CDMO red flags you can’t ignore: Communication breakdowns

Part 5: When Coordination Starts to Slip

It is often said that drug development is a team effort. But one of the most common reasons projects struggle isn’t scientific or technical at all, it’s a breakdown in communication. Even the best science can’t make up for poor coordination, unclear expectations, or a lack of transparency between a pharma or biotech company and their CDMO.

The Problem: When Silence Becomes a Signal

Communication issues rarely appear dramatic at first. A progress report arrives late. A meeting is rescheduled. A few questions go unanswered. But over time, small lapses create distance between teams, and uncertainty grows.

Partners begin to wonder what is really happening with their project. Data is shared in inconsistent formats, updates lack context, and critical decisions are made without proper discussion. In multi-site or multi-partner environments, these gaps can multiply quickly, resulting in duplicated work, missed dependencies, or uncoordinated handoffs.

The result is more than frustration. It is lost time, misaligned priorities, and a growing lack of trust.

Why Communication Breakdowns Slow Programs Down

In a field where even a few weeks can influence clinical timelines or investor confidence, communication problems are never just a small issue. They can slow things down or even bring progress to a halt.

For small and mid-sized biotech and pharma companies, where each milestone is often tied to the next round of funding or the next regulatory step, A missed update or an unshared risk can push milestones back and put important relationships under strain.

Clear, consistent communication, grounded in experience and scientific expertise, is what makes a partnership work. It turns uncertainty into shared problem-solving and keeps the science, the strategy, and the timelines moving forward together.

How to Spot Communication Breakdowns Early

There are clear warning signs that communication may be at risk. Look for:

• Lack of a dedicated point of contact: If you do not know who to reach out to, or the contact keeps changing, continuity is already compromised.

• Reactive communication: Updates occur only when something goes wrong, not as part of a proactive plan.

• Unclear documentation: Meeting notes, action items, or decisions are not tracked or shared.

• Disjointed subcontractor communication: If multiple vendors are involved but no one is coordinating information, data integration will suffer later.

These early indicators suggest that communication is not being treated as a managed process, but as an afterthought.

How Successful CDMOs Prevent Communication Breakdowns

Consistent, structured communication should be built into the partnership from day one, and it is the CDMO’s responsibility to lead this.

Strong CDMOs do this by:

• Defining communication cadence: Regular meetings, written updates, and clear escalation pathways are established upfront and maintained throughout the program

• Assigning clear ownership: A single, accountable project manager is responsible for coordination, continuity, and follow-through.

• Providing transparency by default: Progress, risks, and timelines are proactively shared through clear reports or dashboards, not only when issues arise.

• Documenting decisions and actions: Key discussions, rationales, and next steps are recorded and shared to prevent confusion, rework, or misalignment later.

When communication is deliberate and actively managed by the CDMO, teams move faster, trust builds naturally, and potential challenges are addressed before they become problems.

Our Perspective

At Exemplify BioPharma, a Symeres company, we see communication as a core element of quality. Our project managers ensure that partners always know where their project stands, what decisions have been made, and what is coming next. Transparency is not an extra service; it is part of how we operate.

By bringing scientific and operational teams together, we help complex programs run more smoothly and make sure nothing is left unclear. Clear communication is what turns a CDMO from a service provider into a true partner.

Conclusion: Choosing the Right Partner

Each of the red flags in this series—scope drift, scale-up challenges, regulatory misalignment, capacity constraints, and communication breakdowns—can derail a development program. But all of them are preventable when the right questions are asked early and expectations are aligned from the start.

At Exemplify BioPharma, our model is designed to eliminate these red flags before they appear. With integrated teams, open communication, and decades of CMC experience, we help partners move from discovery to IND with confidence and clarity.

If you’d like to explore all five red flags in depth, read our full whitepaper: 5 CDMO Red Flags You Can’t Ignore: A Guide for Biotechs and Pharma