To Issue 190
Citation: “Conference Preview: CPHI Milan”, ONdrugDelivery, Issue 190 (Sep/Oct 2026), pp 30.
The global pharmaceutical community is set to gather at Fiera Milano, Milan, Italy, October 6–8, 2026, for three days of insight, innovation and partnership across the pharmaceutical value chain.
CPHI Milan returns this October, bringing together pharmaceutical manufacturers, suppliers, technology providers and scientific leaders from across the global drug development and manufacturing ecosystem. The new CPHI Sustainability Summit will run alongside the main event on 6–7 October.
PUTTING TRANSFORMATION AND COLLABORATION AT THE HEART OF PHARMA
“THE EVENT WILL BUILD ON THE SCALE OF CPHI FRANKFURT 2025, WHICH RECORDED 62,000 ATTENDEES, MORE THAN 2,900 EXHIBITING COMPANIES, REPRESENTATION FROM OVER 166 COUNTRIES AND CONTRIBUTIONS FROM MORE THAN 250 EXPERT SPEAKERS.”
The event will build on the scale of CPHI Frankfurt 2025, which recorded 62,000 attendees, more than 2,900 exhibiting companies, representation from over 166 countries and contributions from more than 250 expert speakers. At the heart of pharma, CPHI Milan will unite a global community that is advancing human health through new partnerships, stronger relationships and shared solutions to industry challenges.
Highlighting how this year’s programme will support that collaboration, Tara Dougal, Event Director at Informa Markets, said: “This year’s expanded conference programme will bring together the people leading key industry conversations, providing practical insights into the challenges and opportunities shaping pharma’s future, while the new CPHI Sustainability Summit will create further opportunities for collaboration, knowledge sharing and meaningful discussion across the pharmaceutical value chain.”
MANUFACTURING TRANSFORMATION TAKES CENTRE STAGE
“THE KEYNOTE WILL EXPLORE HOW PHARMACEUTICAL MANUFACTURERS ARE PREPARING FOR FUTURE DEMAND THROUGH TECHNOLOGY-DRIVEN MODERNISATION, PROACTIVE CAPACITY INVESTMENT AND STRATEGIC REDESIGN OF GLOBAL SUPPLY NETWORKS.”
The 2026 conference programme will feature more than 250 speakers across five content tracks. Dr Nina Rawal, Founder of Emerging Health Ventures, will deliver the Day One keynote, “Capitalising the Next Wave in Pharma”. The keynote will discuss how the pharmaceutical industry has reached an inflection point where scientific potential is outstripping traditional economic models, unpicking how pricing reforms and shifting trade policies are creating immediate fiscal pressure, and the sector’s response in moving away from temporary market fluctuations towards a period of permanent structural change.
Further sessions will explore the scientific and commercial forces reshaping pharma. Fabio Di Giacomo, Associate Director Cell Therapy Procurement at Bristol Myers Squibb, will take part in a panel on bridging innovation and commercial reality in cell and gene therapies, while Steffen Saltofte, CEO of Zentiva (Prague, Czechia) and President of Medicines for Europe (Brussels, Belgium), will consider how geopolitical, regulatory and market shifts are redefining the global industry.
Technology, quality and supply resilience will also feature prominently. Marco Luppi of Marchesini Group (Bologna, Italy) and Giulio Bolzonello of SEA Vision (Pavia, Italy) will discuss how automated line clearance can strengthen compliance, manufacturing safety and patient trust, while Mike Martin, President and CEO of ISPE, will breakdown how GLP-1 therapies are reshaping pharmaceutical manufacturing, drug delivery, and supply chain economics.
FOUR NEW ZONES REFLECT A CHANGING INDUSTRY
CPHI Milan 2026 will introduce four dedicated zones focused on areas where demand, investment and regulatory attention are increasing:
- Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Tech: A meeting point for technology businesses and pharmaceutical decision-makers seeking practical digital solutions, where exhibitors will showcase technologies supporting smarter manufacturing, predictive maintenance, quality management, data integrity, regulatory compliance and commercial intelligence.
- Cold Chain and Logistics: This zone will bring together providers of specialist packaging, transportation, warehousing, digital monitoring, automation and risk-management technologies with companies managing biologics, vaccines, advanced therapies and other temperature-sensitive products.
- Contamination Control: Pharmaceutical manufacturers working to meet EU GMP Annex 1 and other international requirements will be able to explore modular cleanrooms, environmental monitoring systems, air-filtration technologies, isolators and other contamination-control solutions.
- Labelling: This zone will connect manufacturers, CDMOs and packaging specialists with suppliers of labelling, printing and coding technologies – areas of focus will include regulatory compliance, serialisation, track and trace, anti-counterfeiting, electronic labelling and more sustainable printing solutions.
The new zones reflect the technologies and capabilities that are becoming increasingly important across pharmaceutical development and manufacturing. Commenting on the need to advance innovation within a highly regulated environment, Ms Dougal, added: “Pharma is highly innovative, but also tightly regulated, so the challenge is to integrate AI responsibly into the systems on which the industry depends. The new AI and Tech zone will give technology providers and pharmaceutical leaders a dedicated space to explore practical applications, build confidence and form the partnerships needed to scale these technologies”.
MOVING SUSTAINABILITY FROM DISCUSSION TO ACTION
New for 2026, the CPHI Sustainability Summit will provide a dedicated, discussion-focused forum for pharmaceutical professionals working to accelerate sustainable transformation across the value chain. The two-day summit is expected to convene more than 300 sustainability stakeholders and industry decision-makers for over 20 roundtables, interactive discussions and peer-to-peer working groups.
Designed to turn discussion into practical action, the programme will bring together pharmaceutical leaders and specialists from across the value chain to share knowledge and address common barriers. Through collaborative sessions, participants will be able to explore how different functions can work together to develop strategies that deliver measurable commercial and environmental progress.
“THE AWARDS WILL CELEBRATE THE COMPANIES, TEAMS AND INDIVIDUALS DRIVING MEANINGFUL PROGRESS ACROSS THE PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY, FROM DEVELOPING NEW TECHNOLOGIES AND IMPROVING MANUFACTURING TO ADVANCING MORE SUSTAINABLE WAYS OF WORKING.”
RECOGNISING EXCELLENCE ON OPENING NIGHT
The first day of CPHI Milan will conclude with the CPHI Celebration and the annual CPHI Pharma Awards. The awards will celebrate the companies, teams and individuals driving meaningful progress across the pharmaceutical industry, from developing new technologies and improving manufacturing to advancing more sustainable ways of working. Alongside recognising achievements with the potential to shape pharma’s future, the evening will bring finalists, exhibitors and industry leaders together to connect and build new relationships.
CONNECTIONS AT THE HEART OF PHARMA
CPHI Milan will offer three days of face-to-face networking across the full pharmaceutical supply chain. Attendees will be able to use CPHI’s digital platform prior to the event to research companies, explore products, arrange meetings and build personalised agendas. The platform will also help participants maintain conversations and develop potential partnerships after the exhibition closes. By bringing scientific expertise, manufacturing capabilities, emerging technologies and commercial decision-makers together under one roof, CPHI Milan aims to help the industry turn connections into collaboration, and collaboration into progress for patients.
