Pharmapack 2024 - From the Floor

Paris once again welcomes Europe’s leading trade show in pharmaceutical packaging and drug delivery innovation. Join our content team as Pharmapack 2024 opens its doors to leading experts and innovators in pharmaceutical packaging and drug delivery. 

And that's Pharmapack 2024! It's been a whirlwind 2 days and while we're sad to part ways with all our exhibitors, speakers, and attendees, we look forward to carrying these conversations and collaborations forward into the future. Roll-on the next show!

Innovation

Start-Up Hub

Pharmapack 2024 welcomes a record 20 start-ups to the Start-Up Hub, and we can't wait to hear all their pitches and presentations.

The pitch sessions feature something a little different this year - for those interested in the latest in pharmaceutical packaging and drug delivery innovation, headphones are provided to give listeners a high-quality audio experience. Who needs a silent disco when there's a silent Start-Up Pitch?

Start-up highlights

We caught up with some of our start-ups at their booths to discuss the innovative products and services on display, and how the wider industry can help smaller companies get their foot in the door of the pharmaceutical industry.

Vannessa Vankerckhove, PhD, CEO and Founder of Idevax, comments, "For companies like us, we look for partnerships with pharma and biotech companies to grow our products and have the correct device combinations come to market (because we offer delivery solutions)... Pharmapack is a very important conference. It's all about pharma packaging and drug delivery so it's great to get connected with both suppliers and potential customers. Having a booth at the start-up hub is really helpful for us to raise awareness."

Idevax is a company active in skin drug delivery. With a manual system in place, Idevax is currently copyrighting and moving into FDA approval, as well as growing the company into Series A to upscale manufacturing and build commercial traction. 

Thierry Jomini, CEO and Founder of AbbatiaLabs, emphasises the importance of events like Pharmapack for small companies: "I like the support we get from Informa and CPHI for this set-up - we get great exposure, especially with features such as the Start-Up Pitches... it's a place where everyone in pharmaceutical packaging and drug delivery devices are here so it's THE place to come and meet the industry."

Felix Mueller, Co-founder of Plus10, discusses how his company has benefitted from the visibility of both event foot traffic and continuing industry support: "We are a research spin-off of a research institute, where we develop AI algorithms... and we offer self-learning optimisation tools software as a service, so we run on production machines. On the go, we give optimisation recommendations." Mueller gives kudos to events like Pharmapack and the wider industry for their support: "We are striving to go to the US this year... I'm here [at Pharmapack] for the fourth time, it's the perfect event in size with everybody here. After a few years, it's almost like a family - perfect for innovation."

Plus10 offers AI software solutions for continuous productivity improvement of highly automated production plants. They have build an analysis software for automated production lines and machines based on high frequency machine data.

Almost all can benefit from the Start-Up Hub at Pharmapack, even those that do not consider themselves companies. Matija Srketić, Co-founder of PillsCap, comments "We are here as more like individuals because we developed a concept of innovative packaging solutions for selling pills or tablets... this is a specific product and the idea is to be available in the US market. The main idea is to sell the patents. So that's the goal, but as I said we need to try to find a pharma company who will help us and we help them to make a whole new niche on the US market with this product because there is no similar product like this... [this event] is not only for start -up pitching, it is also a place for exchanging ideas, networking, solutions."

Dr Isaame Outaleb, CEO and Co-founder of PharmaTrace, also praises Pharmapack's Start-up Hub as the ideal location to bring visibility and media attention: "Pharmapack offers us... a chance to engage with the audience for immediate feedback. For us, it's primarily a platform to showcase our products and innovations, attract potential customers, investors, and partners, as well as... engaging with industry professionals, collaborators, and potential investors." On their company, Outaleb explains: "We aim to strengthen our positions as a leading provider of solutions powered by blockchain and other mainstream technologies for the pharma and healthcare sectors. PharmaTrace originated in 2017 as an ambitious project set to revolutionise the industry through innovative technologies... our solution, a blockchain and AI/ML-based SaaS cloud healthcare ecosystem with IoT integration, addresses [traceability regulations, counterfeiting, and outdated track-and-trace systems] comprehensively...In a forward-looking strategy, we're excited to announce the upcoming launch of a PharmaTrace token, playing a pivotal role in enhancing collaboration within our ecosystem... additionally, we're venturing into competitive intelligence with the launch of a comprehensive platform tailored specifically to pharma and healthcare businesses. This tool aims to empower established market players and newcomers by providing valuable insights, market trends, and competitor analysis for better decision-making. Continuous technological advancement remains a main focus, ensuring our ecosystem stays at the forefront of industry standards."

Sustainability

This year, Pharmapack 2024 has partnered with Stevanato Group to enhance sustainability efforts and offerings at the event. With sustainability a core responsibility for all in the pharmaceutical industry, it is imperative for organisations to build sustainable concepts into their practices. Ahead of the show, we sat down with Stevanato Group to discuss their commitment to sustainability and the role of events like Pharmapack to facilitate the path towards a greener industry.

 Pharmapack 2024 - Stevanato Group talks sustainable solutions

Sustainability: An Open Dialogue for a Brighter Future. Stronger Together!

Informa Markets' Director of Partnerships and Sustainability Silvia Forroova moderated the Sustainability track's panel discussion on building a brighter future in sustainability and pharma. The speakers included:

• Enric Bosch - Boehringer Ingelheim
• Lucy Shering - BioPhorum
• Nic Hunt - Nelipak

The conversation revolved around sustainable solutions at the show, with Forroova asking the audience to vote on what they believe is the most challenging aspect - recyclability and design challenges were voted as the most prominent issues. 

The discussion also focused on issues related to reporting, standardising practices, and regulatory challenges. A recurring question was whether regulatory bodies would meet the materials coming out of the industry. Hunt commented "There is no one part of the value chain that is part of the issue - any new solutions isn't just going to 'plug and play'... Advanced recycling stands out as a particularly relevant concept. It's very commercial and the capacity is moving in a huge way to develop that but it needs regulation to balance and achieve net zero and decarbonisation."

Shering also highlighted that the people in the room represent a lot of the people that are interested and involved in making change (by job function), but also notest that there are many people not in the room that maybe need to have more education on the issue of sustainability - the responsibility of sustainability must be shared across roles in companies for a collaborative partnership effort across the industry.

Diversity

Pharmapack 2024 will host an entire track dedicated to diversity in the pharma workplace, with a Keynote Address given by Manuela Herrlein, Managing Partner & Founder of Alpine One, with a workforce gender split of 80%. There will also be a panel discussion between some leading women in pharma to investigate how the pharmaceutical industry can mind the gender gap and bridge it together. 

The panel discussion 'Enabling Diversity in the Workplace' featured a panel of women throughout the pharmaceutical and related industries in conversation regarding strategies for building gender equity and parity within the pharmaceutical workforce and in executive positions. Read the full write-up below:

 Women in Pharma: Minding the Gap at Pharmapack 2024

Content

Track sponsor interviews

Our conference tracks this year range in focus from Contract Packaging to Sports in Pharma. Check out the interviews below as we discuss trending topics within pharmaceutical packaging with our track sponsors. 

 On Track at Pharmapack 2024 - The Track Sponsor interview: Gerresheimer

 We sit down with Gerresheimer, our sponsors for the Device and Packaging   Innovation track, to discuss emerging challenges and solutions in   pharmaceutical packaging and devices.

 On Track at Pharmapack 2024 - The Track Sponsor interview: BD Pharmaceuticals

 Discover what is happening in the realm of Large Volume Drug Delivery and   auto-injectors in this interview with BD Pharmaceuticals, our sponsors for the   Large Volume Drug Delivery track.

January 25 - Day 2

We're talking all things diversity in the workshop room - important discussions to be had alongside all the innovating and collaboration.

And we're off on the second and final day of Pharmapack 2024! Though we'll be sad to say goodbye to our friends, colleagues, and collaborators, it's been a great few days of innovation for the pharmaceutical packaging and drug delivery community.

There's still plenty more to see and do around the show floor and in our content sessions - follow along as we cover the Diversity and Sustainability panels, and all the groundbreaking product showcases in the Learning Lab.

January 24 - Day 1

The Pharmapack Awards ceremony is under way - best of luck to all our nominees!

Read all about the winners here.

The conference room ended Day 1 with a panel discussion on the future of large volume drug delivery, a continuing challenge for the pharmaceutical drug delivery sector. 

A big takeaway from the discussion is the importance of the patient experience and journey when considering the design of drug delivery devices for large volumes. Louisa Harvey of Harvey Medical states that "it's very interesting research... showing that patients actually hold the device quite happily for 20, 30 seconds... so there's actually a lot more capability with patients than we possibly realise. So I see that as one of the factors driving this and other technolgoy development."

We're zipping through our Lightning Talks in the conference rooms today. The Drug Delivery Innovation track featured three Lightning Talks, including a history of blister packs and how they are now shaping the future delivered by Duncan Flack, Global Sustainability Lead at Honeywell. Flack illuminated the audience with a fascinating history of drug packaging - from clay pots through to modern blister packs. "The 'birth' of blister packs really came with birth control, which has a history of being mansplained to its target patient," Flack mentioned.

Mithun Ratnakumar, Director Technology Strategy & Governance at Gerresheimer, also delivered a Lightning Talk on the opportunities and challenges for connected drug delivery and digital health. "Data from digital health technologies can collectively bring insights that can be used to 1) help monitor and identify triggers...and 2) help with the challenge of medication adherence." Ratnakumar states that "ultimately, we are moving towards healthcare where we improve outcomes and preventing disease - not just treating illness and looking into the patient journey."

And that's the ribbon-cutting ceremony! We were joined today by Informa Markets' Executive Vice President, Pharma Adam Andersen, who gave a welcoming delivery to the exhibitors, sponsors, and attendees who find themselves at Paris Expo Porte de Versailles this morning. MC Joseph Kearney, Creative Content Writer at Informa Markets, then introduced Corrine Menegaux, General Director of the Tourism Office and Congress of Paris.

She welcomed all to the city of Paris and officially opened Pharmapack 2024 with some big, golden scissors.

Day 1 of Pharmapack has officially begun! We're buzzing to welcome everyone to a bumper edition of the leading event in pharmaceutical packaging and drug delivery.

January 23 - Day 0

Busy busy busy!

We're here at Pharmapack 2024! Already the excitement is mounting as the stands go up. Our Content Director herself is raring to go:

We'll be updating the blog in the run-up to Day 1 - in the meantime, why not check out our Pharmapack interviews with our Track Sponsors and our Sustainability partner.