Global and generic biopharma companies will continue to prefer in-house manufacturing to outsourcing for the most strategic elements of their businesses, according to a report by PharmSource Information Services, a Virginia-based provider of market intelligence for the global contract biopharma industry.

Jim Miller, the founder and president of PharmSource and the report’s lead author, said based on detailed research and analysis of the financial investments biopharma companies are making in their captive manufacturing capacity, it’s clear companies would rather “make than buy.”

“Capital expenditure trends are an indicator of the industry’s propensity to outsource its manufacturing requirements,” Miller said. “Our analysis of recent spending indicates that global and generic biopharma companies are not likely to embrace contract manufacturing to any greater degree than they have in the past 10 years.”

In developing the report, Bio/Pharma CapEx Trends: Sponsor Spending on In-House Capacity Trounces Outsourcing, PharmSource researched financial data for nearly 250 publicly traded companies, along with a data set of 84 announced manufacturing and R&D infrastructure investment projects. Miller said the data captures the bulk of industry capital spending and paints a representative picture of how companies are investing in facilities and equipment.