Pharmaceutical manufacturing is entering a more investment-intensive phase. As drug pipelines become more complex, customers are demanding specialised capabilities, faster development timelines and greater supply-chain flexibility. For manufacturers, this means that simply adding capacity is no longer enough. Capital is increasingly being directed towards technologies, facilities and networks that can support more complex products and evolving customer requirements.
This shift is strengthening the role of the Global CDMO industry. By combining development expertise with manufacturing infrastructure, CDMOs can help pharmaceutical companies access specialised capabilities without having to build every part of the value chain internally. Piramal Pharma Solutions provides a useful example of how this investment model is evolving.
What is driving manufacturing investment?
Several factors are influencing where pharmaceutical manufacturers deploy capital.
The growing complexity of drug pipelines is one. Biologics, antibody-drug conjugates, high-potency APIs, peptides and specialised formulations require dedicated infrastructure, technical expertise and stringent quality systems.
The second is the increasing use of outsourcing. Pharmaceutical companies can use CDMOs to access specialised capabilities, manage capacity requirements and avoid duplicating capital-intensive infrastructure. Piramal Pharma’s annual report has highlighted customer demand for differentiated offerings and integrated services, alongside the importance of specialised capabilities across its CDMO business.
The result is a manufacturing environment where investment decisions are increasingly shaped by customer demand, product complexity and the ability to support products across multiple stages of their lifecycle.
Which capabilities are receiving investment?
Capital is increasingly moving towards differentiated manufacturing capabilities rather than undifferentiated capacity.
Piramal Pharma Solutions‘ investments illustrate this shift. In 2023, the company commissioned the expansion of its antibody-drug conjugate manufacturing facility in Grangemouth, Scotland, following a £45 million investment. The expansion increased the site’s capacity by approximately 70% to 80%. The investment was financed through a combination of a Scottish Enterprise grant, bank loan, customer co-investment and internal accruals.
The company has also invested in API and high-potency API manufacturing. Its Riverview, Michigan facility began production in 2023 following a $38 million investment under Project PRIME Phase 1. The facility includes 10-kilolitre reactor capacity and was designed to support customer demand for APIs and HPAPIs.
These investments show how a Pharmaceutical manufacturing company can direct capital towards capabilities where technical requirements and customer needs create higher barriers to entry.
How are documented PPS investments addressing customer needs?
A key feature of recent manufacturing investments is that they are increasingly connected to specific customer requirements.
In 2025, Piramal Pharma Solutions and NewAmsterdam Pharma invested in a dedicated oral solid dosage manufacturing suite at PPS’s Sellersville, Pennsylvania facility. The suite was designed to support production of a fixed-dose combination product, subject to regulatory approval, and was intended to increase production capacity and efficiency.
The project also connects capabilities across PPS’s network. The Ahmedabad site contributed to development, while the Pithampur facility provides dual-sourcing support. This illustrates how manufacturing investment can be linked with development capabilities and supply continuity across locations.
For pharma customers, the value of such investments therefore extends beyond additional production capacity. They can provide access to specialised infrastructure, development expertise and greater flexibility as products move towards commercialisation.
What outcomes should be tracked?
The effectiveness of manufacturing investment should ultimately be measured by more than the amount of capital deployed or the number of facilities added.
For customers, relevant indicators include capacity utilisation, speed to scale, successful technology transfers, regulatory performance, manufacturing reliability and the ability to support products from development through commercial production.
Customer retention and expansion of existing relationships can also indicate whether investments are creating lasting value. For CDMOs, the ability to move projects from early development into later-stage and commercial manufacturing can demonstrate whether newly created capabilities are translating into deeper customer engagement.
This is particularly important in a capital-intensive industry. New capacity only creates value when it is matched by sustained customer demand, operational execution and appropriate utilisation.
The strategic role of manufacturing investment
The evolution of pharmaceutical manufacturing investment points to a broader change in the CDMO model.
The competitive question is increasingly shifting from how much capacity a company has to what that capacity enables. Specialised technologies, integrated development and manufacturing, geographic diversification and customer-specific infrastructure can all influence a CDMO’s ability to support global pharmaceutical customers.
Piramal Pharma Solutions‘ investments across ADCs, APIs, HPAPIs and oral solid dosage manufacturing illustrate this broader shift. Rather than treating manufacturing investment as capacity expansion alone, the strategy increasingly connects capital deployment with customer requirements and the changing complexity of pharmaceutical development.
For the wider CDMO services market, that distinction will become increasingly important. As pharmaceutical companies seek specialised partners and more resilient manufacturing networks, the companies able to convert capital investment into differentiated capabilities, reliable execution and long-term customer relationships will be positioned to participate in the evolving global pharmaceutical value chain.
