Giant, occupying all the pavilions of the Fira de Barcelona Gran Via venue in the Mobile World Congress style. This is CPHI, the largest fair in the world for the pharmaceutical sector, which started this Tuesday in l'Hospitalet de Llobregat. The show, rotating between large cities with the capacity to host events of these characteristics, means highlighting the potential of the Catalan capital and its region in two aspects: firstly, as an attractive territory for this entire industry and, furthermore, as a space to organize conferences of this caliber.
“This fair puts the spotlight on the pharmaceutical industry in Barcelona,” considers Oriol Prat, director of third-party manufacturing at Grifols. “It encourages Barcelona to be a pole of attraction,” he adds. Prat works in one of the prevailing areas at CPHI. At this event, firms that create active ingredients look for companies with the capacity to manufacture their solutions in medicines that reach the market.
“The fair attracts talent,” says David Pérez, account manager at Esteve. This executive considers that the landing of CPHI, which has not occurred since 2016, promotes Barcelona, Catalonia and Spain as a place “where to produce.”
Until next Thursday, it is estimated that more than 40,000 executives from 170 countries will visit Barcelona to see stands of nearly 2,000 companies. According to the organization, Informa Markets, the fair will leave 120 million of direct impact on the metropolis between restaurants, hotels and leisure.
The pharmaceutical sector is very global and that is why CPHI is very international. There are about 130 Spanish companies in the halls. China provides more than 500 exhibitors, India 439, Italy 198, Germany 179, USA 131, France 94, United Kingdom 77 and South Korea 72. The largest stands are North American, Swiss, Korean (Samsung has a line in this sector), Chinese, Indians and Swedes.
Beyond the immediate impact, the general director of Fira, Constantí Serrallonga, highlights the “indirect impact” on the territory. According to him, this show will be a showcase for Barcelona to expose itself as a “space for locating companies”, in addition to promoting the pharmaceutical sector, which is already “important in Catalonia and Spain”. In this sense, according to a study by Informa Markets, Barcelona is the second most attractive city in Europe to invest in the biotechnology sector. This same report considers that Spain is the sixth country with the most growth potential.
At CPHI there are not only large multinationals. Rotor Print is a company born in Olost that presents a new container for distributing pills. They leave behind PVC and aluminum packaging to opt “for a single material” that makes the packaging “recyclable,” describes its commercial manager, Jordi Franco. “With the fair, multinationals see Barcelona as a reference city,” he highlights.
Perdigó is exhibited in the emerging companies space, a novelty for this edition. Among his works, they present a smart inhaler that “measures the efficiency of the treatment with sensors,” comments the founder of the company located in Sant Just Desvern, Arnau Perdigó. “The fact that it is in Barcelona makes it easier for young companies, with limited budgets, to attend events like this,” he says.
