Question 1

Who can join CDMO Hub?

Accepted Answer

Anyone working in or around pharmaceutical development and manufacturing. There are three account types: individuals (for browsing and job seeking), experts (independent consultants who want a listed profile), and company members — the buyers (pharma/biotech sourcing a manufacturer) and suppliers (CDMOs offering services) who make up the marketplace. Creating an account is free.

Question 2

What's the difference between an Individual and an Expert account?

Accepted Answer

An Individual account gives you general access to browse CDMOs, read the knowledge base, and explore the platform. An Expert account is for independent consultants: it creates a listed profile in the Expert Network, so buyers can find you through expert search and expert matchmaking. Choose Expert only if you want to be discoverable as a consultant.

Question 3

Can multiple people from my company use CDMO Hub?

Accepted Answer

Yes. A company can have several members. During onboarding — or later from your dashboard — you can invite colleagues by email to join your company workspace, so your whole team shares one profile and can collaborate on RFIs and messages.

Question 4

Can one company have both buyer and supplier access?

Accepted Answer

Yes. A company can be set to "both", giving it buyer tools (search, matchmaking, SmartRFI) and a supplier listing at the same time. Many organisations both source external capacity and offer their own — one account covers both sides.

Question 5

Why should I claim my company profile?

Accepted Answer

Claiming your profile lets you control how your company appears, keep your capabilities and certifications current, become eligible for the Verified Supplier badge, and respond to buyers' SmartRFI requests. An unclaimed profile can still appear in listings, but only a claimed profile can be managed and verified.

Question 6

What should suppliers include in their profile?

Accepted Answer

Complete the fields buyers filter on: your capabilities and services, certifications, manufacturing sites and their locations, the modalities and therapeutic areas you support, and your capacity. Blank fields exclude you from those filtered searches rather than ranking you lower, so a fuller profile is a more findable one.

Question 7

What is a "Customer Review"?

Accepted Answer

A Customer Review is feedback a buyer leaves about a supplier they have worked with. It includes an overall rating plus optional ratings for project management, technology transfer, on-time delivery, and communication. Reviews are moderated before they appear, and they give other buyers a view of a supplier’s past performance.

Question 8

How long does supplier verification take?

Accepted Answer

Verification normally completes within a few business days of a complete submission. The clock starts when the last required document is provided — incomplete submissions are the most common cause of delay. You can check the status of a verification from your company profile at any time.

Question 9

Is SmartRFI free?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Buyers can create and send SmartRFI requests to shortlisted suppliers at no cost, and suppliers can respond for free. SmartRFI keeps every response in the same structured format so you can compare suppliers side by side instead of chasing unstructured email threads.

Question 10

How do you verify suppliers?

Accepted Answer

Verification confirms who a company is — not how it manufactures. We check the legal entity and that the person claiming the profile is authorised to represent the company. Regulatory and inspection history is shown separately from public records, so the badge and the compliance data are never conflated.

Question 11

Can I edit my profile after I create it?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Once you have claimed and are signed in, you can edit your company or expert profile at any time from your dashboard — update capabilities, certifications, sites, contact details, and the rest. Changes to a verified supplier profile may trigger a re-check of the affected fields.

Question 12

How are AI matchmaking recommendations generated?

Accepted Answer

When you describe a program — modality, therapeutic area, scale, region, certifications, and timeline — the matchmaker scores every eligible supplier against those requirements across weighted dimensions such as modality fit, region, therapeutic experience, and capabilities, then returns a ranked shortlist. It surfaces suppliers you might have missed; it does not replace your own due diligence.

Frequently asked questions

Frequently asked questions