CPHI Frankfurt 2025: Scaling 3D Printing and Taking a Global Approach to Supply Chain Security
While widespread adoption of 3D printing within the bio/pharma industry needs to overcome some key hurdles, its potential for the future is tremendous, emphasizes Tom Sellig from Adare Pharma Solutions.
The use of 3D printing for the manufacture of pharmaceutical products is of increasing interest for many in the bio/pharma industry; however, there are some critical hurdles to overcome before wider adoption of this potentially revolutionary approach can occur. “Three-dimensional printing does have tremendous potential and opportunity for the pharmaceutical industry. I remain convinced in my convictions that it will be the way of the future,” specifies Tom Sellig, CEO, Adare Pharma Solutions.
“There have been a couple of challenges or concerns that pharma companies have had, which is why the industry is not over the adoption curve yet,” Sellig continues. The first hurdle relates to regulatory approval, he notes.
While there is only one 3D-printed medical product that has been approved by the FDA, there are several others in development, Sellig points out. “As soon as those products gain regulatory approval and acceptance, I think the industry will see a faster adoption of 3D printing,” he says.
“A second hurdle is scalability of the technology,” Sellig asserts. With regards to this challenge, Adare offers development scale of 3D screen printing at one of its sites and is preparing to install commercial scale soon. “As companies see that potential to take a product from development to commercial, that will address most of their issues that they’re facing [with 3D printing] today,” Sellig remarks.
Shifting over to the global supply chain, Sellig explains that there are two different issues to consider. “One challenge is certainly related to tariffs and economic issues that are being faced by pharmaceutical companies day-by-day,” he says. “The second issue, continues to be geopolitical issues around the world and understanding how to ensure you have supply chain continuity.” Close collaboration with clients and offering global capabilities, such as being able to move products around from site to site smoothly and seamlessly, are key approaches being taken by Adare to overcome such hurdles, Sellig specifies.
Click the video above to view the full interview
Adare Pharma Solutions can be found in Hall 5.1 Booth #C42 at CPHI Frankfurt.
About the Speaker
Tom Sellig is the Chief Executive Officer of Adare Pharma Solutions.
Tom brings more than 30 years of global experience in the life sciences industry to Adare, including experience scaling organizations and driving growth in the CDMO and Pharma Services space.
From 2019 to 2021 Tom served as Chief Executive Officer of LabConnect, a clinical trial laboratory services organization. Under his leadership, the company more than doubled in revenue and underwent significant team expansion to meet the growing needs of the biopharma industry.
Prior to LabConnect, Tom was Chief Commercial Officer at ConnectiveRx, where he was responsible for all commercial and customer-facing activity at the patient support and patient access company. Earlier, Tom was Senior Vice President of Global Sales at Patheon, where he played an integral role in the company’s sale to and integration with Thermo Fisher. Previously, he served as the Global Vice President of Sales and Client Services at Covance.
Tom received his bachelor’s degree in Economics from Vanderbilt University and an MBA from New York University.
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