First Annual European Celebration of CDMO Excellence

For more than a decade, the CDMO Leadership Awards have stood as one of the industry’s most respected honors, recognizing contract development and manufacturing organizations that demonstrate excellence in performance, innovation, and partnership.

In 2025, the program expanded to Europe for the first time, bringing together leaders from across the outsourcing community for an unforgettable evening at the Steigenberger Hof Hotel in Frankfurt. Guests gathered for an exclusive Awards Ceremony and Cocktails & Trophies Reception, celebrating this year’s Champions and Jury Award winners in a beautiful setting organized by Orientation Events.

The celebration continued with an Afterparty hosted by Orientation Marketing in honor of its 10th anniversary, complete with music, drinks, and great company. We were proud to welcome so many of you and grateful to everyone who helped make the inaugural European ceremony a true success.

Leadership Awards Categories

Derived from proprietary data by Life Science Connect and research by Orientation Marketing, CDMO buyers from across biopharma evaluated the partners they worked with in the past 24 months. A blended scoring system based on Net Promoter Scores and Best-in-Class Rankings determines the finalists and champions.

Categories of Excellence

• Biologics
• Cell & Gene Therapy
• Small Molecule API
• Small Molecule Dosage Form

All finalists are notified in advance and announced on stage. Only champions are called up to keep the evening moving at pace.

Special European CDMO Jury Awards

In addition to data-driven recognition, the European CDMO Jury Awards highlight achievements selected by a distinguished panel of industry leaders, supported by LinkedIn community voting. The Jury Awards highlight European CDMOs and investors demonstrating excellence in areas such as performance, innovation, and sustainability.

Jury Award Categories

• European CDMO of the Year
• Best New or Reinvented CDMO of the Year
• Best European Innovative CDMO
• Best European CDMO Management Team
• Best European PE Team Supporting CDMO
• CDMO Sustainability in Action Award
• Best Manufacturing Capabilities

Jury Co-Chairs

• John Chiminski, Senior Advisor, Bourne Partners; former Chair and CEO, Catalent
• Dr. Kurt Nielsen, Managing Director, Expert Insights; former CEO, Pii; executive at Catalent, Lupin, and Sandoz

Vice Chair

• Elliott Berger, Board Director, Orientation Marketing; former CMO, Catalent

Jury Members

• Julien Meissonnier, Senior Advisor to life science investors and innovators; former Chief Scientific Officer, Catalent; Board Member, Prolific Machines
• Christian Dowdeswell, Managing Director, Arcinova, a Quotient Company; former executive, Lonza, Siegfried, and Nanoform
• Felicity Thomas, Associate Director of Editorial and Content, The Pharma Navigator
• Pablo Magnani, COO, Towa International; formerly VP, FAREVA and CEO, Medichem
• Elisabeth Stampa, Chair of the Board of Directors, Medichem; Vice President, Medicines Europe
• Dr. Stefan Kahl, Director, Global Life Sciences Consulting, BearingPoint; previously Head of Life Sciences & Healthcare Consulting, Cognizant
• David Perdigo, CEO, Noucor; previously, Director, Uriach
• Dr. Thilo Fuchs, Head of Global API Sourcing, Sandoz; previously Head of API Sourcing, Hexal
• Will Downie, Strategic Advisor, Touchlight; Operating Partner, Adveent; former CEO, Argenta

Congratulations to all 2025 CDMO Leadership Award Europe Winners:

Sponsors & Supporters

A heartfelt thank you to our sponsors for their generous support of the 2025 CDMO Leadership Awards Europe. Your partnership helped make this inaugural event possible and contributed to an unforgettable evening of recognition and celebration.

Premier Sponsors

Contributing Sponsors

Note: The CDMO Leadership Awards Europe is an independent event organized by Life Science Connect and is not affiliated with CPHI or Informa Markets.