Reflecting on a Transformative Event for the Americas Pharma Market
As CPHI Americas wraps up for another year, we look back at some of the highlights from the conference and exhibition hall, and provide a sneak peek of a great opportunity at CPHI Frankfurt.
CPHI Americas has wrapped for 2025, closing its doors at noon (EST) on May 22 after having welcomed over 3,925 attendees and 370 exhibitors, as well as 16 start-ups and 82 speakers. This year’s show, which was renamed to be more representative of the broader audience of the U.S., South America, and Canada, featured an expanded conference agenda with five tracks, a new bioproduction zone, the return of the Start-Up Market for its second year, and included highlights of the Latin American market, as well as much more.
Tackling Pressing Issues
The 2025 event offered an impressive and larger conference agenda compared with previous years. Across five tracks — Market Trends in Pharma, Optimizing the U.S. Value Chain, Biotech IPOS, Bio-Innovation, and Clinical Innovation and Technology — attendees were spoiled for choice with approximately 60 sessions, covering a plethora of topics.
A host of expert speakers took to the stages and podiums to tackle the pressing industry issues. Kicking off the proceedings, Peter Pitts, President of the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest, broached the hot topic of obesity and glucagon-like peptide-1 agonists (GLP-1s). With current figures demonstrating that over 40% of adults in the U.S. are suffering from obesity (1), the onus is on the bio/pharma industry to get to grips with the complexities associated with GLP-1s and bolster supply chains.
Around the conference, there was a definite buzz about the bio/pharma supply chain, with discussions on sustainability, strategies to protect the security of the supply chain, and reasoning for having greater domestic production. Looking at security in more detail, and more precisely providing insights into the Biosecure Act, was Claudia Lin, Pharmatech Associates Executive, who took to the stage on day one. In her talk, Lin drew on her experiences and emphasized her belief that the act is not reflective of a shift in the global bio/pharma supply chain, but rather a lesson for CDMOs that have grown too quickly.
Moving into day two and reshoring was top of the agenda as Kevin Webb, COO of the API Innovation Center, covered the issue of reshoring API production in light of the current geopolitical instabilities. In his presentation, Webb revealed how reshoring is a strategic response that can enhance responsiveness and reduce the risk of potential drug shortages.
In addition to supply chain considerations, there is rising demand for accelerated timelines throughout industry, which is placing greater demands on service-providers. An approach gaining popularity is that of integrating research, development, and manufacturing services into one unified offering. Kenneth Getz, Executive Director and Professor, Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development, Tufts University, School of Medicine, discussed this very topic on day two, highlighting the benefits of integrated CROs and CDMOs — simpler manufacturing and clinical processes, easier access to services, etc. Fully integrated offerings were the focus of BioDuro during the show, as Kevin Li, MBA, Chief Marketing Officer for the company, revealed in a pre-event interview with The Pharma Navigator (2).
The word ‘uncertainty’ was definitely on many peoples’ lips during the course of the conference, which is unsurprising given the current political dynamics. To close out this year’s event, Dr. Molly Klote, former Director of the Office for Human Research Protections, spoke to the changing landscape for U.S. pharma and where it may be headed in the future.
“I was honored to give the closing keynote address at the CPHI Americas 2025 conference in Philadelphia [on Thursday May 22]. It was also a wonderful opportunity to meet many of the companies who provide critical infrastructure to our pharmaceutical industry,” said Klote on LinkedIn (3). “My address focused on the current challenges facing the pharmaceutical industry related to new executive orders and potential legislation. Drug pricing, pressure on pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), reshoring of pharmaceutical manufacturing, and changes within the FDA policy were all discussed.”
Meeting Evolving Demands
With an evolving market comes increased demand and new challenges that need to be addressed by service providers. A specific evolution has been that of biologic-based drugs, which have surged in popularity over recent years. With growth expected to continue for these promising therapies, more partnerships are being formed to help with the complex development and manufacturing processes they require.
This increased demand for biomanufacturing was the focus for Novartis Contract Manufacturing at CPHI Americas 2025. In an interview with The Pharma Navigator performed before the event (4), Carrie Bracco, Head of Business Development US at Novartis CDMO, explained what impact the growth in biologics is having on CDMOs.
“CDMOs are racing to expand capacity, building new biologics facilities, or retrofitting existing ones to meet demand,” Bracco said (4). “There’s heavy investment in single-use systems, modular cleanrooms, and larger bioreactors to increase flexibility and scale. To stay competitive, CDMOs are broadening their offerings to include development, analytical, regulatory, and fill/finish services, aiming to be one-stop shops.”
Bracco also participated in the CDMO panel discussion during CPHI Americas, which focused on strategic partnerships. “Through strategic partnerships it is possible to address the growing demand for biologic drug substance manufacturing, including monoclonal antibodies, cell and gene therapies in addition to production capacity, technical complexity, and regulatory hurdles by leveraging state-of-the-art facilities and expertise,” she said.
Another participant of the CDMO panel was Dr. Srinivasan Shanmugam, Executive Director, Pharmaceutical Sciences, Business Support, and New Technologies, Adare Pharma Solutions, who explained the benefits of strategic partnerships in an ever-changing landscape in our pre-show interview (5). “Strategic partnerships allow companies to focus on their strengths while tapping into the capabilities of a trusted partner,” Shanmugam said (5). “In pharma, the challenges — from development timelines to supply chain constraints and manufacturing hurdles — are too complex for any one organization to solve alone. That’s why a strong outsourcing partnership is so important: an effective CDMO can offer sponsors knowledge, experience, flexibility, and infrastructure needed to keep programs on track, even when conditions shift unexpectedly.”
The one-stop-shop offering should provide support for innovators from early-phase formulation all the way through to commercial-stage production and packaging and logistics, noted Mara Candido, VP Global Business Development at Aenova in our pre-event interview (6). “Working with a single partner who can provide end-to-end services helps to minimize risk and cost. Switching or adding new partners, whether during development or for commercialization, often involves transfer risks such as knowledge loss, delays, and increased costs,” she said (6).
When speaking with Dan Dobry, Chief Strategy Officer at Bend Bioscience, prior to the show (7), he explained that in the past CDMOs attempted to standardize offerings to gain efficiencies; however, there is a need to be more adaptable and innovative nowadays. “In today’s dynamic environment of constant change and new challenges, CDMOs need to adopt an agile, high science, high service culture where challenges can be addressed with a phase-appropriate balance of speed, quality, and technical risk mitigation, and on top of all that, an overlay of data-driven decision making,” he said (7).
A Valuable Opportunity
Post-event, The Pharma Navigator also caught up with Marinn Hersh, Director of Business Development at Bend Bioscience, to get some insights into the company’s experiences over the course of the three-day show. “CPHI Americas was a valuable opportunity to increase awareness of Bend Bioscience and reconnect with the industry, and it has been a great experience this year! I've truly enjoyed talking to everyone who stopped by our booth and sharing all the exciting updates our company has gone through recently,” explains Hersh. “It's a time of growth for Bend Bioscience, and some people were not aware of our investments and expansions, as well as our expanded capabilities post-acquisition of Societal CDMO. Therefore, building awareness about our brand was my top priority.
“With our recent announcement to expand our commercial capabilities in our Georgia site, the sky is the limit! With our talented teams across all three U.S. sites, we are optimistic to build many new partnerships this year,” adds Hersh. “Trade shows like [CPHI Americas] are more than just visibility — they’re a way to listen, learn, and align. We walked away with a better understanding of what the market needs and where Bend Bioscience can add value."
Coming up in CPHI Frankfurt…
Now that CPHI Americas has finished for the year, many of us will be turning our attention to CPHI Frankfurt, taking place on October 28–30, 2025 in Frankfurt, Germany. This event is generally considered to be the pivotal show of the year where thousands of visitors and exhibitors come together over a jammed-packed three-day conference, making connections and learning about innovations from the bio/pharma industry.
During CPHI Frankfurt 2025, Orientation Marketing will once again be involved in the “Best of CPHI Trail”, which will take place on Wednesday Oct. 29, 2025. Following from the success of the Wine Trail at CPHI Milan 2024, the 2025 trail will provide visitors with a fabulous selection of tasty German Wurst and beer, as they work their way around event exhibitors who are the best in their field.
If you are interested in taking part in this year’s “Best of CPHI Trail” as one of the participating exhibitors, contact Gareth Pickering, Gareth@orientation.agency, who will be able to provide you with more information.
References
NIH. Overweight and Obesity Statistics. Niddk.nih.gov (accessed May 28, 2025).
Thomas, F. CPHI Americas 2025: Driving Innovation with BioDuro. The Pharma Navigator, May 15, 2025.
Klote, M. I was honored to give the closing keynote address at the CPHI Americas 2025 conference in Philadelphia. LinkedIn, May 23, 2025.
Thomas, F. CPHI Americas 2025: Meeting Biomanufacturing Demand. The Pharma Navigator, May 14, 2025.
Thomas, F. CPHI Americas 2025: Navigating Complexities with Strategic Partnerships. The Pharma Navigator, May 14, 2025.
Thomas, F. CPHI Americas 2025: Working End-to-End. The Pharma Navigator, May 14, 2025.
Thomas, F. CPHI Americas 2025: A Growing Service Offering. The Pharma Navigator, May 14, 2025.