#CPHI22: Endpoints sits down with conference exec as the manufacturing world says ‘Guten Tag’ to CPhI
01 Nov 2022
The time is upon us as the manufacturing world descends on Frankfurt for CPhI. This year’s conference plans to be filled to the brim with the top companies and experts from around the world of pharmaceutical manufacturing. While Endpoints News was not able to attend the conference last year in Milan, we are on the ground this year and plan to deliver all the news of the conference and all the latest trends.
In the meantime, before the conference, Endpoints will be breaking down the state of the manufacturing industry as the conference kicks off. We sat down with Adam Andersen, EVP for pharma at Informa Markets, to find out what is in store for the upcoming conference and what has changed since Milan.
Endpoints: How is this year’s event different from previous editions?
Anderson: One of the main differences is that the event is going to look a little visually different, as we rebranded to closer align with the priorities of our customers and the wider pharma community. Our new philosophy is to embrace our role at the ‘heart of the pharma’ — both facilitating partnering and connections, but also wider responsibilities of promoting good corporate ethics and driving progress on issues like sustainability. For our pharma attendees, it means we are focused on helping them meet partners faster and from wider networks — all year round.
Additionally, this year sees the return of a full onsite content program, with a ‘smart event’ format and online partnering before and after the event. If there’s a small silver lining from the Covid experience, it’s that we’ve hugely improved the value pharma professionals get from making CPhI a year-round activity. Our attendees can explore partnering options online before coming to Frankfurt and then focus on using their time at the event to have deeper and more productive discussions with their potential partners. Given we’re in a period when pharma is exploring new technologies and seeking to widen and diversify its networks, CPhI can play a really important role.”
Endpoints: What are the big issues facing the wider pharma manufacturing industry as we head into the conference?
Anderson: It’s impossible to ignore the challenges every major economy around the world is confronting: the shock of Covid, geo-political tensions, rising inflation and potentially lower growth rates. But demand for pharma manufacturing is still strong. The CPhI Annual Report points to continued robust growth in pharma manufacturing and the likelihood that contract manufacturing will grow especially quickly. Our report actually highlights that innovators are finding it challenging to find ‘suitable partners.’ In fact, when the CPhI survey is released at CPhI Frankfurt the rankings will show record-high scores for growth potential, business confidence and quality. So, despite the gloomy macro-outlook, the pharma manufacturing industry is optimistic about its future prospects.
Key issues we’re focusing on this year include how the industry can bring down manufacturing costs and development timelines. We’re also highlighting that the environmental credentials of every business in the supply chain are under scrutiny like never before. And we know we need to help the industry get to grips with the coming wave of new technologies like continuous processing, automation and AI, titre reductions and green chemistries — these are topics that are going to be important, even beyond pharma manufacturing circles. Big Pharma — and increasingly the consumer — is more and more concerned about our environmental impact and the steps we can take to reduce it.
Endpoints: How has pharma manufacturing changed since the previous CPhI conference?
Anderson: I’d say a critical change is around CDMOs. CDMOs are in extremely high demand right now and innovators with new targets are attending CPhI far earlier than before — as early as preclinical — to explore the supplier options and to widen their networks. We’ve also seen a parallel trend for some elements of manufacturing to be done locally — again meaning the industry must find new partners — while globally there are lots of modernization taking place as new manufacturing technologies are implemented. Overall, it means the supply chain is becoming even more complex with densely connected networks emerging very quickly. As a result, there’s growing pressure to identify and meet potential partners and rapidly build effective relationships. The most productive companies of the next few years are likely to be the ones that have been looking ahead, building out their networks early.
Endpoints: What topics at the conference will have a major effect on companies going into next year?
Anderson: We are very excited about the opening day keynote, which will explore psychedelics, one of the biggest areas of the next few years. David Erritzoe of Imperial College London will present a session on late-stage psychedelic trials and how these therapies will increase treatment options across potentially a very broad range of neurological indications from Migraines to PTSD, alcohol dependence and depression. Later in the day, a roundtable will explore learnings from the cannabis sector in the US to look ahead at the potential manufacturing and pipeline opportunities.
There are also sessions exploring other ‘hot’ areas including cell and gene therapies, continuous processing, digital transformation with pharma 4.0, and RNA — all of which present tremendous challenges for the industry, but also considerable revenue growth.
Endpoints: What should be the major takeaways for companies ahead of CPhI this year?
Anderson: I’d say the single biggest takeaway from CPhI this year is the value of partnerships and partnering — whether that is to advance a new drug through faster development, to lower the cost of manufacturing processes, or to make supply chains more secure and resilient. Pharma achieves all of this much faster when we’re able to find, establish and build relationships with the right partner. Every company in the global manufacturing supply chain is looking for new technologies, additional capacity and to build contingencies into their business and that means building an even wider network of contacts and connections. So, it’s the ideal time for us to be returning with a full schedule at CPhI Frankfurt.
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