Molecule to Market: Inside the outsourcing space

Live from CPHI Milan, Molecule to Market and ramarketing bring together 11 senior leaders from across the global pharma outsourcing sector to tackle some of the industry's biggest trade-offs. 

 

In this special episode, produced in partnership with ramarketing, host Raman Sehgal cuts through the usual industry talking points with a series of rapid-fire, either-or questions designed to uncover what leaders are really prioritizing, where opinions align, and where perspectives differ.

 

From balancing cost with flexibility to weighing technology against human expertise, we explore the decisions shaping the future of pharma services, what customers value most, and where the industry could be heading over the next five years.

 

Expect different perspectives, some tough choices, and plenty of food for thought from the people helping shape the future of pharma outsourcing.

 

Featuring insights from:

Maja Pedersen, President and COO at Fujifilm Biotechnologies

Hayley Crowe, Executive VP and General Manager of Global Life Sciences at Ecolab

John Wichelt, VP/General Manager at Kindeva

Henning Steinhagen, CEO at Symeres

Campbell Bunce, Chief Scientific Officer at Abzena

Patrick Kelley, Senior Director - Commercial at Pace Life Sciences

Matt Peterson, Chief Strategy Officer at Quotient Sciences

Joe Lipari, Director, Global Traceability Solutions at Systech

Martin Meeson, CEO at Axplora

Darren Hieber, VP of Alliance Partnerships at Ensera Pharma/Design

Luke Guerrero, Co-Founder & Director of Operations at Digital CMC Consortium 

 

Molecule to Market is also sponsored by Bora Pharmaceuticals and supported by Lead Candidate. Please subscribe, tell your industry colleagues and join us in celebrating and promoting the value and importance of the global life science outsourcing space. We’d also appreciate a positive rating!

In this episode of Molecule to Market, you’ll go inside the outsourcing space of the global drug development sector with:

 

Bobby Sheng, Chairman and CEO of Bora Pharmaceuticals

Derek Hennecke, Biotech Entrepreneur and Board Member

Maja Herold Pedersen, President and COO of Fujifilm Biotechnologies

 

Your host, Raman Sehgal, discusses the real truths shaping pharma outsourcing with his guests live from CPHI Milan 2026. The event was hosted by Ramarketing and Molecule to Market.

 

Molecule to Market is also sponsored by Bora Pharmaceuticals and supported by Lead Candidate. Please subscribe, tell your industry colleagues and join us in celebrating and promoting the value and importance of the global life science outsourcing space. We’d also appreciate a positive rating!

In this special encore episode of Molecule to Market, you’ll go inside the outsourcing space of the global drug development sector with Mark Bamforth OBE, serial entrepreneur, investor and mentor to CEOs.

Your host, Raman Sehgal, revisits one of Molecule to Market’s most memorable conversations, bringing together Mark’s original two-part story of building and selling three biotech CDMOs for a combined value of $2.5bn.

Raman and Mark discuss the pharmaceutical and biotechnology supply chain, covering:

Mark’s unconventional journey from North Sea oil and the whisky industry to spending 22 years at Genzyme and ultimately leading a global manufacturing network.

Leaving corporate life to build Gallus Biopharmaceuticals, and the baptism of fire that came with raising money for a self funded CDMO carve out.

The strategy and timing behind Gallus and its eventual sale to Patheon.

Spotting the opportunity in viral vectors early, and building Brammer Bio from start up to its $1.7bn acquisition by Thermo Fisher.

Building Arranta Bio across microbiome, plasmid and mRNA capabilities, before an unsolicited approach led to its sale to Recipharm.

Mark’s ability to spot where the market is heading, sometimes before conventional wisdom catches up.

Leadership lessons from more than two decades at Genzyme and three successful founder to exit journeys.

How he thinks about investing, mentoring CEOs and building businesses in complex, fast moving markets.

Mark Bamforth OBE is a serial entrepreneur, investor and mentor to CEOs. He is currently CEO of disAMR, whose mission is to accelerate scientific, financial and policy solutions to protect modern medicine from antimicrobial resistant infections.

He is also Executive Board Chair of Kincellis, an advanced therapies CDMO, General Partner of the Kineticos AMR Accelerator Fund, and serves on the boards of Enterobiotix, Continuus Pharma and the Saltire Foundation USA.

Previously, Mark founded, built and sold three PE backed biotech CDMOs, Gallus Biopharmaceuticals, Brammer Bio and Arranta Bio, over a 12 year period for a combined value of $2.5bn.

Before becoming an entrepreneur, Mark spent 22 years at Genzyme in the UK and US, latterly running a global manufacturing operation spanning 12 sites in nine countries and producing more than 20 commercial products.

He began his career as a petroleum engineer exploring for North Sea oil with Britoil, before moving into the whisky industry as a chemical engineer with Whitbread.

Mark holds a BS in Chemical Engineering from Strathclyde University and an MBA from Henley Management College. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire, OBE, for services to the biotech industry and UK USA business relations.

Connect with him on LinkedIn.

 

Molecule to Market is sponsored by Bora Pharmaceuticals and supported by Lead Candidate. Please subscribe, tell your industry colleagues and join us in celebrating and promoting the value and importance of the global life science outsourcing space. We’d also appreciate a positive rating!

In this special episode of Molecule to Market, you’ll go inside the outsourcing space of the global drug development sector through the perspective of pharma-side buyers and external manufacturing leaders.

Your host, Raman Sehgal, brings together insights from Daniel Hurni, Felipe Furiati, Frank Binder, and the buyer-side panel from CDMO Live Europe: When Outsourcing Goes Wrong, covering:

What really goes into selecting a CDMO partner, and why price and technical capability are only part of the decision.

Why product lifecycle, supply resilience, geography and risk all influence outsourcing strategy.

What strong pharma-CDMO relationships look like in practice, including trust, transparency, governance and communication.

Why being a genuine strategic partner requires much more than simply using the phrase.

The early warning signs that an outsourcing relationship may be starting to fail, and why sponsors also need to take responsibility.

What makes a CDMO stand out to experienced buyers, from consistency across sites to strong planning, risk management and operational capability.

Why buyers increasingly want to understand the people and processes behind the equipment, not just the facility itself.

This special episode brings together buyer-side perspectives from across Big Pharma, mid-sized pharma and global external manufacturing to provide CDMOs with a clearer view of what their customers really value.

Molecule to Market is sponsored by Bora Pharmaceuticals and supported by Lead Candidate. Please subscribe, tell your industry colleagues and join us in celebrating and promoting the value and importance of the global life science outsourcing space. We’d also appreciate a positive rating!

In this episode of Molecule to Market, you’ll go inside the outsourcing space of the global drug development sector with Frank Binder, Independent Consultant (external manufacturing and supply chain management).

 

Your host, Raman Sehgal, discusses the pharmaceutical and biotechnology supply chain with Frank, covering:

 

Getting hooked on supply chain management during his time at Accenture, before joining Novartis’ biopharma business during the early stages of outsourcing and CDMO management.

Deciding to move to Celgene, and feeling liberated by the hands-on, can-do culture of a fast growth company.

The intrigue of joining a highly respected Japanese pharma company to help drive global supply chain alignment.

Common themes in pharma and CDMO relationships, including better planning, clearer communication and secondary sourcing.

How CDMO selection has evolved over the last 10 to 15 years, what has changed and what remains the same, including the role of regionalisation.

The lens he uses to identify genuine, strategic partners he can trust.

 

Dr. Frank Binder is a senior supply chain leader with experience across major pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical companies in Switzerland, the US and Japan. He is now an independent consultant at GSCA | Global Supply Chain Advisors, having previously held senior roles at Santen, Celgene, Novartis, Roche and Accenture. His expertise spans global supply chain transformation, biologics and API production, CDMO management, international logistics, planning, NPI and SOP/IBP. Frank is a recognised pharmaceutical supply chain thought leader, regularly speaking at industry conferences across Europe, the US and Asia. He holds a doctorate in Physical Chemistry from the University of Berne, with further executive education at Cranfield University, Harvard Business School and INSEAD.

 

Connect with him on LinkedIn.

 

Molecule to Market is also sponsored by Bora Pharmaceuticals and supported by Lead Candidate. Please subscribe, tell your industry colleagues and join us in celebrating and promoting the value and importance of the global life science outsourcing space. We’d also appreciate a positive rating!