Blog | Custom Processing Services

Pharmaceutical Toll Processing: Adapting to Industry Trends in 2025

Written by Jen Lepore | Mar 31, 2025 12:00:00 PM

The pharmaceutical industry is constantly evolving, driven by cutting-edge R&D, continuous innovation, and the need to balance strict regulatory compliance with affordability and accessibility. However, these factors also bring significant challenges.

As industry trends shift, many familiar obstacles remain. With changing regulations and evolving market demands, toll processing is playing a growing role in helping pharmaceutical companies navigate supply chain complexities and maintain strict quality control standards.

Trends Shaping Pharma Supply Chain Management and Quality Control

In 2025, several key trends are shaping pharmaceutical supply chain management and quality control, presenting both challenges and opportunities. Many pharmaceutical companies continue to face supply chain disruptions, especially in acquiring critical ingredients. Additionally, a lack of visibility into supplier risks remains a concern, creating vulnerabilities in maintaining product quality and preventing counterfeit medications from entering the market.

Regulatory changes are significantly shaping the pharmaceutical industry, particularly in supply chain oversight. New traceability requirements are enhancing toll processing for pharmaceutical testing by ensuring greater visibility and compliance. Advances in electronic tracking, shifting from lot-level to package-level, enable more precise documentation of drug ownership and movement. These improvements strengthen consumer safety, safeguard drug integrity, and help pharmaceutical companies maintain tighter control over their supply chains.

Furthermore, the expansion of regulations to include more entities within the supply chain, such as wholesale distributors and third-party logistics providers, adds another layer of quality control. These updates ensure that all participants in the supply chain adhere to strict standards, offering greater protection against risks such as counterfeit drugs and strengthening the security of pharmaceutical distribution.

As the industry navigates these trends, toll processing partners are becoming an essential resource. By providing expertise in manufacturing, packaging, and quality assurance, toll processors help pharmaceutical companies maintain compliance with regulations and manage the complexities of modern supply chains.

The Importance of Choosing the Right Toll Processing Partner

Pharmaceutical companies juggle competing priorities in product legislation, production, and distribution. These complexities make it more important than ever to partner strategically with toll processing providers who have a proven track record in quality control and supply chain management.

Working with a full-service toll processor such as CPS fits the bill. Our expertise, capabilities, and breadth of experience in particle technology for drug manufacturing ensures materials entrusted to us can be:

  • Processed to the highest quality standards and maximum yield, CPS stands as the go-to toll processor for many pharmaceutical companies. Why? It's simple: we embrace challenges and never settle. Our experts are dedicated to delivering precise results that meet or exceed quality specifications in pharmaceutical blending and milling. Additionally, we understand the importance of optimizing high-value materials, ensuring maximum yield on every product trial and production cycle. This is especially beneficial for pharma companies facing supply chain delays or inconsistent ingredient availability.

  • Repacked, labeled, and directly shipped to your customers, all according to your exact specifications. By relying on the same certified toll processing partner for both your materials' processing and repackaging, you gain peace of mind around tracking and traceability. CPS offers package personalization, including stenciling and labeling, and direct shipment from our facility to your customers. Our equipment and techniques include automated bagging, paper or paper with polyethylene barriers, super sacks, drums, gaylord boxes, pails, stretch wrapping, and both customer and CPS-supplied packaging.

  • Warehoused, transported, and distributed without logistical headaches. With facilities strategically located near major U.S. transportation routes, CPS ensures seamless logistics to get your product where it needs to go. Our warehousing and transportation services remove the burden of finding, vetting, and aligning with distribution providers, ensuring compliance with timelines and other vital requirements.
Toll processing in pharmaceuticals has always been essential. However, as industry trends and evolving legislation bring new challenges, the role of a toll processor has become even more crucial. Today, a true toll processing partner must offer more than just services—they need to be a reliable ally to pharma companies, helping them navigate these changes effectively.

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