CPHI Europe 2025 Opens with a Focus on Sustainability, AI and Supply Agility
Welcome to the special CPHI Europe 2025 edition of Market Watch: Pharma, Biotech and Healthcare
Visiongain Top Takeaways – Day 1
Sustainable Futures
Sustainability defined the afternoon agenda, with discussions showing how packaging innovation and low-carbon manufacturing are converging to create truly circular systems.
Alejandro Martín, Global Sustainability Manager at Liveo Research, showcased the Basel-based One-Material Blister (OMB), a barrier-film innovation that balances recyclability with stringent safety and regulatory demands.
After a brief break between sessions, Jürgen Bodenmüller of Südpack Medica AG described how the family-run firm is leveraging six decades of polymer expertise to develop sustainable plastics and healthcare films that enable true circularity.
Adding a manufacturing perspective, Darryl Ratty, Senior ESG & Sustainability Executive at SK pharmteco, outlined the company’s roadmap for low-carbon production and circular economies, emphasising sustainability as a mindset, not a metric:
“Sustainability isn’t a single initiative; it’s a lens through which every business decision must be made.” Darryl Ratty, SK pharmteco
Sessions also explored carbon accounting, greener solvents, and lifecycle-impact metrics, establishing ESG as a long-term operational standard across the industry.
Visiongain Analyst Insight: Sustainability has shifted from compliance to capability. Exhibitors are now engineering value chains for circular performance, not just footprint reduction. Expect to see rapid innovation in packaging, solvents, and biomanufacturing inputs as sustainability becomes a growth driver.
Manufacturing 5.0
The Manufacturing 5.0 Theatre captured the day’s dominant themes, volatility, adaptation, and strategic agility in a packed session on ‘CDMOs at a Crossroads: Scaling, Adapting, and Partnering for the Future.”
Moderated by Molecule to Market host Raman Sehgal, the discussion brought together Nuria Amador (Almirall), Gil Roth (PBOA), Anil Kane (Thermo Fisher Scientific), and Dania Chehab (J.P. Morgan).
Their consensus: uncertainty is now structural, and CDMOs must invest in data visibility, modular capacity, and agile partnership models to stay ahead.
Adding to that theme, Jennifer Cannon, President, Commercial Operations, Pharma Services at Thermo Fisher Scientific, emphasised the balance between human capability and digital transformation:
“Manufacturing 5.0 isn’t about replacing people, it’s about augmenting them with digital tools that enhance precision, efficiency, and sustainability.”
Leadership Summit
Future of Pharma & Ingredients
“Innovation thrives where collaboration and flexibility intersect at CPHI, we see both driving the next generation of pharma development.”
Packaging & Device Innovation
Patient-centricity and sustainability took the spotlight. Eric Valentine, VP Business Solutions, Catalent Clinical & Speciality Services, said:
“We’re designing smarter packaging systems that not only improve adherence but also reduce waste and carbon impact.”
Interactive exhibits showcased connected delivery devices and recyclable secondary packaging, illustrating how packaging now functions as both a compliance tool and a sustainability statement.
Next-Generation Bio
Jonathan Haigh, FUJIFILM Biotechnologies, emphasised reliability amid rapid innovation:
“As modalities expand, biomanufacturers must innovate faster while maintaining the highest levels of quality and regulatory confidence.”
Sessions on cell and gene therapy, digital integration, and AI-driven bioprocessing reinforced a clear theme: biologics and data are converging to accelerate time-to-clinic.
Clinical Innovation
Rajiv Khatau, Managing Director, LODAAT Pharma & Life Science Advisors, summed up the spirit of the track:
“Seamless collaboration across CROs, CMOs and sponsors is now mission-critical speed without integration no longer works.”
Discussions covered decentralised trials, digital endpoints, and data integrity, all underscoring the industry’s pivot toward globally integrated research ecosystems.
Visiongain Analyst Perspective
While official sessions highlighted operational excellence, Visiongain analysts observed a deeper undercurrent, a shift from reactive adaptation to proactive redesign across pharma’s value chain.
