CPHI Milan has witnessed a new record attendance of 59,000 pharma executives buoyed by returning confidence and increased deal-making on site.

The event’s success is widely used as a proxy for overall growth in global pharma in the year ahead, with attendance up 9 percent on 2023 and a remarkable 45 percent over the last two years.

This level of partnering engagement is expected to transfer through into significant growth for the industry in 2025, with contract services firms well placed to pick up returning biotech and big pharma project spend.

“We had a tremendously successful event with record numbers of exhibitors and attendees in Milan this year. Based on the strong demand we’ve seen, we are already planning an additional contract services hall at our next event in Frankfurt to meet growing market needs,” commented Adam Andersen, Executive Vice President, Pharma at Informa.

“The consistent feedback we received from attendees indicates a robust rise in partnership interest and deal values, with new supply chain partners emerging across the industry. This momentum is expected to fuel substantial growth not only for CPHI but also for the global pharma sector, advancing our mission to accelerate human health,” added Andersen.

Exhibitor numbers at CPHI Milan rose to 2,838 – up 18 percent from 2,400 in 2023 – with visitors attending from 148 countries. Next year’s edition will be held at the Messe Frankfurt (October 28-30) in Germany – one of ‘the hearts of pharma’ manufacturing in Europe.

Another industry insight from CPHI Milan show-floor was the continued expansion of innovation emerging from smaller companies. The event’s start-up market is designed to help larger companies engage with a growing base of smaller firms.

The 2024 edition saw an impressive 89 Start-up companies take part, up from 40 in 2023, and this is set to be a major growth area of the event moving forward as CPHI becomes a hotbed of drug discovery, development and commercialisation innovation. These innovators are advancing new targets, devices, and sustainable packaging solutions for drug development and manufacturing.

Gil Roth, President of PBOA said, “What struck me from speaking with exhibitors on the ground is that the buoyancy in the market is very clearly back and both exhibitors and attendees were looking to invest time in meeting new partners. My CDMO members say they are talking to a lot more customers about a diverse range of services and opportunities, and it's my hope this will pass through into very strong growth, not just in 2025, but also in the medium term.”