Therapeutic Area
Infectious Disease CDMOs
Compare CDMOs with infectious disease manufacturing expertise for antibiotics, antivirals, vaccines, and pandemic-readiness programs. Filter by biosafety level, modality, and capacity.
222 companies listed
About Infectious Disease Drug Manufacturing
Infectious disease manufacturing covers antibiotics (small molecule, complex natural products), antivirals (small molecule and biologic), vaccines (live-attenuated, inactivated, subunit, mRNA), and emerging modalities like monoclonal antibodies for prophylaxis. Post-pandemic, governments and organizations are investing heavily in manufacturing surge capacity and platform technologies.
Biosafety containment is essential for vaccine production. Live-attenuated vaccines require BSL-2 manufacturing. Viral challenge studies and certain vector production require BSL-3. CDMOs must demonstrate validated biosafety engineering controls, decontamination procedures, and personnel training. Ask about their biosafety committee oversight and facility classification.
Speed-to-scale capability differentiates infectious disease CDMOs. Pandemic preparedness programs prioritize CDMOs that can scale from clinical to commercial manufacturing within months, not years. Platform technologies (mRNA manufacturing lines, modular single-use bioreactors) enable rapid campaign switching between products. The ability to handle multiple products in segregated suites is a key differentiator.
Companies (222)
UPM Pharmaceuticals
United States
UPM Pharmaceuticals is a U.S.-based CDMO specializing in late-stage commercial manufacturing of semi-solid and oral solid dose products. Operating from a 475,000 sq ft cGMP FDA-registered facility in Bristol, Tennessee, UPM is a family-owned company with 30+ years of experience. They handle DEA-controlled substances and provide services from technology transfer and scale-up through commercial manufacturing. Capabilities include formulation development, analytical development, coated tablet manufacturing, pharmaceutical serialization, aggregation, and full packaging and warehousing.
Small Molecule Drug ProductOral Solid DoseFormulation Development
PeptiStar Inc.
Japan
PeptiStar is a Japan-based CDMO specializing in the development and cGMP manufacture of peptide and oligonucleotide APIs. From its 10,500 m² R&D and manufacturing site in Settsu, Osaka, the company supports programs from milligram-scale research material through clinical and commercial production. PeptiStar works with complex peptide structures, including long-chain, cyclic, branched and constrained peptides, non-natural amino acids and peptide conjugates. Its route-flexible manufacturing platform includes conventional and microwave-assisted SPPS, STag-PS and SYNCSOL liquid-phase technologies. Integrated downstream capabilities include preparative and continuous chromatography, membrane concentration and lyophilization, with 300 L filter reactors, chromatography columns up to 450 mm and lyophilizers up to 500 L. Purification and subsequent processing are conducted in Class 100,000 controlled areas. PeptiStar also develops and manufactures oligonucleotide APIs and peptide–oligonucleotide conjugates. The company was recognised by Exelixis as its 2025 CDMO of the Year.
Frequently Asked Questions
What biosafety levels are needed for vaccine manufacturing?+
It depends on the vaccine type. Inactivated and subunit vaccines can often be manufactured at BSL-1 after the pathogen inactivation step. Live-attenuated vaccines require BSL-2 containment during production. Manufacturing involving live pathogenic organisms (challenge strains, certain vector production) may require BSL-3. mRNA vaccines do not require high biosafety levels since no live pathogen is involved -- a significant manufacturing advantage.
How has pandemic preparedness changed CDMO requirements?+
Post-COVID, the industry expects CDMOs to offer: platform manufacturing capabilities (especially mRNA and viral vector platforms), surge capacity planning with documented scale-up timelines, flexible facility designs that allow rapid campaign changeover, and warm-base manufacturing agreements where facilities maintain readiness for rapid activation. Government agencies (BARDA, CEPI, HERA) now include manufacturing readiness in their funding criteria.
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