In the era of rapid information technology development, pharmaceutical manufacturing companies are keeping pace with the times and are gathering core driving forces for innovation and top-notch development under the impetus of digital transformation. This investigation is intended to elucidate the mechanisms underlying digital transformation in the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry affects corporate performance, focusing on the mediating role of development capabilities. The conclusion indicates that the digital transformation of pharmaceutical companies not only significantly optimizes their total factor productivity but also enhances financial performance due to these efficiency improvements. The study shows that development capabilities mediate significantly ranging from digital evolution to the operating performance, considering total asset expansion proportion and operating profit increase proportion as key indicators of development capabilities. Based on this, when promoting digital reform in the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry, it is necessary to comprehensively design implementation steps, reasonably adjust resource allocation, increase efforts in technological innovation, and pay attention to the changing trends of important variables including the expansion rate of total assets and the expansion proportion of operating profit during specific operations, thereby cultivating long-term competitive advantages and capabilities for high-quality development in the company.