AMSTERDAM, November 29, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

- Events Host Over 2,200 Exhibitors, ABC audit Set to Reveal Highest Ever Attendance*

Leading event organiser UBM has announced a record breaking year for its flagship portfolio of annual pharmaceutical events including CPhI Worldwide for pharmaceutical ingredients, ICSE for contract and outsourcing services, P-MEC Europe for equipment, machinery and technology and the new InnoPack for innovative packaging solutions. Hosted at Messe Frankfurt, Germany from the 25th to 27th October 2011, the events attracted their highest ever exhibitor levels, with 2,200 global exhibitors on site. Overall attendance, though still subject to ABC audit, is also projected to smash all records set in more than twenty years of the events.*

Throughout the three days in Frankfurt, attendees gathered to do business and network across various sectors of the pharmaceutical industry and each individual show experienced growth. P-MEC Europe grew more than 44% over 2010*, and despite exhibitors moving over to the new InnoPack event, ICSE still had a strong showing with over 220 exhibitors*. Notably, the new InnoPack event was also met with positive feedback and attendance with over 100 global exhibitors hosting attendees from more than 140 countries.

"The scale of the events has grown exceptionally over the years. As an events organiser, it is important to us that the size does not change the opportunity for each visitor to have a unique and personal experience and we invest a large amount of time and money to ensure this," noted Greg Kerwin, UBM's Portfolio Director Pharma. He continued, "Despite the financial challenges that still remain globally, to have a year like we just did in Frankfurt means that we are succeeding and that our client base sees the value of these events. As the Pharma industry regroups and rethinks their business plans for the years ahead, we are honoured to continue to be a part of them."

The 2011 pharmaceutical events were centred on a few popular returning features, as well as many new and expanded ones. The Pre-Show Conference on the Monday before the show offered a chance to learn and network before the events got underway. The zoning format also returned, with new additions and once again proved to be a positive feature of the shows by helping to facilitate better time management and 'more talking, less walking' while onsite. The expanded zoning format included new zones in CPhI for Generic APIs and Finished Dosage resources, three new zones for New Exhibitors, USA Exhibitors Zone, and Logistics and Supply Chain Zone within ICSE and a Labelling Zone in InnoPack.

The CPhI Innovation Awards returned for their eighth year to recognise, celebrate and honour companies and organisations that are breaking new ground in the pharmaceutical, packaging, contract services and biopharmaceutical sectors. The gold winner of the CPhI Innovation Award was Glycotope for their GlycoExpress platform that optimises the glycosylation of antibodies and other glycosylated biotherapeutics. The Silver medal went to Acuros for their disposable drug delivery device designed to deliver microlitres or millilitres per hour. Finally, bronze was awarded to Johnson Matthey Catalysts for their Colour-Tag-Protein technology that works as a marker for protein expression. The awards were handed out during an exhibitor party that also took a moment to recognize UBM's shift towards celebrating and supporting sustainability in the events which included awarding Solvias with the Exhibitor Sustainability Award.

In addition to the introduction of InnoPack as a stand-alone event, P-MEC Europe debuted the new LABWorld Pavilion to cater to high technology areas such as instrumental analysis, measuring and testing technologies, materials testing, quality control and laboratory equipment that are separate from the 'traditional' large-scale capital machinery, equipment and technology with which P-MEC has become associated. The LABWorld Pavilion was met with positive feedback. Other introductions to the show included Lunchtime Education Series, where high-level presentations from industry leading executives were given in a format that also offered attendees with time to enjoy a lunch while conducting targeted networking. Further new features included expanded social networking platforms and the introduction of virtual events to support attendance from guests that were not able to travel to the events in Frankfurt.  CPhI Online has also been developed as a digital meeting spot where visitors can post and find news, information and resources while at the events and throughout the year.

CPhI Worldwide, ICSE, P-MEC Europe and InnoPack will all return to offer a unique business and networking platform for the varied sectors of the pharmaceutical market from 9th to 11th October 2012 at the Feria de Madrid in Madrid, Spain. Further information about CPhI Worldwide, ICSE, P-MEC Europe and InnoPack can be found online at http://www.cphi.com, http://www.icsexpo.com, http://www.p-mec.com, and http://www.innopack-pharma.com.

UBM's market leading schedule of annual pharma events include India (30 November - 2 December, 2011, Bombay Exhibition Centre, Mumbai), Japan (21-23 March, 2012, Tokyo Big Sight Exhibition Centre, Japan), South East Asia (10-12 May, 2012, Jakarta International Expo, Indonesia), ICSE USA (22-23 May, 2012, Pennsylvania Convention Centre, Philadelphia), China (26-28 June, 2012, SNIEC, Shanghai, China), South America (21-23 August, 2012, Transamerica Expo Centre, Brazil) and Worldwide (9-11 October, 2012 at the Feria de Madrid, Spain).

*Subject to ABC Audit

SOURCE UBM