The 30th edition of the CPhI, one of the most important events for the pharmaceutical sector was held at Fiera Milano. We were there, here’s how did it go.

The 30th edition of CPhI Worldwide – Chemical and Pharmaceutical Industry, was held from 9 to 11 November, which returned to Fiera Milano after 14 years.

The choice of location could not have been more appropriate: in recent years a highly innovative international network of excellence has emerged in Italy, made up of pharmaceutical companies. It is worth over 34 billion, with exports growing by 74% between 2015 and 2020: an important value compared to 48% of the EU average. Lombardy is the first region in Italy for investments in research and development – over 400 million euros – and a manufacturing export value of 8.2 billion, 24% of the entire pharmaceutical sector.

Italy is the largest producer and exporter of APIs in Europe. 85% is exported to North America, the EU and Japan. The survey of the 2020 CPhI annual report indicated a growing country: the results showed that Italy was the country with the highest growth in the global ranking of API producers.

The CPhI was already supposed to be held in Milan in 2020, but was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. It took place in hybrid mode, with a live exhibition area and remote conferences: it was possible to return in presence, without however leave the convenience of the online mode to which we have been accustomed in recent months.

From an exhibition point of view, the fair suffered from the doubts and uncertainties brought by Covid-19: 170 countries were represented, with 1400 exhibiting companies (there were over 2500 in 2019). Many companies were missing from China, India and America, usually at the forefront. There was also a decline in attendance, clearly lower than the almost 50,000 recorded in 2019.

As a whole, the event offers space for the entire pharmaceutical world. In addition to CPhI, the area intended for API producers, the complementary sectors are represented:

  • ICSE, for service providers
  • p-mec, for machinery and equipment manufacturers
  • InnoPack, for packaging and packaging manufacturers
  • FDF, for producers of finished products
  • BioProduction, for producers of molecules from bioprocesses

The event offered Max Application, exhibitor in the ICSE area, the opportunity to present the latest release of SafetyDrugs, the pharmacovigilance database and the connected Business Intelligence module.