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CDMO Leadership Awards Methodology

Purpose and principles

The CDMO Leadership Awards are designed to recognize contract development and manufacturing organizations based on verified feedback from biopharma professionals with recent outsourcing experience. The methodology prioritizes independence, consistency, and sponsor-led evaluation, ensuring that recognition reflects real-world performance rather than submissions, nominations, or promotional activity.

Independent research oversight

Beginning with the 2026 awards cycle, the CDMO Leadership Awards are conducted with independent research oversight from the Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development.

Tufts CSDD is responsible for:

  • Survey design and structure

  • Respondent qualification and validation

  • Statistical analysis and methodological rigor

Life Science Connect administers the program and publishes the findings but does not select winners or influence scoring.

This separation ensures objectivity, consistency, and comparability across modalities, cohorts, and regions.

Program independence and sponsorship

To preserve the independence of the CDMO Leadership Awards, CDMOs are not eligible to sponsor the program. Sponsorship opportunities are limited to non-CDMO organizations and do not influence survey design, scoring, shortlists, or award recipients.

This safeguard ensures a clear separation between commercial participation and the research-based methodology used to determine recognition.

For additional information on sponsorship opportunities and eligibility, visit the sponsorship page.

Respondent eligibility

Survey responses are collected from qualified biopharma professionals who:

  • Are directly involved in outsourcing decisions or oversight

  • Have worked with the CDMO they are evaluating within the past 18–24 months

  • Evaluate only CDMOs they have personally worked with

Respondents may evaluate multiple CDMOs if they meet these criteria for each relationship.

CDMOs cannot:

  • Self-nominate

  • Submit materials

  • Influence who is surveyed

  • Influence scoring or outcomes

Survey structure

The survey is designed to capture both overall recommendation strength and contextual performance feedback.

Primary metric

The primary award metric is a 0–10 likelihood-to-recommend score for each CDMO a respondent has worked with during the eligibility period.

This score reflects the respondent’s overall assessment of the CDMO as an outsourcing partner.

Supporting performance inputs

To provide context for likelihood-to-recommend scores, respondents also rate CDMOs across multiple performance dimensions, including:

  • Development capabilities

  • Manufacturing performance

  • Delivery and reliability

  • Ongoing support and collaboration

In addition, respondents identify best-in-class performance for specific attributes such as:

  • Technical expertise

  • On-time delivery

  • Innovation

  • Facilities and infrastructure

  • Quality systems

These inputs do not replace the primary recommendation score but are used to contextualize and interpret overall performance.

Scoring model and thresholds

The CDMO Leadership Awards use a proprietary scoring model that blends:

  • Likelihood-to-recommend scores

  • Supporting satisfaction ratings

  • Best-in-class attribute rankings

To ensure meaningful recognition, minimum thresholds are applied, including:

  • A minimum number of qualified responses per CDMO

  • Minimum score thresholds within each modality and cohort

Only CDMOs that meet both response-count and score thresholds are eligible for recognition.

Modalities and cohorts

CDMOs are evaluated and recognized within defined modalities and regional cohorts. These may include, but are not limited to:

  • Biologics

  • Cell and gene therapy

  • Small-molecule API

  • Small-molecule dosage forms

Recognition is awarded within appropriate global, international, and regional cohorts based on response volume and qualification.

Award types

CDMO Leadership Awards

These awards are determined directly from survey results using the methodology described above and reflect sponsor-led evaluation based on verified outsourcing experience.

Best in Class Awards

Best in Class Awards are calculated from the same survey data and recognize top performance in specific attributes based on respondent feedback.

Juried Awards

Juried Awards are voted on by a panel of industry professionals. While survey insights may inform panel discussion, juried awards are not determined by survey scores and are evaluated separately from the CDMO Leadership Awards.

Continuity and evolution

The 2026 methodology builds on the established recommendation-based framework used in prior years while introducing independent research oversight to strengthen rigor, transparency, and consistency.

Core principles remain unchanged:

  • Sponsor-led evaluation

  • Verified respondent qualification

  • Clear scoring thresholds

  • Separation between survey results and commercial activity

Additional information

For questions related to eligibility, timelines, or award categories, please refer to the FAQ section or contact the Life Science Connect team.