CPhI Worldwide is the leading networking event for pharmaceutical industry. Each year it takes place in a different city and this year is the turn of Frankfurt. On October this international show will take place alongside with ICSE, P-MEC and InnoPack. If you want to discover all the details of the next edition don't stop reading our interview.
CPhl Worldwide is one of the most important pharma events, what kind of opportunities does the event offer to the pharma sector?
CPhI Worldwide offers the pharma sector the opportunity to rub shoulders with the world’s most prominent pharma executives for three days of collaboration, information dissemination, and discussions that will define the future of the industry. Beyond the exhibition, the Pharma Forum is CPhI’s go-to space for all pharmaceutical professionals looking to explore specialist areas and new business opportunities, as well as sourcing non-biased information on trends, innovations, developments, and the latest regulatory insights.
CPhI Worldwide will also provide opportunities for female executives to meet with their peers and hear from senior executives on promoting diversity in the workplace in The Women in Leadership Forum. Additionally, the Innovation Gallery will provide a showcase for some of CPhI's most exciting new products. This is where visitors can see innovative pharmaceutical developments in ingredients, finished dosage formulations, contract services and packaging. Another useful tool, CPhI Live Pharma Connect, will be available again this year to help your business match and meet both visitors and exhibitors and to pre-arrange meetings. Finally, in recognition of pharma excellence, the vastly expanded CPhI Pharma Awards returns for its 14th year, with eight new categories – awarding an impressive 20 commendations in celebration of the most successful and innovative pharma achievements.
What are the advantages of exhibiting at CPhl 2017?
What are the advantages of exhibiting at CPhl 2017?CPhI Worldwide, as the world’s largest pharmaceutical trade show, is not only seen as a bellwether of global pharma’s current strength, it also a key indicator of future trends and prospects. It’s the one place you can meet one-to-one with hundreds of providers and see first hand the different services and products. But it’s more than just a platform to score suppliers and meet contacts; it’s about interacting with other creative minds to envisage new approaches and better learnings. A gathering of this many people for a focused week allows new methods to emerge, and there is a cross pollination of ideas and approaches. Where else can you meet scientists, business development executives and CEOs to talk through a potential formulation challenge, a flexible sourcing need, an outsourcing contract and ingredients provider? And all in the same day!
Specifically for exhibitors, it is an amazing opportunity to meet potential new partners from all over the world, and ensure that other companies are aware of the services that are able to offer. Moreover, continued meetings with potential partners at CPhI Worldwide can build trust and increase the likelihood of a future partnership, not neccesarily immediately but some time into the future. It is also an excellent occasion to meet existing customers, which is integral to strenthening business relationships and an opportunity to have an informal chat about future plans.
What's new with this year compared to last year?
Our goal at CPhI is to be the vital conduit connecting the industry, to ensure we facilitate greater supply chain integration and encourage global partners to work together. This is why each year we continue to add new zones and events to CPhI Worldwide, to enable companies and people to meet. It's a global industry, with many players and sometimes a chance encounter is all the catalyst needed to reimagine what is possible.
Most notably, we are striving to encourage our partners to incorporate Corporate Social Responsibility, and this CPhI Worldwide has chosen International Medical Corps UK as its official charity partner. There are a range of charity sponsorship options, with free promotions at the event and contributions going direct to International Medical Corps to sustain their global efforts. International Medical Corps delivers lifesaving healthcare in emergencies for people affected by disaster or conflict. They work around the clock to not only rebuild lives and communities in some of the most dangerous places on earth, but they are determined to train and pass essential skills onto local hands. We encourage all visitors and exhibitors to consider closely our charity packages and or any other ways you might be able to help.
What are the biggest challenges that the pharma sector might be facing in the following year?
As the pharma industry continues its journey towards globalisation and pharma companies become increasingly keen on providing a complete drug development service to customers, it becomes a challenge for companies to meet and engage with other companies and form partnerships to complete their supply chain. CPhI Worldwide is a suitable platform that enables these discussions. Another challenge that the pharma industry has is to tackle is the rising need for the latest technology to develop more complex drugs, which will allow drug manufacture and development at a lower cost. CPhI is the ideal event for pharma companies to meet biotechnology companies that have the appropriate facilties.
Could you recommend us any conferences?
This year’s CPhI Pre-Connect Congress will take place on the 23rd of October, the day prior to CPhI Worldwide, and offers an exciting and comprehensive agenda. This platform gathers experts and thought leaders from the entire pharmaceutical supply chain to provide insights into the latest developments. In particular, the first keynote will feature Samsung Biologics President & CEO, Dr Tae Han Kim. He will provide an in-depth presentation addressing uncertainty in the industry, as well as the future outlook for pharma.
The second regulatory keynote will be given by Ajaz Hussain, President, National Institute for Pharmaceutical Technology & Education, Inc. & Former Deputy Director, Office for Pharmaceuticals, FDA. Mr Hussain will give a special address covering the US and European regulator’s intention to mutually recognize one another’s pharmaceutical manufacturing inspection procedure, and the urgent need to reduce regulator heterogeneity in the cGMP inspection process. This congress is crucial for anyone working in the pharma industry to keep on top of the latest and key trends.
CPhI is excellent for networking, meeting existing partners and finding new business opportunities, can you give us some tips for those attending the fair for the first time?
CPhI Worldwide is an extremely large event so the first tip we would like to give is to wear suitable footwear as nothing is worse than blistered feet preventing you from networking! Also, download the CPhI app, which has some great features that only aim to improve your experience at the event. The features include a map for naivating around the venue, the agenda, a list of attendees, the ability to set up meetings and much more.
Additionally, to make the most out of your visit ensure, that you pre-book meetings to avoid dissapointment, and keep in mind to leave enough time between meetings so that you have enough time to make your journey to the next one, as it is an extremely large event. Another important tip is to not fill your calendar with meetings all day, leave some time to do some exploring and see what other types of companies are available and of interest to you. Expand your horizons. And lastly, maximise your benefits by attending the post-show networking events, instead of going straight back to the hotel. Come to the event well-rested as it will be a hectic couple of days! After all, it’s only once a year that there is a gathering of this many people from the pharma industry.
Lastly, would you be able to provide an estimate number of attendees at the last year event?
A strong show is indicative of a prosperous industry and in the last five years attendee numbers have risen by 50%. The 2016 CPhI Worldwide event in Barcelona saw an all-time record attendance of over 42,000 people, with 2,550+ exhibitors from 156 countries, and we expect a comparable number this year.
