Pharmtech & Ingredients 2024: Breaking Records and Shaping the Future of Pharmaceutical Innovation

From 19 to 22 November 2024, the 26th International Exhibition of Equipment, Raw Materials and Technologies for Pharmaceutical Production Pharmtech & Ingredients 2024 was held in Moscow.

The 26th edition of the exhibition showcased a grander scale compared to previous years, setting records for the number of exhibitors and attendees. Pharmtech & Ingredients 2024 received positive feedback from its audience due to the high quality of the products on display, the diverse range of exhibiting countries, and the seniority of attendees. The event continues to improve each year.

"The competitiveness of the industry is growing. We should also note the technological reduction of the backlog. It is encouraging to see that the exhibition is bigger than before, with more companies from friendly countries represented. I am very pleased that today's exhibition features domestic companies producing equipment for the industry; this was the main issue. We have learnt how to synthesise, work in biotech, and create new biotech drugs, but we have only used imported equipment so far. Dependence on the West has smoothly shifted to dependence on the East. We have always emphasised that without independence in equipment, we can hardly make a step forward.  Today, there are companies that are not afraid of competition, and they are presented at this exhibition." - said Victor Dmitriev, General Director of the Association of Russian Pharmaceutical Manufacturers.
 

Pharmtech & Ingredients 2024 covered an area of over 22,000 square metres. Three exhibition halls hosted stands of 568 companies from 13 countries, and 240 companies exhibited for the first time. Manufacturers and suppliers from Belarus, China, India, Italy, Italy, Spain, Turkey, Hungary, UAE and other countries demonstrated their products and technologies. This year, 242 Russian companies participated in the exhibition, more than 30 companies than the previous year. This year-on-year growth reflects the growing activity of Russian companies in the market.

The number of visitors over four days totalled a record 10,345 specialists (10,011 in 2023) from 71 regions of Russia (69 in 2023) and 27 countries, including representatives of all EAEU countries (Belarus, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan). The total number of companies that visited the exhibition was 6,330 enterprises (6,236 in 2023). The share of new visitors was 52%: 5,350 professionals did not visit Pharmtech & Ingredients a year earlier. More than 2,500 visitors (42%) represented companies with purchasing budgets of RUB 20 million or more than RUB 50 million.

The exhibition was visited by representatives of the largest drug manufacturing companies from Russia and EAEU countries: Sotex, Acrihin, Biocad, Berlin Pharma, Biosintez, Biotech, Binnopharm Group, Borisov Medical Preparations Plant, Valenta Pharm, Veropharm, Generium, Geropharm, Gedeon Richter-Rus, Kanonpharma Production, NPO "Microgen", UE "Mogilev Veterinary Preparations Plant", "Nanolek", NPO "Petrovax Pharm", NTFF "Polisan", "R-Pharm", RUE "Belmedpreparaty", "SkopinPharm", "Tatkhimpharmpreparaty", "Pharmasintez-Nord", "PharmStandard", "Evalar" and many others.

Some exhibiting companies shared their feedback about participating in this year's exhibition.

Alexander Bersh, Commercial Director of Arkhangelsk Algae Plant
"We have known the Pharmtech & Ingredients exhibition for a long time, we used to attend as visitors and decided to expand our customer base with the help of this event.  We have an absolutely unique product. We are the only ones in Russia who extract and process brown algae on the Solovetsky Archipelago. We had visitors visiting our stand, from whom we can quickly get feedback on our products. Participation in the exhibition is a means of communication, broadening our horizons, and useful for expanding our professional network. Our products have received a lot of interest, and we hope for great prospects".

Anton Prozumentov Director of Division. Medicine SIBUR
"A few years ago, Sibur made an important decision to develop in pharmaceuticals. Therefore, the Pharmtech & Ingredients exhibition is very important for us to better communicate with pharma, to better communicate with manufacturers of active pharmaceutical substances and active ingredients, who may be potential customers and partners. For Sibur, this exhibition brings not only PR opportunities, which is also important, but also the opportunity to increase contacts, increase ways of understanding what customers need, and thus build a whole chain of interactions in the pharmaceutical industry."
 

What visitors said about Pharmtech & Ingredients 2024

Anastasia Polyakova Deputy Head of the Validation Department of R-Pharm YaZGLF JSC
"We came as a whole team. We are looking for different products: new suppliers of alternative materials, looking for equipment for pharmaceutical production, and finding answers to many questions that interest us in technology. Quite informative sessions, round tables, and the opportunity to ask questions directly, not just to specialists, but to the directors themselves".  

Faiza Yagudina Quality Director Akrikhin
"We participate with gusto and send our teams from production and QA to evaluate the equipment and see what equipment selection is on display this edition. We can see how the event is getting bigger and bigger, and with a great variety of manufacturers, it is a must-attend for us."
 

Conference Programme

Pharmtech & Ingredients 2024 was accompanied by a three-day conference programme dedicated to current industry topics. 14 conference events were attended by 1,080 delegates.

• On the first day of the exhibition,  the plenary session "Pharma of the Future: How New Technologies Affect Pharmaceutical Production" was held, during which heads of relevant associations, industry experts and representatives of pharmaceutical companies exchanged views on the relevance of global trends in the use of AI and digital technologies for the Russian pharmaceutical industry, the introduction of new technologies in production and the prospects for the use of AI in medicine and pharmaceuticals in Russia. 
  
  Co-organiser: GxP News.
   
• In addition, on the same day, the round table "Raw materials for the production of APS: how to get rid of import dependence" was held. As the experts noted, today, the national project of technological leadership is at the final stage of development, and an effective dialogue and data exchange between chemistry and pharma is essential to achieve high results. The experts also shared industry statistics and stressed that Russia's growth in the global pharmaceutical market is driven by the global ageing of the population, better diagnostics, investments in healthcare and greater opportunities for citizens to buy pharmaceuticals. Over the next five years, the key drivers of the APS market will be the growing prevalence of chronic diseases, the increasing demand for personalised medicine and the stimulation of localisation of APS production to ensure sustainable supply. 
  
  Event partner: REATORG.  
   

• Another highlight of the first day was the presentation of innovative quality projects of the finalists of the GxP-PROFI 2024 competition. The event presented the best innovative projects in the field of quality in pharmaceutical production to a wide audience of the professional community, as well as gave an opportunity for industry specialists to learn more about the leaders in the field of quality and learn from the experience of colleagues. The winners of the competition were Akrikhin, Valenta Pharm and R-Pharm. Among the topics of work presented at the competition were projects in the field of pharmaceutical engineering, improvement of pharmaceutical quality systems, digitalisation of production processes and implementation of a risk-based approach. 

  Organiser: Eurasian Academy of Good Practices.  
   

• Pharmtechprom Forum was traditionally held as part of the exhibition. The event, which annually serves as a platform for presenting the latest pharmaceutical production technologies, included three sessions this year. Specialists from Russian and international companies presented new equipment and spoke about raw materials, ingredients, and technologies, as well as equipment and related processes for pharmaceutical production and packaging solutions for end products.
   
• The panellists of the round table "Topical issues of the Russian dietary supplements market development" noted that trends in the dietary supplements market include tougher competition, a decline in the share of imported dietary supplements and a slowdown in the growth of the segment as a whole, as well as changes in demand and a growing share of e-Com in the turnover of the dietary supplements category. Among the conclusions and prospects for brands, the experts mentioned brand knowledge, marketing resources, regulatory changes, and strengthening of control and supervisory activities. In addition, the speakers agreed that it is crucial to expand access to dietary supplements and raise public confidence in this category of goods, and to obtain a quality and safe product, it is necessary to certify the production of dietary supplements according to GMP standards. 
  
  Co-organisers: Alliance of Pharmaceutical Associations and SRO "Union of Food Supplements Manufacturers". 
   
• The conference programme, for the first time, included a round table, "The market of pharmaceuticals for veterinary use: its peculiarities, problems and prospects", which brought together a broad audience of specialists. According to experts, the veterinary drugs market in Russia is developing dynamically, with imports being gradually replaced by domestic and Belarusian manufacturers. The experts emphasised that the industry is resistant to crises, as confirmed by recent years. As noted, it is important to create a sustainable base for providing livestock farming with medicines for veterinary use based on new competitive domestic production technologies that ensure the protection of animal health protection and the prevention and treatment of farm animals. According to the speakers, some of the most acute issues are the transition periods to work under the new rules, the most frequent discrepancies in site inspections and the rise in prices for Russian developments due to manufacturers' dependence on imported raw materials in the case of chemical synthesis drugs. 
  
  Co-organiser: National Veterinary Association.
   
• The session "The Role of the ACA in the Development of Pharmaceutical Industry Facilities" covered a wide range of issues affecting the design, construction and commissioning of production projects in the pharmaceutical industry. Speakers, leading experts in the field of construction and pharma engineering, discussed the current state of the ACA institute in Russia, problems and prospects of development, the role of the ACA at all stages of the investment and construction project, the functions of the ACA in pre-project development and design, legal aspects of the ACA, as well as shared practical recommendations for the design of facilities in the pharmaceutical industry. 
  
  Organiser: Primekey Group of Companies.
   
• Industry experts at the round table "Foreign Economic Activity in the Pharmaceutical Industry: Customs, Legal and Tax Aspects" explore key market growth factors, including the National Health Projects to expand coverage of free medical services, limited stabilisation of the economy and its adaptation to the conditions of sanctions pressure. Among the key factors limiting market growth are the economic situation in the context of geopolitical tensions, the trend towards localisation and import restriction to reduce dependence on foreign suppliers and ensure the country's drug security, as well as a reduction in federal budget allocations for the purchase of medicines due to redistribution of funding. 
  
  Co-organiser: B1.  
   

Pharmtech Tutor project

Pharmtech Tutor is a unique project that aims to show graduate students the variety of directions a career in the pharmaceutical industry can take. For over 10 years, the project has been bringing together higher education and the industry. Given the significant need for qualified personnel in the pharmaceutical industry today, the importance of this project can hardly be overestimated.

The participants in the 2024 project were 44 students from:

• Yaroslavl State Medical University (YSMU)
• Yaroslavl State Technical University (YSTU)
• P.G. Demidov Yaroslavl State University
• Yaroslavl Industrial and Economic College (YIEC)
• K.D. Ushinsky Yaroslavl State Pedagogical University
• I.M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University
• Kazan State Medical Institute

The Pharmtech Tutor 2024 project was supported by 28 companies.
 

Award winners

For 26 years, the Pharmtech & Ingredients exhibition has grown and developed with the pharmaceutical industry. An integral part of the event is the award ceremony for exhibitors—a good occasion to summarise and celebrate the industry's development. 
The award winners were companies in seven categories:

• "Best Debut" - Polysintez LLC
• "Effective product demonstration on the stand" - KVARCO
• "Best Russian Exposition" - EKROSCHEM
• "Vivid presentation of an international company" - BIOGROWING
• "For high professionalism" - ARTLIFE TECHNO LLC
• "The most active exhibitor at this year's show" - ALDOSA
• "For loyalty and constancy" - Pharmtech Group of Companies
   

Official support

In 2024, the Pharmtech & Ingredients exhibition was officially supported by the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, the Moscow City Government, the Union of Professional Pharmaceutical Organisations, the Association of Russian Pharmaceutical Manufacturers, and the Association of Independent Pharmacies.

PARTNERS:

• iTechno Group - General Partner
• Biogrowing - Official Partner
• VIKING Lab - Partner of visitor badge ribbons

INFORMATION SUPPORT:

• GxP News - General Information Partner
• Pharmaceutical Bulletin - Industry Information Partner

The Pharmtech & Ingredients team would like to thank the attendees, exhibitors, and partners for their contribution to organising and holding the main business event of the pharmaceutical industry in Russia and EAEU countries. The 27th International Pharmtech & Ingredients Exhibition will take place from 25 to 28 November 2025 in Moscow, Crocus Expo IEC, Pavilion 2.