CPHI Frankfurt 2025: Managing Complexity and Moisture Sensitivity

Increasingly complex and moisture-sensitive ingredients require careful, considered, and connected approaches that ensure the integrity of the finished product is maintained, explains Christian Classen from Sanner Group.

The bio/pharmaceutical industry is evolving, with an increasing prevalence of complex molecules entering the development pipeline companies are finding it more challenging to maintain finished product integrity. In this pre-CPHI Frankfurt 2025 interview, Christian Classen, Chief Sales Officer at Sanner Group, discusses these hurdles in more detail and offers some insights into potential solutions to these hurdles.

TPN: First of all, could you please introduce yourself and provide a little background into your current role and industry experience?

Classen: My name is Christian Classen, and I’m the Chief Sales Officer at Sanner Group. I joined the company in 2022 with a mandate to help broaden Sanner’s scope, evolving from a traditional product-based packaging company into a partner offering integrated design, development, and manufacturing services for drug delivery, diagnostics, and medtech.

Before joining Sanner, I spent more than 20 years in the healthcare industry with companies such as Phillips-Medisize, Nolato, and Flex, where I held global leadership roles in commercial strategy and business development.

At Sanner, I’m responsible for driving our global commercial transformation, expanding our CDMO capabilities, and ensuring that we stay closely aligned with our customers’ evolving needs, from early concept through to full-scale manufacturing.

Managing Increasingly Complex Ingredients

TPN: Given the extra complications of biologically active ingredients, what should developers consider in terms of delivery devices and what tools are available to help overcome challenges?

Classen: The rise of biologics is transforming the drug delivery landscape. These molecules often have high viscosity and require precise, patient-friendly delivery systems, such as injectors or inhalers, that ensure accurate dosing, usability, and stability.

For developers, one of the key success factors is early integration between formulation, device, and manufacturing design. At Sanner, we apply a ‘Design for Manufacturing and Assembly’ approach that connects development and industrialization from the very beginning. This helps identify technical risks early and accelerates time to market.

To manage the added complexity of biologically active and viscous ingredients, developers can now rely on a range of digital and analytical tools, from simulation and flow modeling to rapid prototyping and human factors testing. These tools help optimize device performance and manufacturability before committing to large-scale production.

Our recent acquisitions — Springboard in the UK and Gilero in the U.S. — have strengthened our ability to support customers end-to-end: from early concept and design through testing and full-scale manufacturing. By combining design, development, and production expertise under one umbrella, we help pharma partners overcome complexity and deliver safe, reliable, and user-centric devices.

Dealing with Moisture Sensitivity

TPN: Can you outline the key issues facing developers in relation to moisture sensitivity and provide some insights into solutions that help to negate such issues or help to protect the finished product?

Classen: Moisture sensitivity remains one of the most significant stability challenges, not only for traditional oral solid dosage forms but also for biologics and inhalation powders. This challenge becomes even more critical in regions with high humidity, where environmental conditions can accelerate degradation and compromise product quality.

Developers need to manage moisture carefully at every stage, from formulation and filling to packaging and distribution. Even small deviations can impact stability, shelf life, and ultimately efficacy.

At Sanner, we’ve specialized in moisture management for more than 75 years, offering both drop-in and integrated desiccant solutions to help protect the finished product. We’ve now extended this expertise to our CDMO services, supporting customers in modeling and controlling moisture behavior as part of the overall device and packaging design.

A good example is our ‘Advance with Agility’ program, which combines predictive stability modeling with tailored desiccant solutions. This approach helps customers reach their stability goals faster and ensure consistent product protection, combining scientific rigor with practical manufacturing know-how.

Expectations for CPHI Frankfurt 2025

TPN: Finally, what are you most looking forward to at CPHI Frankfurt 2025 and, if you are exhibiting, where can visitors find you during the show?

Classen: I’m most looking forward to meeting customers and partners face-to-face to exchange ideas about how the industry can better integrate design, development, and manufacturing in the next generation of drug delivery and diagnostic devices.

We’ll be exhibiting at Booth 0J92 in Hall 8, where visitors can learn more about our CDMO capabilities and our latest packaging innovations, including the optimized TabTec CR solution for oral solid dosage products.

Our design experts from Springboard will also present with Pfizer at the Packaging & Device Theatre on Oct. 29, where they’ll showcase new approaches to injector device development — a great example of how collaboration drives innovation.

Sanner Group can be found in Hall 8.0 Booth #J92 at CPHI Frankfurt.

About the Interviewee

Christian Classen is the Chief Sales Officer of the Sanner Group where he drives global commercial transformation and customer engagement. With over 20 years of leadership experience in the healthcare and medtech industries, he focuses on integrated CDMO solutions that bring innovation efficiently from concept to market.

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