J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference 2026: Investing in Domestic Resilience

In a market where investor confidence is tied to de-risked programs, the proven ability to solve complex manufacturing challenges, and established regulatory strength, the choice of a CDMO partner has never been more critical, remarks Ryan Lake from Lifecore Biomedical.

As the industry moves toward onshoring considerations while also balancing total investment across geographies, partnering with CDMOs is becoming an increasingly attractive strategic option for many biopharma companies. To chat through these industry shifts in more detail, The Pharma Navigator, sits down with Ryan Lake, CFO, Lifecore Biomedical, ahead of the forthcoming J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference.

Surging Momentum

TPN: How is the conversation around onshoring and domestic manufacturing resilience evolving this year compared to previous years, particularly within the context of risk management for long-term supply?

Lake: The industry momentum behind onshoring and domestic manufacturing resilience is dramatic, particularly when compared to previous years. The discussions around onshoring and reshoring have surged to levels that I have never seen before, and this is clearly driven by tariffs, geopolitical uncertainty, quality, and supply chain initiatives from customers. Ultimately, these drivers are all tied to long-term supply risk management and enhanced resilience.

Significant investments by CDMOs and large pharma in U.S. capacity reflect this trend. We are seeing a strong movement toward biopharma leaders rebalancing global manufacturing footprints by prioritizing U.S.-based production to strengthen supply chain security.

Considering these new market realities, many companies are now seeking domestic partners with broad capabilities, from development to analytical support to packaging. CDMOs, such as Lifecore, that can support clients with end-to-end services, not only for commercial manufacturing but also for earlier-stage clinical activities, will have a competitive edge in the market.

Funding Impacts  

TPN: There’s been a recovery in biopharma investment in recent years. What impact does that have specifically on biopharma manufacturing?

Lake: I think that increased funding has been another driver for direct investments in U.S. manufacturing. It makes sense that biopharma organizations are focused on ensuring they have manufacturing capacity within the market that represents the highest global consumption of biopharma products. 

From an outsourced manufacturing perspective, the greatest impacts will likely come from small to mid-size companies, as they often do not possess internal manufacturing capabilities. As such, they will look to CDMOs to fill the gap. From a business perspective, this alters the landscape a bit because these companies tend to be involved in the earlier stages of drug development. In turn, they are more likely to need support in process development and clinical manufacturing, which has less revenue impact compared to commercial product manufacturing. CDMO’s that can support earlier-stage clients but also have experience scaling for commercial manufacturing are well-positioned to benefit from the future revenue-generating potential of current investments.   

A Shift in Conversation

TPN: Are current conversations shifting from building sheer manufacturing capacity to other areas such as building operational productivity or specialized services and expertise?

Lake: My experience within the CDMO space, as well as industry activity, confirms that the conversation is shifting from capacity to solving other pain points experienced by sponsors. This is most clear in the area of biologics, which often involve complex processes and products, including viscous formulations. There is a greater focus on the expertise and experience needed to support these products because they are more sensitive to environmental and handling factors. They are also more challenging from an analytical standpoint. So, beyond securing line space, sponsors want to be confident that they are selecting a team that understands their unique challenges.  

To support project acceleration and increased productivity across the supply chain, we’ve also seen a greater alignment among industry vendors who are collaborating to help shorten timelines, drive efficiencies, and optimize resources. By introducing joint marketing agreements or forming other types of partnerships, vendors are finding ways to work in parallel to reduce timelines, or to influence early decision-making which avoids downstream problems. An example of this would be agreements between device manufacturers and fill/finish CDMO’s to help support the growing autoinjector market. As most autoinjectors contain a pre-filled syringe, vial, or cartridge that will be filled by a manufacturer and then inserted into a device, gaining early alignment can truly impact time-to-market and ongoing productivity as a product is commercialized.          

About the Interviewee

Ryan Lake is the CFO of Lifecore, a fully integrated CDMO that offers expertise in specialty formulation, aseptic filling, and final packaging of complex medical devices and injectable pharmaceuticals. Ryan joined the company in 2024, bringing with him more than 25 years of experience in the financial and life sciences industries, including more than 10 years as a sitting CFO of publicly traded companies. Ryan’s decision to join Lifecore was partly influenced by the significant and growing opportunity in the sterile injectable CDMO market, driven by onshoring, reshoring, and tariff tailwinds. Since joining the company, Ryan has rebuilt the finance team, improved liquidity, enhanced investor relations visibility, implemented cost reductions, and initiated system improvements, including an ERP system that is set to go live in Q1 2026.

Ryan’s career began at Deloitte, followed by a decade at Kensey Nash, a NASDAQ-listed medical device company which successfully exited to Royal DSM. He later transitioned into operational roles, leading business development, R&D, and manufacturing. Subsequently, Ryan served as CFO for a privately held medical device company, and then joined Recro Pharma as CFO, which had both specialty pharma and CDMO divisions. Ryan helped spin out the CDMO business into Societal CDMO, which was sold to QHP Capital/Core RX.

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