Pharmintech 2016, from 13 to 15 April in Bologna

May 15, 2016

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State-of-the-art technologies for the pharmaceutical industry and a strongly international influx of exhibitors and buyers: on 12-15 April, Bologna will host the fifth edition of Pharmintech, this year joined by Cosmofarma, showcasing the excellence of Made in Italy.

Pharmintech President Sergio Dompé did not mince words in a statement made immediately following the close of the event, which «is not only a major exhibition of highly advanced technologies, but also represents an exemplary case of integration among different sectors, expressing the very best of pharma and food in terms of production process quality».
Machinery and systems, automation solutions, materials, packaging, contracting, clean rooms, machine tools: Pharmintech, organized by Bologna Fiere, offered a comprehensive offer of the latest technological breakthroughs in pharmaceuticals, parapharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals and cosmetics.
«We are proud to have hosted a highly qualifid public and represented the best of the competitiveness of the entire Italian pharmaceutical supply chain», stated Dino Tavazzi, CEO of Pharmintech, reporting the event’s initial results: 6,834 visitors (18% of whom from abroad, hailing from 58 countries), 350 exhibitors, with a massive presence of global leaders, over 100 buyers from 22 countries, which participated in B2B meetings with exhibitor concerns at the International Buyer Program (a networking initiative featured at BolognaFiere Cosmoprof events).
A valid contribution was also made by UCIMA (Union of Italian Manufacturers of Automatic Packing and Packaging Machinery) and ICE - the Italian trade agency - in consolidating the event’s international scope. In particular, ICE brought together a large delegation of buyers from France, Germany, Singapore, UAE, Algeria, Brazil, India, Iran, Israel, Russia, South Africa, Turkey, the UK, the USA, Costa Rica, Colombia, Morocco, Poland and Spain.

The key word of an event
Among the many topics covered during the course of the fair, the watchword of the special initiative “Drug Supply Chain: The Workroom - Thinking the future!” was without a doubt innovation.
Organized by Pharmintech, in partnership with ISPE Italy Affiliates and with the support of LifeBee, “The Workroom” offered state-of-the-art pharma solutions, with particular focus on anti-counterfeiture, from secondary production to distribution in the pharmacy, in four tracks: the factory and logistics, cold chain quality control, serialization and track & trace.

The installation, which involved numerous concerns, was an excellent representation of the impact of new technologies on the drug supply chain.
Also looking to the future were scientific conferences (organized by Pharmintech in partnership with AFI and ISPE) during the three days of the fair, covering pressing issues for the sector: “Innovation and Cold Chain”, “Serialization, listen to the manufacturers!”, and to close the event “Serialization and Track & Trace: experiences and models in dialog”, which featured the valuable contributions of Sanofi Pasteur, Lilly, Amec Foster Wheeler, Chiesi Farmaceutici, Alfa Wasserman, Recipharm, Zet –Pharma Logistic Services, Savio Industrial, and EMVO.
What’s more, innovation was a cross-cutting theme of the conferences held by Farmindustria (“Drug Supply Chain 4.0: the innovation network in digital health”), by ASIS (“INNOV-ACTION and its impacts on health”) and by IMS Health (“Around the Pill: the value of incremental innovation” and “Pharma Global Market Insight”).

The first edition of the Pharmintech Awards
A successful debut for the first Pharmintech Awards, which recognized the most innovative and effective solutions in the development of pharmaceuticals, products that can be assimilated, biotech and IT.
The winners were selected by a jury made up of AFI, Tefarco Innova and Ucima, which evaluated the nominees in three categories: “Academic”, “Newco” and “Exhibitors Pharmintech”.
The awards were presented on 13 April at a gala event at the Opificio Golinelli, the city of Bologna’s new “citadel of knowledge and culture”.
Special guest Jim Chrzan, Vice-President of PMMI Media Group and publisher of Healthcare Packaging Magazine, outlined trends and scenarios in the American market with particular reference to processing and packaging in life sciences. A brilliant speech by Bologna Fiere’s newly elected president Franco Boni was also much enjoyed.

In the category “Academic”, the award went to Francesca Vitali for her bioinformatics research on protein networks in order to find new therapies, in which she studied various cases of tumors, especially breast cancer. Special mentions went to Carlo Barracchia (use of an atomic microscope to measure cell vitality for pharmaceutical and toxicological purposes in the project “Detecting cells vitality”) and to Giulia Pasotti (“Dome Matrix”, a practical and useful idea for controlled release and compatible substances).

In the category “Newco”, the prize went to BeeNext (“Arachno”, a system for synthesizing various gases that can be applied to different fields since it is fully customizable). Here too, special mentions went to two other nominees: PharmaFilm (“Malt-O-Fast”, use of maltodextrin and glycerol bioadhesive films for oral mucous release) and Plumestars (“Inhalable antibiotic dry powders”, research on cystic fibrosis).

In the category “Exhibitors Pharmintech 2016”, awards went to four concerns:
- the German Phyllon, a specialist in quality control solutions, which presented “Optical Coherence tomography” for online simulation of the compress coating process with a controlled process that enables real-time release;
- Cavanna Packaging Group for “Cavanna Ultrasonic sealing”, an exciting theoretical industrial application for production machinery with objective evaluation elements;
- Antares Vision for the “Antares Tracking System”, an integrated solution that is compliant with international track & trace standards;
- IGB - Industrie Grafiche Bressan, for the “Tamper evident folding Box”, a functional and low cost solution that can be applied on high speed packaging lines.