Co-creating the Future of Consumer Health

HERMES PHARMA CEO Dr. Juergen Ott explores why consumer insight, upstream collaboration, and full-service integration are reshaping the CDMO role in consumer healthcare

Consumer healthcare products can be clinically sound, fully compliant, and manufactured at scale, yet still fail to gain traction with the people who use them. The reasons are often human rather than scientific: Products succeed when they offer a positive sensory experience, are easy to use, and fit naturally into everyday routines. In CHC and OTC markets, these factors determine whether consumers select, repurchase, or abandon a product – and whether innovation translates into adoption.

In this feature article published in Contract Pharma, HERMES PHARMA CEO Dr. Juergen Ott examines the forces pushing brand owners to rethink how they develop and differentiate consumer health products. He argues that CDMOs can play a far more strategic role when engaged early, contributing consumer insight, formulation expertise, and dosage form innovation from the concept stage onward..

Topics covered in the Q&A include:

• Why product success in consumer healthcare depends on the full user experience, including taste, convenience, and sensory appeal, and how structured consumer research helps uncover the unmet needs that drive adoption.
• How the CDMO role is evolving from contract manufacturer to co-innovation partner, with upstream collaboration enabling brand owners to reduce risk, iterate faster, and make more confident development decisions.
• How alternative dosage forms such as orally disintegrating granules, effervescent tablets, chewables, and instant drinks help address usability barriers across different consumer groups.
• Why full-service integration across formulation, analytical development, packaging, regulatory support, and manufacturing helps preserve a product’s design intent through scale-up and global expansion.
  
  

Read the full article

In the article published by Contract Pharma, Dr. Juergen Ott explores each of these themes in depth, with practical examples of how upstream CDMO engagement and consumer-led development translate into stronger market performance. He also explains why long-term partnerships built on trust, transparency, and shared goals produce better outcomes for brand owners and consumers alike: