By: Adam Abulizi
Across meetings and breakout sessions, one theme that kept surfacing was that peptide programs are becoming more complex and the technical expectations placed on CDMOs are rising. Many of the conversations were about practical challenges that shaped development timelines and manufacturing decisions.
With global demand for GLP-1 agonists continuing to surge, many teams expressed concern about peptide capacity being absorbed by a handful of blockbuster programs. Pharma companies outside this space are worried about securing reactor time and keeping timelines intact.
The pressure to reach Phase I faster came up in nearly every conversation. Pharma companies described CMC stage as a growing bottleneck, not because of any single technical issue, but because development timelines overall are becoming more compressed.
Another theme that was mentioned was Japan’s commitment to greener peptide manufacturing. Teams spoke about the pressure to reduce reliance on DMF and NMP in SPPS and to explore more efficient hybrid approaches that balance yield, sustainability and scalability.
Pharma companies also described choosing CDMOs based on category-specific expertise rather than general peptide capability. Here are some examples:
- Innovators working on synthetic NECs want partners who can iterate quickly during early development.
- Teams advancing longer sequences are asking more questions about hybrid synthesis
The takeaway was clear that technical fit and agility are becoming more and more important when selecting the right CDMO.
CPHI Japan reinforced that peptide development is entering a more mature phase. For CDMOs, the expectations are shifting toward:
- Flexible synthesis options
- Efficient solvent strategies
- Reliable scale-up pathways
- The ability to support increasingly complex sequences