Frequently Asked Questions

The CDMO Leadership Awards were created to help biopharma executives make more informed outsourcing decisions. Readers of Life Science Leader and Outsourced Pharma told us that identifying and vetting the right CDMO partners can be a challenge. These awards recognize contract development and manufacturing organizations (CDMOs) that have consistently delivered excellence across key performance categories defined by the industry’s buyers.

The awards are based on a rigorous annual survey of sponsor-company users of CDMO services. Participants evaluate their recent CDMO partners across critical metrics related to capabilities, quality, reliability, expertise, compatibility, and service. Respondents assess only those CDMOs with which they have worked within the past 18 months, ensuring evaluations are grounded in recent, real-world experience.

Awards are presented in three groups of outsourcing respondents: Big Pharma, Small Pharma, and Overall (combined Big and Small Pharma).

The survey captures sponsor experience with CDMOs over the past 24 months. Its primary scoring input is a Net Promoter–style likelihood-to-recommend rating for each CDMO a respondent has worked with. Additional questions provide context to help interpret those ratings.

The survey includes:

• Outsourcing responsibility
  Respondents confirm whether they have been involved in outsourcing decisions across key modalities such as biologics, small molecule API, small molecule dosage form, and cell and gene therapy.

• Selection of CDMOs worked with in the past 24 months
  Respondents identify all CDMOs they believe merit recognition based on recent outsourcing experience.

• Core award metric: likelihood-to-recommend (0–10)
  Each selected CDMO is rated using a 0–10 likelihood-to-recommend scale. This serves as the primary input for the CDMO Leadership Award scoring.

• Contextual performance questions (0–4)
  Respondents then provide satisfaction ratings across specific development, manufacturing, delivery, and support attributes. These diagnostic scores help interpret CDMO performance but do not replace the core likelihood-to-recommend metric.

• Best-in-class attribute rankings
  Respondents also rank companies they believe excel in attributes such as scientific expertise, on-time delivery, innovation, manufacturing capabilities, facilities, and quality systems. These rankings offer supplemental industry perspective for the jury’s best-in-class recognitions.

• Company and respondent profile
  The survey concludes with questions on annual outsourcing spend, decision-making scope, job title, region, years of experience, and an email address for validation.

This approach ensures the awards reflect a consistent, recommendation-based methodology supported by the detailed context needed to understand CDMO performance.

Starting with the 2026 awards cycle, the research is conducted by the Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development (Tufts CSDD), an independent, academic leader in analyzing pharmaceutical development and outsourcing trends. The expanded methodology and insight from Tufts CSDD enhance the credibility of the benchmarking program and support our shared mission to help life science suppliers and sponsors connect, collaborate, and contribute.

For questions about participating in future surveys, please contact csdd@tufts.edu.

The survey is sent to our global readership across the Life Science Connect communities. Respondents must have worked with a CDMO within the previous 18 months to rate that CDMO in the core award categories.

Life Science Leader gives voice to executives and other leaders to share insights on the challenges and struggles we need to overcome to build successful organizations to help more patients get the therapies they need. Life Science Leader enables these leaders to connect, collaborate, and contribute.

Outsourced Pharma provides the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry with unique analysis and exclusive content for the advancement of drug development and manufacturing outsourcing. Explore with us the business and personal relationships between drug sponsors and service providers, and our positions in the global biopharma industry, and healthcare systems.

Yes. In 2025 we debuted the European CDMO Leadership Awards to highlight companies headquartered in Europe. These recognitions use the same global survey and scoring model from the main US awards, filtered to reflect performance within the European cohort.

No. The European results come from the same global dataset collected for the main US CDMO Leadership Awards. No Europe-only survey is fielded.

Capabilities

1. All facilities fully owned
2. Complementary core competencies to in-house or other manufacturing contractors
3. Facility has most up-to-date manufacturing technologies
4. Full range of manufacturing for the dosage forms we require
5. Has capacity to meet our demands
6. Offers innovative solutions
7. Proven ability to manufacture API
8. Provides regulatory support for filing
9. Stability testing capabilities; storage capabilities

Compatibility

1. Access to desired markets
2. Accessible senior management
3. Complementary core competencies to in-house or other manufacturing contractors
4. Cultural fit
5. Financial strength/stability
6. Timely project communications
7. Well-regarded within the industry

Expertise

1. Ability to smoothly scale up manufacturing and transfer technology
2. Experience level of staff
3. Offers innovative solutions
4. Provides regulatory support for filing
5. Scientific knowledge
6. Strong regulatory track record

Quality

1. Right first-time measurements
2. Strong regulatory track record
3. Track record for meeting quality-performance metrics
4. Up-front contingency planning, risk management

Reliability

1. All facilities fully owned
2. Financial strength/stability
3. Flexibility to adjust schedule for special requests
4. Has capacity to meet our demands
5. Reliable on-time delivery
6. Timely project management
7. Up-front contingency planning, risk management

Service

1. Preformulation/formulation support
2. Process development and optimization
3. Analytical services, including stability and storage testing
4. Regulatory support

In addition to the survey-based recognitions, select honors are presented as Jury Awards. These special distinctions highlight excellence in areas that extend beyond measurable metrics, such as innovation, sustainability, leadership, and overall contribution to the advancement of outsourcing partnerships.

Each year, a panel of respected industry leaders, analysts, and experts from across the global biopharma community reviews nominations and industry performance to identify recipients. The Jury Awards complement the research-based categories by acknowledging companies and teams that are driving progress in the outsourcing landscape.

The CDMO Leadership Awards research survey typically opens in the fourth quarter of the prior year.
For example, the 2026 awards research will be conducted in late 2025.

Participants are recruited from biopharma companies of all sizes and are screened for decision-making authority and experience in outsourcing. Respondents evaluate only those CDMOs with which they have worked within the past 18 months.

To be considered for future survey participation, please contact csdd@tufts.edu.

CDMOs that manufacture API or drug product at any scale, from clinical to commercial, are eligible. Inclusion is based on sponsor-reported experience, meaning only CDMOs that have supported outsourced projects within the previous 18 months will be evaluated.

If your company is not currently listed, contact csdd@tufts.edu to ensure inclusion in the next survey cycle.

No. There is no cost for CDMOs to be included in the survey or to be recognized as a winner.
Winning CDMOs are featured in the CDMO Leadership Awards annual supplement, designed to give Life Science Leader and Outsourced Pharma readers a trusted, data-backed resource to evaluate potential partners.