IMA Group Previews Its Showings Set for CPHI Milan

IMA Group is readying its exhibit at CPHI Worldwide, occurring Oct. 8–10, 2024 in Milan Italy. In a press release on Oct. 2, 2024, the company announced that the products to be showcased by its divisions and experts will be exhibited at booth 18A1 in Hall 18 for the benefit of potential attendees (1).

The company, headquartered in Bologna, Italy, focuses on new and innovative technologies for processing and packaging of pharmaceutical, biomedical, and nutraceutical products in general, but with particular interest in the personal and home care and toiletry sectors (1).

The IMA Life division—which calls itself the “aseptic processing & freeze-drying solutions” division—includes in its portfolio products to process liquids and powders in aseptic and non-aseptic environments, and will present INJECTA 36, an advanced, robotic fill/finish solution aimed at raising the standard for high-speed processing of ready-to-use syringes (1). INJECTA 36 allows for 100% process control and check-weighing in the interest of maximizing production performance. The product received a Best in Show award at INTERPHEX 2023 in New York City.

IMA Group’s solid dose solutions division, IMA Active, will oversee a space dedicated to continuous manufacturing, which the company said enhances the potency, effectiveness, and safety of pharmaceutical products (1).

IMA Safe, which deals with packaging solutions, and IMA EOL (end of line) will be handling the bulk of IMA Group’s numerous sustainable packaging solutions to be shown at the conference. The company said these two divisions will be introducing a “new frontier” of pharmaceutical green packaging, and applications for recyclable and biodegradable films, sustainable plastics, paper, and other materials (1).

There is a new medical device division within IMA Group, IMA MED-TECH, which itself is a business unit of IMA AUTOMATION. This division will have experts on hand at CPHI Milan to offer their insights about assembly solutions for medical technologies—injectors, inhalers, wearables, contact lenses, tubing sets, surgical instruments, and pharma caps among them (1).

In May 2024, IMA Life North America broke ground on a new 80,000 sq. ft. facility in Tonawanda, NY (2). The purpose of the facility is to increase production of freeze-drying equipment and supplement an existing 60,000 sq. ft. facility. An additional 70 employees were expected to be hired at the time of the groundbreaking.

IMA Group has also been a part of the burgeoning artificial intelligence (AI) revolution and became involved several years before the recent rise of AI. In October 2020, IMA Group entered into a strategic partnership with the software company Neurala to deliver AI solutions for industrial machines. The partnership focused on field testing AI that is used to enable monitoring and glean insights from industrial internet of things (IIoT) systems data (3).

References

1. IMA Pharma. The IMA Group at CPHI Worldwide, Milan. Press Release. Oct. 2, 2024.
2. IMA Life. Groundbreaking Ceremony for IMA Life North America in Tonawanda, USA. Press Release. May 16, 2024.
3. Neurala. Neurala Announces Strategic Partnership with IMA Group to Accelerate AI Technology for Industry 4.0 Initiatives. Press Release. Oct. 20, 2020.