West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (WST) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

September 24, 2025

US Health Care Life Sciences Tools and Services Company Conference Presentations 40 min

Earnings Call Speaker Segments

Michael Ryskin

Analysts
#1

Thanks for joining us for our next session. My name is Mike Ryskin. I'm on the Bank of America Life Science Tools and Diagnostics team based out of New York, and we're excited to host West Pharmaceuticals. We're joined by Eric Green, CEO; and Bob McMahon, CFO. Thank you, gentlemen. Thanks for coming out here.

Eric Green

Executives
#2

Thank you very much. It's great to be here.

Robert McMahon

Executives
#3

Yes. Same here.

Michael Ryskin

Analysts
#4

Maybe just to kick things off, well, the format will be a fireside chat, but feel free to jump in with questions if you're interested. Maybe just to kick things off, you're almost 3/4 of the way through the year. There's been a lot of updates throughout the year in terms of end market dynamics and how things have played out relative to your initial expectations. Maybe you could just sort of step back and give us a snapshot of where you stand now and what struck you the most as you've worked through the year so far?

Eric Green

Executives
#5

Yes. First of all, it's great to be here. Thank you for the invitation to be here in Bank of America in London. Great set of meetings throughout the day. The journey throughout 2025 has been -- we're building as we expected throughout the year. Q2 results were affirmative of the build -- moving away from destocking from the vocabulary that I know is heavily in our industry for the last year or 2. And we're starting to see the core business continue to build momentum, which is very positive. We anticipated throughout 2025 to build up our high-value product components business, which is roughly around 47% of our business. And Q2 grew around 8%, and that's indicative of a couple of key drivers. One is continuation of the biologics growth and our participation. Two is the growth of GLP-1s and our participation in the elastomer side of the business, but also in our contract manufacturing. And three is the momentum that we're seeing with the regulatory changes in Europe with Annex 1, which is driving the conversation and conversion with our customers from standard products to high-value products. So as we see the end markets, they are becoming more normalized, and we see that with our customers' ordering patterns, and we're pretty optimistic for the balance of this year.

Michael Ryskin

Analysts
#6

Okay. Maybe just starting with that destocking. You've talked to us in the past about how that's progressing across various parts of the portfolio. Could you give us an update on that and sort of your expectations for the rest of the year and if there's any lingering impact into 2026?

Eric Green

Executives
#7

Okay. I'll start on this. If you think about the destocking, we look at the pharmaceutical sector, what we classify as small molecules. We've seen the destocking subside back in 2024. We're pretty comfortable that the ordering patterns we're seeing is more normalized. In the biologics area, we mentioned that we would see some of that in the first part of 2025, which we did see and experience, but it's incrementally positive over prior year. We anticipate that to be less so going forward and behind us. And then the generic space, we were anticipating for the balance of 2025, and we do see some of that lingering. So while I wouldn't say we're entirely out of the destocking environment, I think we're consistent to others in this space that is becoming less of a factor. And again, the normalization we're seeing with order patterns, particularly in all 3 areas, market segments, we're feeling confident for the balance of the year.

Michael Ryskin

Analysts
#8

Okay. Can you talk about how much visibility you have into your customer patterns? Has that improved? Have you been able to manage that better in recent quarters? Because the visibility was certainly challenged in the last couple of years, and that's what led to some of the stocking and destocking dynamics. So just talk about the confidence in those trends here.

Eric Green

Executives
#9

The conversation with customers, they're ongoing. We've learned from the event of buildup of COVID vaccines and then the destocking period of time. We're engaged with our customers looking at future forecasts. We embed them in our planning processes for whether it's labor or capital equipment required for future growth. We can continuously improve upon that, and we're focused on our top customers and ensuring that we have the information necessary to build forecast for the future. We're also seeing ability to leverage other technologies to triangulate, right? We were able to look at scripts data. We can look at prior pre-COVID ordering patterns on specifically -- specific SKUs for customers that, as you know, once you're on the molecule in the marketplace, you continue to be on that drug as it's commercialized. We can use past ordering patterns to identify where are we back to more normalized volumes. So it is an improving area for us. It's a clear focus for us, particularly with our top accounts, and we'll continue to build on as we go forward.

Michael Ryskin

Analysts
#10

Okay. And when you talk about normalizing and sort of returning to normal as you progress through the rest of '25 and into '26 across those 3 baskets, small pharma, biologics, generics, does that get you confidence back to the LRP and back to sort of what you see as the underlying status of the business?

Eric Green

Executives
#11

Yes. I would say what we're -- yes, I would say the growth trajectory is getting back in line with our expectations. One of the key factors of that underlying the key growth thesis for West has been high-value product components. And that's the area that is -- we mentioned that in the Q2 call that we're expecting high single, low double digits for the balance of the year, which is getting us back into that growth algorithm. And again, that drives off not just top line growth, but also margin expansion in our operating margin by leveraging our existing assets. So yes, and the drivers of that is not just around GLP-1s, but it's also -- if you think about the core underlying growth of other customers such in the biologics, in the pharma and the generics, those are returning back to the more normal growth patterns that we expected. So it's -- in our -- the algorithm of growth is starting to play out as we anticipated for the balance of the year.

Michael Ryskin

Analysts
#12

Okay. You just touched on high-value components. I want to dig into that a little more. Like you said, you initially trimmed the forecast for that after 1Q. There were some customer-specific constraints. You raised that back up again in 2Q. Just what gives you confidence that, that's going to continue on this trajectory? And again, sort of what's the expectation for the second half of the year there?

Eric Green

Executives
#13

Yes. The constraint that we ran into in the earlier part of this year was really around a particular high-value product manufacturing site in Europe. It was around labor versus capital. And we've been able to add a significant number of team members to that site. We're pretty much at completion of that addition of new team members. They're going through training processes as we speak and convert into able to manufacture the volumes that we need to be able to achieve for the balance of the year and going into 2026. That was the constraint. We feel really comfortable where we are. Also the demand that is coming in from customers as we were made to order at all our high-value product plants across the globe. And that gives us the confidence of high single to low double digits growth in high-value product components.

Robert McMahon

Executives
#14

Yes. And I would just say, Eric, to add to your point and Mike, we delivered Q2 stronger than what we anticipated as well. So it's not just, hey, we're managing the internal labor constraints, as Eric talked about, but we also have a positive proof point there that the demand is coming back a little faster than what we had anticipated, and that's why we took that guidance back up and increased the full year guidance as well in Q2.

Michael Ryskin

Analysts
#15

Okay. All right. That's great. I want to talk about -- I mean, you also mentioned GLP-1, maybe we'll go there next. Could you remind us sort of what your exposure to GLP-1 is today across the portfolio, both in sort of in high-value products and across the business?

Robert McMahon

Executives
#16

Yes, I'll start. So if you look at it across the 2 major components, GLP-1s represent about 8% of our total revenues and high-value components and then it's about 40% of our contract manufacturing. So if you add those 2 things together, it's roughly in the mid-teens total business. And it's a -- there's been a lot of questions about the benefit of being in GLP-1. We certainly are glad that we're in it versus not being part of that business. And certainly, when we look at the opportunities ahead of us, we still think there's a lot of growth in both sides, but mainly in the HVP side going forward. And when we think about kind of where we are in the penetration cycle, the potential for additional indications of those -- of that platform. And I know there's some probably -- we'll probably get into questions around oral, but we think actually what oral will do is help grow the pie as opposed to take -- it obviously takes share of the pie, but the pie will continue to grow and our injectables growth in total will grow as well. And so we think that this will continue to be a product that will be growth accretive to West throughout the rest of the decade.

Michael Ryskin

Analysts
#17

Okay. So what is your view on orals and how that market evolves? Like you said, there's a lot of debate there on how that could play out.

Eric Green

Executives
#18

Yes. As we look at it, we've been modeling around 1/3 of the market, we believe, would be directed towards oral. We do believe that the top 5 GLP-1 will be injectables by the 2030. But we also have seen indication that potentially some thought leaders believe it might be a little bit less than that. However, we modeled around 30%. And as Bob was indicating that we believe the injectable space is -- the growth rate is still very attractive for us to participate, not just in the proprietary side, but also in contract manufacturing.

Michael Ryskin

Analysts
#19

As you said, you partner with your customers and the drug sponsors often years in advance to build CapEx and make sure there's sufficient supply. I imagine you're having those conversations now with your existing injectable GLP-1 sponsors, but also some of the orals. So I think that that's supported by the latest conversations and their expectations for demand.

Eric Green

Executives
#20

Right. Yes it is. I mean that's critical. I mean the first we will not talk about volumes because that's obviously the source should come from our customers. But the reality is, as we think about investments, particularly around HVP components, we need to be able to make sure we're ahead of the curve, and we're taking those -- the volume commitments in consideration as we make those investments.

Michael Ryskin

Analysts
#21

And you can talk about some of the potential changes in terms of drug format, whether it's prefilled syringes, dual-chambers, sort of how that evolving landscape will play out?

Eric Green

Executives
#22

Yes. I think there's a couple of areas to look at. One is the fortunate part is that in every case, there is a requirement for elastomer components. And we're seeing, obviously, there's vial configuration. There's prefilled syringe. There's obviously auto-injectors and multipurpose or monthly-dose pens. And again, our components are basically support all configurations. That mix shift is occurring based on different geographies and different drug molecules within our customers' portfolio. And the fortunate part about it is that we're able to be able to flex and build support that. As you think about it, they tend to use the same formulation and the same product that we offer, but different configuration, i.e., stopper versus plunger and then Westar sheeting that we use for the seal for the cartridge. So in all cases, we are able to support. What does change a little bit is just the volume component. Obviously, if you're using an auto-injector or prefilled syringes, we're on each and every dose. But when you start getting into a pen, that's 4 doses per device, and therefore, we're it's 4:1. So that type of mix shift that could occur as we go forward, but we're comfortable that we're very well positioned to support their growth.

Michael Ryskin

Analysts
#23

And the margin impact from some of that conversion?

Eric Green

Executives
#24

Relatively the same consistency from one configuration to the next. When we take a look at different SKUs, it's relatively the same consistent margin because, again, we're using the same formulation and product but different configuration.

Michael Ryskin

Analysts
#25

Okay. Maybe let's talk about the contract manufacturing business, the 2 CGM customers, some of the updates there that played out over late '24 and '25, and that's going to linger in '26. Can you give us an update on those 2 major customers and just some of the ability to backfill that?

Robert McMahon

Executives
#26

Sure. Yes. So the first contract kind of exited in mid-2024 in our Arizona factory, and that has been largely replaced and is up and running here in '25. The second contract runs through the middle of 2026, and then we're going to be running that full through the first 6 months and are in the process right now of looking to fill that facility. We've got a robust pipeline of opportunities, probably more opportunities right now. If they all came in, we'd have to turn some away. And so we're confident that we'll be able to fill that for next year. It'll ramp up over time, obviously. You can't just flip a switch and be full production, but we do have things like engineering fees and activities that would help us bridge the gap in the second half. And what we will do as we learn more, we will certainly communicate that because we know that's an important element, not only for us internally to fill the factory, but also for -- it's a topic of conversation for shareholders.

Michael Ryskin

Analysts
#27

Yes. I mean what you just touched on, Bob, could you give us any color on sort of what that transition period looks like? How much downtime is there? How long until it ramps? And what would be the margin as well?

Robert McMahon

Executives
#28

Yes, I think it will be somewhat dependent on the program. And -- but those typically ramp over several quarters once you get the product installed. I think one of the things that if we kind of take a step back and say, okay, why did this happen? It was a strategy to actually reduce our reliance on these very low-margin programs. And so we purposely did not rebid for these technologies. And one of the strategies that we have within our contract manufacturing business is how do we actually provide more value, how do we move up the value chain to actually have margins that are more in line with the total company average. And this is a step in that direction. So the pipeline that we're looking at wouldn't just be replacing like-for-like from a profit perspective. Our expectation is over time that the programs that will replace, these will be accretive and so help us move up that margin expansion. And we're starting to see that in some of the areas. A perfect example would be the drug handling activity that we're looking at is that's higher value manufacturing that we are able to command a better price for. And so when you think about the strategy, it's the right strategy to have to be able to continue to drive our margins going forward.

Michael Ryskin

Analysts
#29

Is it fair to say that those two contracts tended to be a little bit bigger than average, and therefore, the sort of the magnitude of that transition is more felt?

Robert McMahon

Executives
#30

Yes. I mean they were two large contracts that we had for many years. And so they were able to build over time. They were kind of -- they weren't necessarily growing too much going forward. But I would expect us to be able to maybe not offer like-for-like from the standpoint, but you will have multiple programs that potentially could replace that. So we don't think long term that this is a headwind to our growth algorithm on the top line and will be accretive on the bottom line.

Michael Ryskin

Analysts
#31

Okay. All right. Maybe we'll shift topics to Annex 1. I know you've touched on a number of times in the past in terms of another growth driver that could be accretive to the overall top line and to the LRP. Give us an update on sort of the latest conversations there, and you've provided more metrics in recent quarters in terms of number of projects you're engaged in. Just could you just talk through that?

Eric Green

Executives
#32

Right. Yes, absolutely. This is regulatory change that is occurring here in Europe is actually having a positive impact on converting more of our customers from standard products to high-value products ready to use. And just to kind of dimension this, if we think about 40-plus billion components a year we manufacture, roughly around 35 billion components are within our proprietary business if you take out contract manufacturing. And within that, you'll find that about 75% of the volume is standard products, while the revenue is 25% and then the high-value products is 25% volume with 25% revenue approximately. And the -- so if you think about the market -- total addressable market because of this regulatory change, it's roughly around 6 billion components a year that would be candidates for this transition. And this is a regulatory change that the primary packaging containment is now part of the Annex 1 regulation that has been in place for quite some time. The number of projects we communicated in Q2 is roughly around 370 projects, which is discrete, you think about customer and drug molecule and the SKU that we need to start providing pharmaceutical washing capability, sterilization and vision inspection. And what that does is that actually changes the ASP quite a bit from a low end standard products tend to be $0.01 to $0.04 a unit, to give you an example. And the area of corridor that you tend to see for these conversions is between $0.10 to $0.20 per unit. So you can see from a top line perspective, there's more value that's being captured. But when you think about the value we're bringing to the customer, it's actually quite considerable because they have to make a decision, do they invest the capital to be able to be compliant with this new regulation or do they want to have West to perform on their behalf, which is the thesis of a high-value product portfolio. From a margin perspective, you'll find that our standard products tend to be about mid- to high 20% on a gross margin perspective. And the corridor for high-value products on the lower end tends to be around 45-plus percent gross margin. So that's kind of the transition that you're seeing. These projects on a customer-by-customer basis could result from 3 to 5 months of work to 12 to 18 months of work. So I'm giving you a pretty wide spectrum, but that's what we've been experiencing in the first 1.5 years on this journey. And we believe there's two assumptions that we looked at. One is, is it only for molecules that are ending up in the European region for consumption, but customers are actually looking at how do you standardize on a global basis. So we're seeing this as an opportunity to convert customers, but it's not just for the European region. And then other regulatory bodies may follow suit. So these are elements that we need to be prepared to support our customers on this transition. The fortunate part is that we do not need to change formulation. So we're able to take a standard product that's already in the market on a commercialized drug and start adding these additional capabilities or services, high-value product services to be able to support them and to maintain that drug in the market. So we believe this is about 150 basis points of revenue growth per year this year in 2025. And we'll keep that -- we'll keep updating you as we make progress. But the interest continues to increase. We're very well positioned to support this. This is leveraging our high-value product assets that we have in place in our 5 centers of excellence. And it is a continuation of moving our customers up of that high-value product journey.

Robert McMahon

Executives
#33

Yes. And the only thing I would add is when we think about this, we think we're still relatively early stages of that transition. It's not something that's going to happen all in 1 year because there isn't necessarily a deadline that the regulatory bodies are requiring. But as new model -- as these projects do complete, more and more are added to the pipeline, which is good, which says that this is an opportunity for multiyear expansion and moving us up that value chain.

Michael Ryskin

Analysts
#34

Yes, I was going to ask, Bob, any way to gauge how multiyear are you or just sort of how far along in the process are you? Are you 10%, 20% through in terms of Annex 1 adoption or conversion?

Robert McMahon

Executives
#35

Yes. I think that's some work that we -- it -- we could do some more work on that. And -- but I would say we're closer to the beginning than we are.

Michael Ryskin

Analysts
#36

In it's earlier stages. Okay. All right. If we kind of take a step back and roll all this together, thinking about the LRP dynamic for the market, you talked about high-value product conversion, talking about destocking earlier and then GLP-1, Annex 1. If you can put that together, could you sort of take a step back and walk us through your LRP and sort of the building blocks of it? How do you get from sort of market growth, price, HVP conversion?

Eric Green

Executives
#37

Yes. I mean I'll start with this, Bob. If we think about the growth algorithm, it's typically a number of -- the volume of injections, which is what we look at, it is 1% to 2% per annum across the globe. So -- it's 1% to 2% volume. And then when you look at -- and then again, within our portfolio, there's a different algorithm, right? The high-value products, biologics is much higher than that. When you think about pricing, it's 2% to 3% net price contribution per annum. And then the balance to our long-term construct that we have communicated in the past is really mix. And that mix is really driven by the number one is biologics and biosimilars, new product launches that we continue to have a high participation rate of 90-plus percent of all approvals. The second lever we're seeing right now is in the HVP is GLP-1s on the elastomer side, and we're pretty comfortable with our position in the market there and also the potential growth from our customers. And then now we have this regulatory change that we're working through with our customers. Again, that's a long-term journey. that multiyear event, we believe, based on the current regulatory environment. And so you add that up, that gives us comfort that this mix shift effect and knowing that only 25% of our components are high-value products today of all the components that we manufacture globally gives us confidence we'll have a very attractive long-term growth algorithm within our proprietary business.

Robert McMahon

Executives
#38

Yes. And all I would say is as part of our business planning and strategic planning process right now, we're validating those assumptions because things have changed. I don't see anything that would suggest that it isn't valid, but some of the drivers may have some slightly different pieces. An example of that would be how do we think about price? Is there an opportunity actually to have more value capture from a strategic pricing capability. And so we're going through that right now to kind of build -- rebuild those building blocks and be able to communicate that internally or externally as well. And then obviously, on the bottom line, the margin expansion of 100 basis points of margin expansion, I feel very comfortable that we'll be able to drive that in my time here. Certainly, volume and revenue growth certainly helps, but all those are margin accretive that Eric was just talking about, which when we look at the capital that we've already invested into our network, plus the opportunity to drive efficiencies out, I see a lot of opportunity to continue to drive that margin expansion as well.

Michael Ryskin

Analysts
#39

Okay. Bob point you just made about maybe potentially finding a little bit more price in the portfolio. Can you expand on that? I realize it's still early, but...

Robert McMahon

Executives
#40

Yes, it's still early.

Michael Ryskin

Analysts
#41

But where would you see it and how would you?

Robert McMahon

Executives
#42

It actually -- a lot of times, we talk about the value-added services on the high-value products. And certainly, there's an element of component there in terms of making sure that we are capturing the appropriate value for the services that we are providing. I think we do a reasonably good job at that. We can always be better when we look across our portfolio. But in addition to that, I think one of the areas that I don't think has gotten as much attention is actually on the standard products and making sure that we're also helping incentivize customers to move up the value chain through kind of strategic pricing opportunities there. So we're building some capabilities. We're actually doing that as we speak right now internally to be able to help arm our internal commercial teams to be able to have those conversations with the customers. And I would expect this to happen and roll out over the next several quarters and coming years, just given the way that the contracts work. But I think it's both at the top end, which again, I think we do a reasonably good job at, but then also on the bottom end, where I think we -- these products have been out in the marketplace for a long period of time. Is there an opportunity to help strategically move customers to better products at still a relatively efficient price.

Michael Ryskin

Analysts
#43

So specifically on that lower end angle, the benefit being you're either taking price or you're driving mix shift in...

Robert McMahon

Executives
#44

Win. Yes. If you look at what Eric was just talking about in terms of standard products, that standard product is a -- the margins are lower than our overall company margins. It's not uniform across all SKUs within that portfolio. And so if you think about looking at that very strategically, how do we actually improve the ones that may be lower than that, which rises everything as a simple example. And so those are some of the analysis that we're going through right now.

Michael Ryskin

Analysts
#45

And in terms of the long-term contract construct, you also touched on the 100 bps of margin expansion, that's contingent in a sense on that 7% to 9%?

Robert McMahon

Executives
#46

It certainly makes it easier, right? I think as we go forward, certainly getting back to a reasonable growth rate on the top line based helpful. What I see today is we have the ability to continue to expand margins maybe even at the lower end. And some of the things that are certainly within our control, given the investments that we've already made in the network that will help drive efficiencies and margins almost irrespective of that high level of growth.

Michael Ryskin

Analysts
#47

Yes. Maybe in terms of margins and some of the more near-term dynamics, let's touch on tariffs briefly. You touched on tariffs in the last couple of quarters, relatively modest hit. But could you just walk us through what you're seeing so far and then maybe some of the mitigating strategies you've put in place?

Eric Green

Executives
#48

Yes. I think right now, we're looking at gross impact on West for 9 months of 2025 is about $15 million to $20 million. And when you think about -- take a look at the structure of how we're aligned with our customers, we are heavily co-located with our customers' end markets. So the impact isn't as great at West as one would think. But we actually have plans in place that we're executing on to mitigate those costs. Number one is we are -- we've implemented surcharges to our customers to offset those costs. Number two is we've developed a very clear focus on cost down with our raw materials and our sourcing to even bring it more in line. And number three is where there is that outlier where we're manufacturing for our customers in a particular region, i.e., Europe and have it transported into the United States, we're working with our customers to actually do a tech transfer, and that does take about 12 or 18 months based on our customers' availability to have that manufactured and put into the filings in one of our plants in the United States or multiple plants. Now fortunately, since we do have centers of excellence, particularly around high-value products, you'll find that the processes are identical for the most part. And therefore, this is more of an easier -- it's an easy process to get this tech transfer completed. So we think we have the right levers to -- that we're working on to alleviate the tariffs. And as the tariffs, if they do evolve and change, we'll be able to adjust accordingly.

Robert McMahon

Executives
#49

Yes. And I think, Mike, to that point and to what Eric is saying, we've been working on this since the tariffs were kind of indicated previously. And as we think about the rest of this year, that $15 million to $20 million, we expect to be able to mitigate more than half of that. So on a net basis, it's much less. And then in 2026, our expectation is that we should be able to mitigate the entire amount through a series of the activities that Eric just talked about. And so we feel that we're in really good shape of being able to do that and leverage the scale and the investments that we've made around the globe to be able to help support our customers from that standpoint.

Michael Ryskin

Analysts
#50

Okay. On the topic of CapEx and investments to support your customers, have you heard any incremental feedback from your customers on the topic of reshoring in the wake of potentially Most-Favored-Nation status or tariffs? How are they approaching -- how are your customers approaching future investment? And how are you sort of adjusting to match that in terms of keeping that co-localized strategy?

Eric Green

Executives
#51

Yes. No, absolutely. It's a top-of-mind conversation with customers. Fortunately, we do have a strong foothold in multiple geographies, particularly in the United States, we have, I would say, about 45% of our manufacturing output is coming from the United States, our plants in the U.S. We have -- and our revenues are somewhat in line with that. If you think about the investments we have been making, they have been heavier focused in the United States. Particularly around -- in our proprietary business around Kinston, which is one of our high-value product plants also Jersey Shore, where we've increased the size that's coming online as we speak significantly. So these are more campus modular like operating facilities where we can continue to expand. We are looking at -- as we look at future forecast to make sure it is aligned. And then any new molecules being introduced in the market, we are making sure that we're getting multiple sites approved in that process, and that is a catalyst to ensure that our U.S. sites are also included in the filings. I think that also differentiates West, frankly, in the marketplace. If you think about our scale, you think about our geographic presence in our manufacturing facilities across the globe, it's suiting us well very well today in this environment. So we can flex the network that we currently have to be able to support our customers. And I do believe, again, like I said, it does differentiate us and sets us up very well for future growth.

Robert McMahon

Executives
#52

Yes. And I would just add on that, that given our participation of the drugs that are currently on market, our customers are asking us and talking to us. So we are seeing it. It is real. And we have the ability to kind of flex, as Eric said, but they want us to be part of that conversation to be able to help support their business whatever geography it is.

Michael Ryskin

Analysts
#53

Just on the topic of conversations with your customers, I mean, we've had a number of questions over the last couple of years on how the competitive landscape may have evolved post-COVID. And what I'm getting at is the concept of dual sourcing that became more and more of a topic during the COVID pandemic kind of being seen as potentially a way for some other competitors to get their foot in the door. What's your take on that? And how would you say that's evolved in the last couple of years?

Eric Green

Executives
#54

I think your customers are looking at how you ensure security of supply, particularly during the COVID pandemic period. I think the whole supply chain has been under a lot of pressure. So we have seen some of the increase of dual sourcing or I would probably refer it differently, looking at this running stability tests on more than just one product. Our customers are still tend to be binary using one SKU versus multiple SKUs in their supply chain. However, we do know that like always, it's been like this for quite a while that competition is in there. We have to earn it every day. We know where we are in our market share. We know where the competition is. But if we lead with our quality, we lead with new innovations to continue to move the -- raise the bar, continue to flex the global manufacturing footprint we have that's unmatched in this industry and really stay close to our customers. We do believe that we can continue to be competitively advantaged. But yes, I think the challenges the supply chain experienced during COVID time period across the whole industry has made all of us think about our own supply chains. We've done that ourselves internally looked at where are we dependent on and how do we become more prepared to be able to react quicker if we had to.

Robert McMahon

Executives
#55

Yes. And Mike, I think that's one of the things. Dual sourcing has -- there's a couple of ways to look at it. One would be another competitor or another vendor. It could also be different sites within the same vendor. And so if we think about that, we talked about the tech transfers, having the ability to produce a product in, let's say, our sites in Europe and then have that same product be produced at the same quality and consistency in the U.S., that's dual sourcing as well. And so we have that opportunity and are doing that today with our customers because it gets back to if something happened to a plant or a region, they want to be able to just switch quickly. And we have that ability. Not everyone else does.

Michael Ryskin

Analysts
#56

I have a couple of minutes left. Bob, maybe I'll put you under the spotlight for a second. You've been at West that, I think, just about 7 weeks now. So maybe just sort of an open-ended one for you. What's been most surprising to you in your time there? And what are you most excited about as you look ahead?

Robert McMahon

Executives
#57

Yes. I'll start with the last question first. And what I'm really excited about is the opportunity. It's bigger than I thought it was when I was coming in. I had a great conversation with Eric and the rest of the leadership team. I knew that it was a strong franchise doing my diligence and so forth. And the opportunities to continue to execute in support of our customers and seeing some of these value drivers. There's more, I would say, raw materials than I thought from that standpoint. Now we've got to put that together and continue to execute. And so that's probably the positive surprise and what I'm most excited about as well is really some of the opportunities. We've got a lot of the tools and processes in place internally, though, but I think we can continue to strengthen our rigor and discipline around ensuring that we have separate signal from noise, so to speak, in terms of some of the analytics and activities. But then also being able to have a cleaner message externally as well, I think, is one of the things that I think I can help Eric and the rest of the West team bring to the table. So I'm excited about the opportunities and looking forward to continuing the journey with Eric and the rest of the leadership team.

Michael Ryskin

Analysts
#58

And maybe, Eric, last one for you. As we get to the end of 2025, any last thoughts on your mind in terms of exiting the year as we look ahead to 2026, just sort of what's your view on the market and how you're positioned for the future?

Eric Green

Executives
#59

Yes, I'm glad Bob is sitting next to me because he is going to bring me down a little bit. I'm very optimistic. I believe in health care, injectable medicine space is a very attractive position of growth. We're very well positioned as a key market leader, particularly around our elastomeric products and services. I'm very optimistic about the growth that we're building up towards the end of the year. And I do believe that we're very well positioned in the highest growth areas within injectables. If you think about biologics, position in GLP-1s. We're able to support our customers on this regulatory change that's occurring here in Europe. And then the underlying growth of just the injectable medicines, we're able to support with scale, quality and global footprint to really position well. I'm excited. And also, I'm excited about our innovation pipeline and where we're going to go with new technologies to continuously differentiate and to be able to help our customers bring to market some of the most complex molecules that we've ever seen in health care. So very optimistic about going forward.

Michael Ryskin

Analysts
#60

Sounds great. Thank you.

Eric Green

Executives
#61

Thanks a lot.

Robert McMahon

Executives
#62

Thank you.

Michael Ryskin

Analysts
#63

Thanks, everyone.

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