Recent developments
Ingredient capacity shifts
BASF commissioned three world-scale plants for menthol, linalool and citral, integrating supply across Europe and China. Evonik and Fuhua completed the specialty hydrogen peroxide plant in Leshan (20,000 t/y) for high‑purity grades serving semiconductors and pharmaceuticals. Evonik will add downstream fermentation and processing capabilities at its Fermas site in Slovakia to expand contract drug‑substance manufacturing.
Bioprocessing build‑outs
WuXi advanced the Chengdu microbial commercial manufacturing site toward 2026 GMP release, while three facilities earned MFDS GMP certification for commercial bispecific supply. Regionalization gained momentum as financing backed Africa’s first end‑to‑end multi‑vaccine manufacturing facility. Small‑molecule capability progressed with FJ3 at the Fujieda Plant recognized for dual macrocyclic‑peptide and conventional API production with advanced containment.
Excipients and supply platforms
Evonik and Higuchi launched the Open Pharma Lab in Yokohama to give formulators hands‑on access to EUDRAGIT systems. Brenntag unveiled BYPHAR, a biopharma product range spanning non‑GMP to GMP/LBLE grades for biologics and advanced therapies. Market signals showed resilience as Croda Q1 2026 sales met guidance, with Consumer Care growth offsetting softer Life Sciences demand.
Therapeutic demand drivers
Metabolic programs continued to scale: Novo Nordisk will present 52 abstracts at the European Congress on Obesity; Boehringer reported Phase III SYNCHRONIZE‑1 results; and ACHIEVE‑4 was a Phase 3 confirming orforglipron’s CV safety and glycemic benefits. Additionally, oral semaglutide lowers HbA1c in adolescents. Biologics activity broadened with an sBLA for Gazyva in SLE and Blenrep approved in China, sustaining needs for peptide synthesis, ADC linker‑payloads, polymers and sterile capacity.
Capital and digitalisation
Enterprise technology investment accelerated as Merck and Google Cloud announced a multi‑year $1B agentic AI platform. Pipeline and modality expansion continued with Lilly to acquire Kelonia Therapeutics (in vivo CAR‑T) and Lilly to acquire Ajax Therapeutics (Type II JAK2), signaling future demand for complex biologics inputs and specialized manufacturing.