Pharma 101
The drug-development ecosystem in plain English. Watch the quick explainer below, then subscribe to keep learning every week.
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New to the industry?
CRO, CDMO, Biotech, Pharma — these four players run the entire drug-development ecosystem. The video above breaks down who does what in 30 seconds. Scroll down for the quick-reference cards, then subscribe to keep learning every week.
So in short…
They own the drug.
They test it.
They make it.
They scale it.
How the four major players fit into drug development.
| Entity | Primary Focus | End Deliverable | Industry Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Biotech
|
Drug Discovery & Molecule Ownership | Intellectual Property | Moderna, Vertex Pharmaceuticals |
|
Pharma
|
Commercialization & Mass Distribution | Market-Ready Drug | Eli Lilly, Johnson & Johnson |
|
CRO
|
Preclinical & Clinical Trials, Data | Defensible Regulatory Evidence | IQVIA, Labcorp, Parexel |
|
CDMO
|
Formulation, Scale-up & Fill-Finish | Physical Drug Product / APIs | Lonza, Catalent, Patheon |
Where do YOU fit?
Pick what matters most to you, then see where you fit.
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