. It streamlines what is usually a complex, opaque and slow process. Users can input specific project details—like drug type, required services, or dosage form—and our software matches those needs against our continuously updated database of over 600 CDMOs. The platform then returns a curated list of potential partners, complete with direct contact details. The biggest gap we solve is transparency. Many CDMO websites do not provide accurate or up-to-date information. Meanwhile, consultants tend to rely on a narrow network, leaving out smaller or emerging service providers. That limits client options and slows down innovation. Our tool gives everyone—from startups to established firms—a smarter, faster way to connect with viable partners.

Can you walk us through how the platform works? What makes it different from other directories or search tools?

The user experience is central to everything we do. It has to be simple and efficient. The process starts with a detailed project form. You select the type of drug, the phase of development, the services needed—from strain development to fill-finish—and the platform automatically matches you to CDMOs that meet those criteria. It is not just a directory. It is a dynamic matching engine based on real, validated capability data. We only allow verified pharmaceutical and biotech companies to use the tool, so CDMOs know the inquiries they receive are legitimate. Once the results are displayed, the user can auto-generate emails to selected providers, speeding up the outreach process. What used to take months—finding a CDMO, verifying capabilities, reaching the right contact—can now be done in minutes.

What has the response been like?

Users love it because it saves them time and expands their visibility. Many are surprised by how many capable CDMOs they had never heard of. Smaller CDMOs, on the other hand, see this as a valuable chance to compete. We give them exposure to qualified leads without having to invest heavily in marketing. Service providers also use the platform to benchmark their capabilities against competitors.

How does the platform handle regional preferences, onshoring, or global supply chain considerations?

The platform is built to be flexible. If you want to manufacture the drug substance overseas but finish the drug product in the US, you can specify that. The tool will return matches accordingly. With the current political and regulatory push toward onshoring, especially in the US, this capability has become crucial. Users can quickly identify which CDMOs have US-based manufacturing or which ones are located in Europe or Asia, depending on their needs. It is also about scale. Some projects need a 500-liter bioreactor, not a 10,000-liter setup. The platform filters for that, too. It is not just about capacity—it is about the right capacity, in the right geography, with the right timeline. That level of specificity is what sets us apart.

Looking ahead, where do you see the most significant opportunities for CDMO Advisor and the industry more broadly?

The biggest opportunity is in accelerating project timelines. Time is money in this industry. Once a molecule is viable, multiple companies might be chasing the same target. Whoever moves fastest gains the edge. If you spend a month just identifying a CDMO and negotiating a CDA, that is a month lost. Our platform collapses that timeline. Users can walk into a conference knowing which service providers are attending and who they want to talk to. That changes the game.

Long term, I see CDMO Advisor becoming a daily-use tool, like LinkedIn but for outsourcing. We are already being used by CMC consultants and early-stage companies. As more providers come on board, and as discovery becomes faster through tools like AI, the bottleneck will continue to be execution. You still need to put that molecule in a bioreactor and get it to the clinic. We want to be the upstream accelerator that makes that possible.