businessIndustry Information
Pharmaceutical Contract Manufacturing
Pharmaceutical companies often hire an outside company to package and label their products. Although the pharmaceutical company does not actually manufacture the product, its name appears on the product when it is sold. Outsourcing this type of work often lowers operation costs for pharmaceutical companies.
Pharmaceutical contract manufacturing refers to the services performed by a contract manufacturer who produces goods or services for a pharmaceutical company. These services are outlined in a contract before the actual manufacturing takes place, ensuring profit for the contract manufacturer. Finding a pharmaceutical contract manufacturer is challenging because you will need to find one that can help keep costs low without curtailing the high-quality products that you will need in order to have a profitable, sustaining and successful business. Pharmaceutical manufacturing includes a wide variety of services that need to be carefully considered before making a decision and signing a contract. Some manufacturers print labels for pill bottles while others fill bottles with pills, liquids or other substances. To ensure that the hiring company gets the best service for their money, they send out a request for bids from pharmaceutical contractors. Often times, hiring this type of third party services lowers operation costs because the hiring company is not maintaining a facility or managing, training and paying a workforce.
Pharmaceutical contract manufacturers can also make the pills, liquid medicines or lotions if provided with specific instructions to do so. In addition to contract manufacturing, contracting has also become more and more prevalent in the area of research. Pharmaceutical research contractors offer many different services, including product development and formulation, clinical trials and the completion of Food and Drug Administration New Drug Applications. These contractors also provide the manpower needed for companies who do not have staff skilled in the research area. Closely related to pharmaceutical manufacturing is medical device contract manufacturing. They are closely related because the integrity and quality of the products can affect the user greatly. For example, if the pharmaceutical drug is not of the highest quality it can cause serious side effects. Medical devices need to be well made because they can affect how a doctor diagnoses a patient and the patient’s subsequent treatment. Contract manufacturing services are used in many industries such as aerospace, chemical, electrical and military just to name a few.