Combination Product Manufacturing: GLP-1 Hype, Talent Shortages, and the CDMO Shift

About this episode

Steven Kaufman discusses the complexities of combination product manufacturing and the talent shortages affecting the industry.

“Capacity isn’t the biggest gap. It’s people. And nobody’s talking about it.” For pharma and biotech companies, manufacturing combination devices means coordinating not just fill/finish manufacturing but also primary container selection, device sourcing, final assembly, and serialization — often across multiple specialist partners. As CDMOs expand their service offerings to take on more of that coordination, including final device assembly and primary container management, the boundaries of what a fill/finish partner is expected to deliver are shifting. In the latest PharmaSource podcast episode, Steven Kaufman — who has spent over 20 years in the drug delivery device space and now advises biotech companies and CDMOs on combination product strategy — breaks down where the complexity really lies, why fill/finish capacity remains so tight, and what smart companies are doing differently to protect their programs. Read more .

People in this episode

Guest: Steven Kaufman

Topics covered

• combination product manufacturing
• GLP-1
• talent shortages
• CDMO
• drug delivery devices
• pharma
• biotech

Keywords

• combination devices
• fill/finish manufacturing
• primary container selection
• device sourcing
• final assembly
• serialization
• CDMO
• capacity
• biotech strategy

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: PharmaSource Podcast, Life Science Networks

More episodes of PharmaSource Podcast

• How Sanofi Navigates Regulatory CMC Across Global Markets: Insights from Manda Pasarkar · June 11, 2026 · 31 min
• The Politics Behind the Pipeline: How MFN Pricing and Tariffs Are Reshaping Pharma's Global Strategy · June 8, 2026 · 18 min
• How to Build a Resilient Global Vaccine Supply Chain: From Crisis to Capability · June 4, 2026 · 46 min
• How Lonza Is Outgrowing the CDMO Market with Bioconjugation, AI, and Regionalization · May 31, 2026 · 29 min
• The Strategic Partnership Gap: Why CDMOs Are Meeting Pharma's Expectations Less Than Half the Time with Simon-Kucher · May 27, 2026 · 26 min
• Creative Financing Strategies for Biotech's Bear Market, Beyond the VC Round · May 25, 2026 · 29 min