The State of CDMO Funding: 2025 in Review (Part One)

Off Script: A Pharma Manufacturing Podcast

As we near the end of 2025, the CDMO industry finds itself at a pivotal financial and strategic juncture — shaped by constrained funding, shifting demand, and renewed investor scrutiny.

In this episode of Off Script, we speak with Brian Scanlan, Advisor of Life Sciences at Edgewater Capital Partners, to examine how the year’s market and investment trends align with his predictions from an earlier CPHI Annual Report.
Brian shares his perspective on:

• How accurately his forecast of stability and growth for clinical CROs and CDMOs has held up amid tighter capital markets;
• The ongoing softness among early-stage pharma service providers and what it reveals about funding flows across the sector; and
• Where investor interest is gravitating — from ADCs and small molecules to biologics — and what this signals for the next phase of CDMO evolution.