Challenge
A private equity fund which had successfully invested in the advanced biologics CDMO space was considering entering the radiopharmaceuticals CDMO space through investment in an established European organization. As this was a new area, the fund asked Alacrita to review the European and global markets for radiopharmaceuticals (both imaging agents and therapeutics), characterize the major products on the market and in R&D pipelines and profile the main industry players. A specific request was to quantify the potential market for CDMO services over the coming years which was challenging due to a dearth of published statistics. We were also asked to identify the key success factors in the radiopharma CDMO industry and assess the competitive outlook in the space.
Solution
We characterized the current and prospective future market for radiopharmaceuticals/diagnostics through our industry knowledge and desk research using subscription and public access databases, the scientific and clinical literature, and company websites, to address:
- Current demand for radiopharmaceuticals/diagnostics, segmented by product and indication;
- Prospective future evolution over the coming 10 years, driven both by existing products and the clinical development pipeline. This included a detailed list of pipeline candidates now and over the past/future by phase of product/company and geographic focus, identifying:
- Company sponsor;
- Molecule (radionuclide and targeting ligand/chemistry);
- Indication;
- Development stage;
- Estimated launch date.
- Addressable market.
We mapped the current (and prospective future) CDMO competitive environment, including:
- An overview of established CDMOs and recent entrants operating in the radiopharmaceutical space (current capacity and capabilities, strategic partnerships, financial status, other relevant disclosed activities), and of development companies which have, or intend to establish their own GMP capacity;
- A qualified opinion as to how global pharma involvement in therapeutic and diagnostic radiopharmaceuticals might develop through licensing and acquisition and the implications for future CDMO demand in the US and Europe;
- Through a combination of desk research and interviews with radiopharma company executives and practicing radiopharmacists, we identified and discussed current issues, drivers and trends. We addressed the internal KSFs required by CDMOs companies which include the issues of technology, internal processes, manufacturing and logistics.
We set this analysis in the context of two potential investment targets, one of which was dropped following presentation of our interim report.