Tokyo 27th April 2021: CPhI Japan, the first large pharma event to trade in 2021, played host to 7214 attendees at the exhibition and a further 7204 virtual users from across the globe. The event, a key marker for the strength of the regional industry, has rebounded quickly with some 216 exhibitors searching for pharma partners. In fact, such has been the demand, CPhI Japan Connect – the event’s digital platform for international audiences – will remain open until the end of May.
Hosted at theBig Sight Exhibition Centre in Tokyo, the country’s cell and gene therapy sector, the expanding domestic R&D pipeline and renewed digital innovation were highlighted by experts as key growth areas in 2021.
“The feedback on the ground was that the chance to meet again with industry professionals has really stimulated some extremely active discussions. From API producers and packaging to advanced therapies, the event played host to a really active couple of days that has reinvigorated growth and partnerships in Japan over the next year,” commented Silvia Forroova, Brand Director Pharma at CPhI Japan.
Attendees highlighted the return of the event and its success as a key moment for renewed pharma growth in Japan. In fact, Japan (7.15) ranked second only to the United States in the most recent Annual CPhI Pharma Index, scoring extremely highly across innovation (7.34), API quality (7.78), finished dose manufacturing (8.13) as well as biologics manufacturing (7.20).
In one session, the strength of the country’s advanced therapy market was discussed in “Trends in Cell and Gene Therapy” – presented by Ly Nguyen-Jatkoe of Informa Pharma Intelligence – with rapid growth expected over the next 2-3 years.
In total, Japan’s largest pharma trade event saw an extremely strong industry turnout with 216 exhibitors from across the full spectrum of pharmaceutical supply chain.
Laura Murina, Brand Manager at CPhI Japan added, “the great strength of CPhI events is that we bring everyone together and adopting a hybrid approach to CPhI Japan has been a great success – empowering partnerships, international as well as domestic, and keeping vital connections and trends following across the industry.”
Beyond the exhibition, the CPhI Japan Conference featured keynote insights, including a detailed appraisal of the dynamic R&D pipeline from Ian Haydock, Editor-In-Chief, Asia Pacific Informa Intelligence. Additionally, Timothy Pang and Caroline Zhang of Informa Pharma Intelligence presented analysis of China’s growing pharma market; with Angela Irony of Maccabi Healthcare, Omer Dror of Lynx MD and Amir Trabelsi of GENOOX reviewing the latest digital health trends.
Finally, the Japan Pharmaceutical Traders’ Association delivered the CPhI Japan 2021 Symposium, discussing the supply of APIs in Japan and how to manage change – especially relevant in a post Covid period – as well as an overview of the Japanese regulatory system and recent proposals for improvement.
Event organisers are already looking ahead to CPhI Japan 2022, which will take place at the Big Sight Exhibition in Tokyo (20-22 April), with numbers expected to near double to 15,000 attendees and 400 exhibitors. The event will be co-located alongside ICSE (contact services), P-MEC (pharmaceutical machinery & lab equipment), bioLIVE (biopharmaceuticals), InnoPack (packaging & drug delivery systems), NEX (natural extract), and FDF (finished dose drugs).
