Frankfurt, 25th November 2019: CPhI Worldwide closed its doors on its landmark 30th edition at the Messe Frankfurt, with pre-audit figures showcasing a record total attendance of 48,961 – 84% of which were international.
This year’s event saw a number of key indicators pointing to a strong year ahead for pharma in 2020. CPhI Worldwide is widely recognised as a barometer of pharma’s overall health – with the addition of BioProduction it is the only platform to cover all parts of the industry supply chain – and a strong event is reflective of a prosperous pharma sector. Emphasizing the current strength of the global industry, CPhI Worldwide’s own Pharma Index – an aggregated confidence score across all aspects of pharma in the largest economies – rose by 2.48%.
In total, the event saw more than 170 countries represented, with 20 country pavilions, and 100+ content sessions spanning six different major events: CPhI Worldwide (ingredients), ICSE (contract services), P-MEC (machinery), InnoPack (packaging), FDF (finished dose), and BioProduction for bioprocessing and biomanufacturing.
Remarkably, as CPhI Worldwide enters its third decade, attendance has grown 10% year-on-year, with the event heading to Milan in 2020 – a country recently reported by Farmaindustria to have matched Germany in terms of total production.
Looking deeper at what changes the industry could undergo in the near future, the CPhI Worldwide conference agenda explored a number of trends effecting the industry. One session pointed to the potential increase in value-added medicines (VAM), such as using existing molecules in new therapies for novel applications, as a good opportunity. Aurelio Arias, IQVIA senior consultant and panellist in the “Future of Medicine: What Are the Therapies of Tomorrow?” session, suggested that a primary driver is the cost of novel therapies, which is putting ever-increasing pressure on healthcare budgets. Similarly, Thomas Solbach, Managing Director and Partner at Strategy&, believes that the future of healthcare will be disrupted by patient driven technology, with emphasis on preventive medicine, early diagnostics and the patient experience.
The dramatic rise in the number of dedicated CMOs that provide cell or gene therapy services was also identified by experts as another key trend. Taking part in the session “Understanding the Cell and Gene Technology Opportunity”, Fiona Barry, associate editor at GlobalData’s PharmSource, states that advanced therapies still present fundamental challenges including pricing and reimbursement, regulatory requirements and immature manufacturing technologies.
Looking ahead at the potential 2020 deal drivers, the M&A Forum held in conjunction with Pharma Intelligence, reviewed the current M&A landscape. Natural Extracts were analysed at a dedicated podium focused on global demand, while the World of Pharma podium highlighted the future of pharma, with sessions on the potential opportunities in China and India.
