AMSTERDAM: Leading events organiser UBM Live today announced the largest ever attendance for its Indian tradeshows, CPhI India for pharmaceutical ingredients and intermediates, and co-located events, P-MEC for equipment and machinery; ICSE for contract services and packaging; and BioPh for the biopharma sector. The events took place from December 1-3, 2010 at the Bombay Exhibition Centre in Mumbai and saw an increase in visitor numbers, with a total of 26,436, including 1,433 international visitors.

Booths for the 800+ exhibitors sold out in record time and delivered exhibitors from 18 countries. With such high exhibitor levels, visitors were given a great platform for networking with companies which span all facets of the fine chemicals and pharmaceutical machinery industries. The international attendance reflects the growing significance of India in the Pharma industry globally, and India's presence and importance is only expected to grow. A few of the highlights of the events included the Pharma Summit which had over 330 people in attendance. Another big attraction this year for visitors was the CPhI India Conference Series 2010, which ran alongside the main events and saw over 322 visitors. The conferences were comprised of twelve conference modules covering the most relevant topics in the Indian marketplace, including: drug discovery, biosimilars, nanotechnology, vaccine, oncology, stem cells, generics, and machinery.

"We anticipated a high turnout for the event this year, and we were not disappointed. We were especially pleased with the international presence at the show, it just goes to show that the global stage is recognizing India as a major player in the machinery and fine chemical markets," commented Annemieke Timmers, CPhI Brand Director. "In the second annual CPhI India conference series we tried a new approach with a modular conference format. While this is a new concept to the India pharma market, it was very well received and we intend to continue with this system for the 2011 events."

"The introduction of the ICSE Pavilion provided a core focus on outsourcing and contract services – a sector that has seen 43% growth annually in India, three times the global rate(1). With a highly trained workforce, India is one of the most advantageous markets to grow business," noted Haf Cennydd, Event Director of ICSE/P-MEC/BioPh India. "India is also an increasingly important player in the contract services market including packaging, clinical trials, laboratory services, drug discovery and marketing services."

In addition to the general expansion of the India Pharma market, the associated machinery and equipment market is growing on average at 15-20% per year(2). Consequently P-MEC was a resounding success, seeing record attendance in 2010 with 10,446 visitors and 248 exhibitors. Initial feedback from exhibitors and attendees was uniformly positive with steady foot traffic and exhibitors reporting expanded business potential for India.

The 2011 event will return to The Bombay Exhibition Centre in Mumbai from November 30 – December 2, 2011. There are several other global events throughout the year. CPhI Japan will be held on April 18-20, 2011 at the Big Sight Exhibition Centre in Tokyo, Japan. CPhI and P-MEC China is scheduled for June 21-23, 2011 at SINEC in Shanghai, China. CPhI South America will take place on August 24-26, 2011 at The Transamerica Expo Center in Sao Paulo, Brazil. And the flagship CPhI and P-MEC Worldwide will return to Frankfurt on October 25-27, 2011 at Messe Frankfurt.

Further information about CPhI India and its co-located events can be found online at www.cphi-india.com, and www.pmec-india.com. For more information on other global events, please visit us online at: www.cphi-sa.com, www.cphijapan.com, www.cphi-china.com or www.cphi.com.

(1) Aashruti Kak: Regulating Outsourcing

(2) Pharmaceutical Machinery: Indian Market. http://www.pharmaceuticalmachinery.in/pharmaceutical_machinery_indian_market.htm

Notes for Editors:

• UBM Live operates market-leading global exhibition brands and their complementary media products.
• The CPhI pharmaceutical ingredients and related sector exhibitions currently number over 15 highly-regarded annual events. The portfolio also includes Informex (specialty chemicals), Food Ingredients, HBA (health & beauty industry) and Sea Trade (cruise industry).
• Worldwide locations for its events include China, India, Japan, North America, Brazil, Africa and Europe. More than 330,000 business professionals and marketers visit UBM exhibitions each year. The exhibitions portfolio is managed from Holland. UBM Live has approximately 1,200 employees in the UK, US, Asia and Europe. See www.ubm.com

SOURCE UBM Live