Over the last decade the annual awards organised by UBM Live as part of the CPhI Worldwide event have offered companies in the pharmaceutical sector a unique opportunity to highlight their innovations and advancements to a targeted audience of industry colleagues. The aim is to showcase groundbreaking innovations specific to the various sectors within the global pharmaceutical industry, and finalists are chosen and judged based on the commercial viability and impact of their entry on the industry as a whole.
But the pharmaceutical sector is in a constant state of flux and this year the awards are being rebranded and expanded to take account of changes in industry trends and diverse, evolving markets. ‘Over the last few years, we noticed that more and more entries were related to topics like drug delivery or packaging, rather than the chemistry aspect of innovation,’ explains Andrew Pert, CPhI Brand Director, UBM Live. ‘Because the Awards started off focused on chemistry, the rebrand to the CPhI Pharma Awards seemed appropriate to better identify the changing landscape of innovation in the global pharmaceutical market.’
But the very diversity of the industry presents its own challenges. With entries covering formulation, drug delivery, manufacturing for APIs and intermediates, as well as biopharmaceutical manufacturing, the judges must be faced with a task a little like trying to compare apples and oranges. This is something that the rebranding of the awards is intended to address.
‘We are no longer in a market where one technology or speciality is the key to innovation,’ Pert points out. ‘The new market thrives on these diverse specialities and how they work together in an increasingly interconnected industry, and the Awards categories have been designed to reflect this.’
Finalists are chosen and judged based on the commercial viability and impact of their entry on the industry as a whole
sustainability focus
Two new awards categories have been introduced: the Sustainable Pharmaceutical Packaging Award and the Sustainable Stand Design Award. Sustainability is a buzzword used frequently within the industry, but Pert views it as much more than that. ‘UBM Live, as a company, has had a major focus on internal sustainability, as well as the sustainability of our events, for many years now. We achieved the new British Standard BS8901 for sustainable event management in 2011, so this serves to build on that achievement and roll it out to our clientele.’
UBM Live’s awareness of the unnecessary waste that is often created at events on the scale of CPhI Worldwide is one of the drivers behind the Best Sustainable Stand Design Award. The Award celebrates an exhibitor that has taken steps to eliminate this waste and streamline their presence at the show.
There are so many ways that exhibitors can decrease their carbon footprint at events, from lighting, to the materials used to build out and furnish a stand, to how companies distribute their content, to how they dispose of waste at the close of the show
‘There are so many ways that exhibitors can decrease their carbon footprint at events, from lighting, to the materials used to build out and furnish a stand, to how companies distribute their content, to how they dispose of waste at the close of the show. These are the areas that we will be looking at as criteria for the Award,’ says Pert.
‘Of course, an exhibitor with a barebones stand would be rather lacklustre and somewhat defeat the purpose of exhibiting, so that is not what we are looking for. Rather, the Sustainable Stand Design Award aims to encourage exhibitors to really think about their stand design and the impact it makes on the world around them.’
There are many new developments in the packaging industry that benefit the pharma industry, such as tamper-evidence, child-resistance, anticounterfeiting technologies and supply chain security measures in which sustainability was not the main concern, but making sustainability rather than innovation the focus of the new pharmaceutical packaging award is a deliberate strategy.
Pharmaceutical packaging is an area often overlooked, where manufacturers can drastically decrease their carbon footprint, while also innovating for the future
‘We considered many new developments when creating the new award. Developments such as tamper-evidence, child-resistance and anti-counterfeiting technologies are certainly important and often the ones that receive the most attention,’ Pert explains. ‘However, pharmaceutical packaging is an area often overlooked, where manufacturers can drastically decrease their carbon footprint, while also innovating for the future. It is our own way of celebrating how innovation and sustainability can go hand in hand.’
The new Sustainable Pharmaceutical Packaging Award category will recognise an exhibitor for offering a specific material, machine or supply in 2011 that allows a pharmaceutical company to achieve a more sustainable package or process. The key judging factors will focus on how this exhibitor's packing innovation offers specific advancements in:
- reduction of package weight, size, or quantity
- reduction of energy, water, or other resources used
- repurposing of certain manufacturing by-products
- elimination of certain processes or manufacturing steps
- alternative material solutions
- product life cycle
- pharmaceutical integrity and patient safety
The call for the Pharma Awards is open until 27 July 2012, while the deadline for entries for the Sustainable Stand Design Award and the Sustainable Pharmaceutical Packaging Award is 31 August 2012.
To submit an award entry, please visit www.cphi.com/pharma-awards.