Paris pharma events smash all attendance records
Attendees up by 14%, exhibitor numbers increase to 1934
Leading events organiser UBM Live has announced record numbers of attendees at its flagship pharma event, CPhI Worldwide 2010 in Paris, France. Along with co-located events, P-MEC Europe for equipment, machinery and technology; ICSE for contract services, clinical trials and packaging; and BioPh for the biopharma sector, CPhI Worldwide saw an increase of more than 14% compared with the 2009 show. Exhibitor numbers also grew from 1808 the previous year to 1934, with a total of 109 new exhibitors.
CPhI Worldwide’s sister events also grew significantly. ICSE was 24% bigger than 2009, with 100 new exhibitors and more than 50 new packaging exhibitors, while P-MEC was 25% larger than Madrid. And in only its second year, BioPh hosted more than 300 companies either in the show or on BioPh trail.
For the second year, CPhI offered a pre-show conference series the day before the show got underway. The series focused on 'Global Sourcing and Contracting Strategies’ with a multi-track format that offered 30-minute seminar modules on the following themes: API sourcing in India and China, market opportunities in biosimilars, CMO selection and relationship management, CRO partnership and risk management, new innovations in excipient sourcing and generics, super generics and post-patent outlook. This series saw a 45% increase in attendance over 2009 numbers.
New at CPhI Worldwide 2010, was the introduction of zones on the show floor. These were instituted as a result of exhibitor and visitor feedback to facilitate navigation of the event. The zones were: APIs, Custom Manufacturing, Intermediates, Fine Chemicals, Excipients and a General zone. The response was overwhelmingly positive and as a result of their success, CPhI Worldwide 2011 (Messe Frankfurt, Germany, 25-27 October) will see the introduction of two further zones: Generic APIs and Finished Dosage. Similarly, ICSE featured a Packaging Zone and a Clinical Trials and Contract Research Zone, offering a layout that was easily navigable and allowed for more efficient communication.
‘The record attendance and positivity expressed by both exhibitors and visitors are strong indicators of the market’s continuing recovery,’ noted Annemieke Timmers, brand director for CPhI. ‘In post-event visitor surveys, 83% found the products or services that they were looking for, while more than 90% of attendees said they made new business contacts.
‘That means we are doing our job: putting like-minded business people in a networking environment where they can be productive and giving our exhibitors maximum return on their investment.’
Haf Cennydd, brand director for ICSE, P-MEC and BioPh, added, ‘This year’s co-located events were everything we hoped for and more. The continuing trend for outsourcing in the Pharma sector means that ICSE exhibitor numbers continue to rise and the introduction of zoning made navigating the show floor much easier. We continue to receive positive feedback and are looking forward to the same next year in Frankfurt.’
Now in their seventh year, the CPhI Innovation Awards recognise, celebrate and honour companies and organisations that are breaking new ground in the pharmaceutical, contract services and biopharmaceutical sectors. This year the Gold Award went to Thermo Fisher Scientific for its TruScan future forward technology in lasers. The Silver was awarded to BASF’s Soluplus, which is a new chemical entity and first excipient of its kind, offering considerable enhancement in solubility for poorly soluble APIs. The Bronze Award went to Zeon for its high-performance solvent CycloPentyl Methyl Ether for process innovation and green chemistry.
As the show gears up for the 2011 dates at Messe Frankfurt, Germany a new co-located show – InnoPack – will be introduced, plus LABWorld, a new pavilion within P-MEC.
InnoPack reflects an organic evolution from the ICSE Packaging Zone, following its successful launch in 2010. It will offer the pharma community innovative and diverse packaging solutions to satisfy the changing ways in which medication is packaged and delivered; demand for space at the inaugural event has been so great that the original layout is already being reconfigured to accommodate more exhibitors.
LABWorld will feature laboratory, analytical and biotech equipment and will cater for the increasingly sophisticated new technologies in the pharma and biopharma laboratory space. It will focus on areas such as instrumental analysis, measuring and testing technologies, materials testing, quality control and laboratory equipment for smaller scale environments.
The addition of these events will allow for UBM Live’s pharma portfolio of shows to further cater to each specialised visitor and exhibitor group in attendance.
‘We have been overwhelmed both by the attendance at this year’s events and by the response to the launch of InnoPack’, said Cennydd.
