CPHI Milan Brings Back Leadership Summit as Supply Chain and Manufacturing Pressures Ramp Up

Informa Markets announced on September 21, 2026 that it is bringing back the Leadership Summit at CPHI Milan, which is being held from October 6-8 in Milan, Italy. The Summit, an invitation-only session, will occur on the opening day of the event as manufacturers face mounting pressure to rethink where and how medicines are made amid geopolitical fragmentation and a push toward drug security.

The Summit’s 4 Themes

The Summit will gather C-suite executives, senior vice presidents, and founders from across the pharmaceutical ecosystem for candid discussion on 4 themes: strategic industry transformation, supply chain resilience, the translation of policy into operational practice, and the infrastructure needed to keep manufacturing capacity aligned with scientific innovation.

For manufacturing and chemistry, manufacturing, and controls (CMC) leaders, the sessions will examine how resource nationalism and geopolitical fragmentation are making companies reassess sourcing strategies and challenge established supply models. This is a theme that has grown more urgent as governments increasingly treat medicine production as a matter of national security rather than pure commercial logic.

Discussions will address the operational implications of growing government focus on domestic access to critical medicines, including what a more coordinated European approach to medicine security means in practice for companies navigating fragmented regulatory and market environments. A further session will look ahead to whether manufacturing capacity and supporting infrastructure can keep pace with the pace of scientific innovation, and what it means for facilities and supply networks when medicines are increasingly classified as strategic national assets.

“The pharmaceutical industry is having to make strategic decisions against an evolving backdrop,” said Tara Dougal, event director for CPHI Milan, in a press release. “Questions around where medicines are made, how supply chains are secured and how companies respond to changing policy expectations are becoming increasingly interconnected. The Leadership Summit creates a space for senior decision-makers to have candid conversations about those pressures, share how they are responding in practice and consider what they mean for the future direction of the industry.”

Dougal also gave PharmTech a preview of this year’s CPHI Milan, stating, “We see AI [artificial intelligence] and technology influencing everything now, from manufacturing optimization to quality management, regulatory compliance, and commercial decision-making. Cold chain and logistics have become even more critical as supply chains have become more complex and the industry is handling more temperature-sensitive products and advanced therapies. Contamination control is really fundamental to product quality, patient safety, and compliance, particularly as the expectations around sterile manufacturing continue to increase. And labeling we also see evolving rapidly, driven by serialization, track and trace, and anti-counterfeiting measures, and the need ultimately for more sustainable solutions.”1

Closed Session for Frank Discussion

Unlike CPHI Milan’s open conference programming, the Leadership Summit operates as a closed-room session restricted to executives responsible for setting organizational strategy. Organizers say the format is designed to encourage franker discussion than a typical tradeshow panel allows, giving attendees room to test strategic thinking, compare notes on emerging risks, and identify potential areas of collaboration before those conversations play out in public markets.

The return of the Summit for a second year suggests Informa Markets sees sustained appetite among pharma leadership for forums addressing supply chain and manufacturing strategy specifically, rather than the broader commercial and scientific programming that dominates most of CPHI’s exhibition floor. Manufacturers have spent the past several years absorbing shocks from pandemic-era shortages, reshoring incentives in the United States and Europe, and tightening export controls on APIs and critical raw materials, all of which have pushed resilience and geographic diversification higher on the boardroom agenda.2,3

A full speaker line-up for the Summit has been published on CPHI Milan’s event site, though organizers have not yet detailed which companies or regulatory bodies will be represented on stage. Passes for the Leadership Summit are being sold separately from general CPHI Milan registration.

Sustainability Also on Deck

The Leadership Summit isn’t the only summit at this year’s event. A new Sustainability Summit is being launched to help those working in drug development and manufacturing better navigate the sustainability landscape. Check out PharmTech’s interview with Silvia Forroova, director of Partnerships & Sustainability at CPHI, and founder of the CPHI Sustainability Collective, to learn more about how the summit can help organizations meet their sustainability goals.

References

1. Dougal T and Haigney S. An introduction to CPHI Milan 2026. PharmTech.com. September 3, 2026. https://www.pharmtech.com/view/an-introduction-to-cphi-milan-2026
2. Cole C. Industry outlook 2026: navigating AI, sustainability, and operational resilience. PharmTech. 2026. 50 (1). https://www.pharmtech.com/view/industry-outlook-2026-navigating-ai-sustainability-and-operational-resilience
3. Zubulake Z. How Trump's new drug tariffs affect pharmaceutical manufacturing operations. PharmTech.com. April 3, 2026. https://www.pharmtech.com/view/how-trumps-new-drug-tariffs-affect-pharmaceutical-manufacturing-operations