Outsourcing gap widens: Europe pulls away from US in new drug manufacturing
Key takeaways
- Contract manufacturing facilities located in the US and Europe provide biopharma companies with strategic options to diversify supply chains, access specialised technologies, and speed time-to-market for new drugs.
- According to GlobalData's Drug By Manufacturer Database, the most recent full-year figures show a widening of the gap between use of European and US facilities, with the first half of 2026 continuing that trend.
- National tax systems are one element supporting that growth.
Outsourcing gap widens: Europe pulls away from US in new drug manufacturing Global Data Healthcare Thu, July 2, 2026 at 10:14 PM GMT+7 2 min read In 2025, the dose outsourcing gap between the proportion of newly approved biosimilar and innovator products outsourced to European and US facilities was the widest yet, with Europe taking a substantial lead. The first half of 2026 is continuing that trend.
Contract manufacturing facilities located in the US and Europe provide biopharma companies with strategic options to diversify supply chains, access specialised technologies, and speed time-to-market for new drugs. Outsourced dose manufacturing for innovator drugs and biosimilars approved in the US and Europe (EU and UK) has traditionally oscillated between the two geographies, but there has been a pronounced shift toward European facilities over the last two years.
According to GlobalData's Drug By Manufacturer Database, the most recent full-year figures show a widening of the gap between use of European and US facilities, with the first half of 2026 continuing that trend. In 2025, 50% of new drugs had dose manufacturing contracts with European-based facilities, almost doubling their share since 2023. By contrast, that proportion for US-based facilities has remained a static 18% since 2024, leading to a substantial widening of the outsourcing gap between the two geographies. Despite fluctuations over the last decade, including instances of US-based facilities coming close to European outsourcing proportions in 2018, 2021, and 2023, Europe has continuously held its lead.