Drug development process and COVID-19 pandemic: Flourishing era of outsourcing.

Traditional drug development is a tedious process with involvement of enormous cost and a high attrition rate. Outsourcing drug development services to contract research organizations (CROs) has become an important strategy for cost and risk reduction, capacity building, and data generation. The therapeutic and operational expertise of these CROs has allowed pharmaceutical industry to reduce in-house infrastructure as well as research capacity. Working with specialized CROs has not only increased the rate of success but also the speed of drug discovery process. Small firms with promising molecules but limited resources and large firms interested in diversifying their dimensions are utilizing the services of efficient CROs. Globally, approximately one-third of the drug development processes are now being outsourced and the data generated by the independent third party are well appreciated during regulatory submissions. In this article, we discuss the international and national trends, outsourcing services and models, key considerations while selecting CRO, and benefits and challenges of outsourcing. Further, we discuss how the technical expertise of competent CROs was utilized when traditional ways of conducting clinical trials were disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Taken together, the increasing health-care demands, COVID-19 pandemic or any other such upcoming health crisis, and recent advances in advanced technologies (machine learning and artificial intelligence, etc.) are likely to fuel global CRO market in the coming years.

A Comparative Study of the Effect of Different Carbon-Reduction Policies on Outsourcing Remanufacturing.

To facilitate the green transformation of enterprises and realize low-carbon development, governments have adopted the policies of carbon emission constraint and carbon trade to promote enterprises' low-carbon production. Although the two policies aim to reduce carbon emissions, they have different effects on enterprises' production. Meanwhile, the development of remanufacturing caters to the low-carbon economy. Therefore, this article establishes the game models between an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) and a remanufacturer under carbon-emission-constraint and carbon-trade policies, analyzing the production decisions of enterprises under different policies to compare the influence of the two policies on outsourcing remanufacturing. The main conclusions of the article are as follows: (1) Both carbon-emission-constraint and carbon-trade policies increase the unit retail price of remanufactured and new products, reducing the new products sales volume. However, the sales volume of remanufactured products only decreases if the discount rate is less than the rate of carbon emissions of the two products. (2) The upper limit of carbon emissions can affect the unit outsourcing cost. The unit cost of outsourcing under the carbon-emission-constraint policy is only higher when the upper limit of carbon emissions is less than a certain threshold, and the discount rate is larger than the proportion of carbon emissions for both products; otherwise, the unit outsourcing cost under the carbon-trade policy is higher. (3) Both policies lessen the total environmental implication. When the upper limit of carbon emissions is less than a particular threshold, the environmental effect of the two manufacturers under the carbon-emission-constraint policy is smaller; otherwise, the environmental impact is smaller under the carbon-trade policy.

The Impact of Carbon Trade on Outsourcing Remanufacturing.

Outsourcing remanufacturing is an important way to achieve resource recycling, green manufacturing and carbon neutrality goals. To analyze the impact of carbon trade on manufacturing/remanufacturing under outsourcing remanufacturing, this article builds a game model between an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) and a remanufacturer under the carbon trade policy. In the outsourcing remanufacturing model, this article compares the impact of the carbon trade policy on the unit retail price, sales volume, revenue, environmental impact, and consumer surplus of new and remanufactured products. The research mainly draws the following conclusions: (1) Carbon trade increases the prices of both new and remanufactured products and the cost of outsourcing. Only when certain conditions are met can increased carbon trade prices increase revenue. (2) The carbon trade policy helps reduce the adverse impact on the environment, but only when the carbon trade price is greater than a certain threshold can it increase consumer surplus. (3) Consumer preferences and carbon emissions of the unit product affect manufacturers' profits. Increased consumer preference for remanufactured products and reduced carbon emissions of remanufactured products contribute to increased sales and revenues.