BWS Dialogues

On April 2, 2026, the US administration announced pharmaceutical tariffs under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, which take effect on July 31 for larger companies and on September 29 for all others.The headline rate is 100%, but the real story lies in the maze of exemptions and reduced rates based on drug type, country of origin, and whether a company has announced US manufacturing investment or signed a Most Favored Nation pricing agreement with the government.To unpack the implications for the industry — and especially for CDMOs — we sat down with Gil Roth, President of the Pharma & Biopharma Outsourcing Association (PBOA). The conversation also led us to the potential impact of recent FDA disruptions on CDMOs.We discussed:· How the exemptions actually work (and are ADCs truly exempt?)· Why small- and mid-sized pharma companies may take the hardest hit· What a closer look at pharma investment announcements reveals· How steel tariffs (and other trade moves) are rippling into pharma· The "force multiplier" effect of CDMO expansions· Will FDA staff cuts slow down tech transfer approvals for US-based CDMOs?· The broader impact of FDA disruption, including politicized decision-making· The catch-22 of CDMO facility investments· Why CDMOs are pushing for more—and earlier—FDA inspectionsTune in as Gil untangles the details and tells us what it all really means.Update! One question we discussed was resolved after we recorded this interview: The US Department of Commerce published a clarification around Section 232 implementation and noted that tech transfer to a US domestic CDMO does count as onshoring.Learn more & connect!· Read the details of the tariff announcement.·. Connect with our guest, Gil Roth: LinkedIn· Learn more about the Pharma & Biopharma Outsourcing Association (PBOA)· Connect with our podcast host, Laura Bush: LinkedIn· Visit brandwidthsolutions.com to learn how we support CDMOs and other companies in life sciences and technology industries.

Pharmaceutical sponsors and their contract organizations, such as contract development and manufacturing organizations (CDMOs), need to share a lot of information. But typical data sharing processes are highly manual, during both extraction and ingestion, and thus inefficient and error-prone. So how can partner organizations begin to integrate their digital systems, to create more efficiency? David Wallace, a Senior Global Change Facilitator at BioPhorum, has spent a lot of time exploring this question. And through the curiously named DISCO program (Digital Integration of Sponsor and Contract Organizations), David facilitates collaboration among leading biopharmaceutical manufacturers, contract organizations, and IT solution providers to identify solutions. In this interview, David shares what the group has been learning about how partnering organizations can achieve digital maturity in their collaborative operations. We discussed: The current state of affairs for data transfer between pharma sponsors and CDMOs (hint: It’s not that advanced) Who benefits most from digital integration, and how The challenge of seeking digital integration between organizations with different levels of digital plant maturity How to establish processes when you have 80 or 100 different partners—as most organizations do AI as both a driver for digital data sharing and a potential tool to solve the problem How your organization, and your partners, can advance toward greater digital integration Listen in as David shares useful advice gleaned from real-word practitioners at biopharma sponsors and contract organizations. Learn more & connect! Visit brandwidthsolutions.com for more information about our services. Learn more about the BioPhorum DISCO program Connect with our guest, David Wallace: LinkedIn Connect with our podcast host, Laura Bush: LinkedIn

Your audience is asking questions on the internet. Are you answering them? Search engine optimization (SEO) is one of the best ways to show up for your audience where they are in their buyer journey.In the AI-era of “Is SEO Dead?” and “What’s the future of search?”, we sat down with Mike MacMillan to get his insights on what SEO best practices look like today. With over 20 years of digital marketing experience, Mike specializes in building SEO roadmaps and scaling content for B2B companies and helping businesses bridge the gap between high-level strategy and measurable, qualified results.We discussed:1. What it takes to build an SEO roadmap2. How to find what questions your buyers are asking3. Keyword research for high intent4. Technical SEO essentials5. AI integration in SEOListen in, as Mike expands on his search engine optimization expertise and the best practices he’s implemented in the day-to-day of integrated marketing, technical SEO, programmatic initiatives, and market positioning.Learn more & connect!Visit brandwidthsolutions.com for more information about our services!Connect with our guest, Mike MacMain: LinkedInConnect with our podcast host, Meg Sizemore: LinkedIn

Video is a powerful marketing tool. Yet B2B marketers often struggle to develop a clear strategy for using video. The tactics can feel daunting too. What types of videos should we make? What types of topics best lend themselves to video? What if our staff is nervous about being in front of the camera? How do we get the best ROI?To address these questions, we sat down with Robert Weiss, the executive producer and director of MultiVision Digital, a video production and video marketing company. Robert has produced over 1700 marketing videos that have helped clients increase sales, create lead generation, improve SEO rankings, and increase both awareness and client loyalty.We discussed:· What video does better than other marketing tools· The value of video for building the know-like-and-trust factor· What makes a marketing video effective· What types of content are best, and most underutilized, for B2B marketing videos· Why you shouldn’t start by thinking about what your video will show· How filmed and animated videos fit into a broader strategy· His advice about making videos with AI· Why you shouldn’t think “video,” but instead think “video project”· How to get the best ROI from B2B marketing videosListen in, as Robert draws on his decades of experience to offer concrete advice.Learn more & connect!· Visit brandwidthsolutions.com for more information about our services!· Connect with our guest, Robert Weiss: LinkedIn· Learn more about MultiVision Digital, including how they create Videos for Manufacturing· Learn more about video budgets with the blue tree video· Connect with our podcast host, Laura Bush: LinkedIn

Pharmaceutical manufacturing, quality, and supply chain management can all benefit from the wise application of artificial intelligence (AI). But what approach should pharma manufacturers take to harnessing AI in these areas? And what are the risks?To explore these questions, we sat down with Pat Day, a principal consultant at Lachman Consultants. Following more than 25 years working inside the pharmaceutical industry, Pat now serves as a consultant, focusing on areas such as risk management, data integrity and data governance, and supply chain logistics — and now, AI.We discussed:Where AI can offer the most immediate benefits in pharmaceutical manufacturing and qualityThe common mistake corporate leaders make in AI initiatives — and the risks that result (hint: protect your institutional knowledge)The value of AI “sprints”Why companies should approach AI projects as experiments — that are allowed to failWhat the regulators are saying so far, and why industry shouldn’t wait for agency “permission”The opportunity to use AI to develop data skills in quality and regulatory teamsGiven all he has seen, Pat offers his advice for rethinking ROI for AI in pharma manufacturing and quality and suggests best practices for thoughtful implementation.Learn more & connect!Visit brandwidthsolutions.com for more information about our services!Connect with our guest, Pat Day: LinkedInLearn more about Lachman ConsultantsConnect with our podcast host, Laura Bush: LinkedIn