The COVID-19 pandemic has certainly had a tremendous impact on the pharmaceutical business. How this impact will affect the industry in the coming month will be a point of discussion during the upcoming CPhI North America hybrid event (taking place online and in Philadelphia August 10-12). 

The topic also takes center stage in the recent report “US Pharma Market 2022 and Beyond,” issued by CPhI North America producer Informa Markets. Anthony Pombal, brand director for Informa Markets, shared highlights from the report, including what the experts and industry data cited in the document might mean for the future.

OSP: Could you please share how the pandemic has challenged the pharma market—what sectors/aspects have been impacted the most, and in what ways?

AP: Of all the challenges during the pandemic, perhaps two stand out in pharma.

First, the difficulties in supply chains were a major area of concern for the pharma industry initially as it had to adapt to new ways of working; however, later in the pandemic as we progressed, we have seen the difficulty in meeting suppliers and, in particular, new partners.  It’s also why we adopted hybrid events and why, as economies open, we expect to see a big demand for events again.

The other interesting aspect of the supply side and partnering challenges is that, at the same time, because we are an industry that serves healthcare, we have seen an extremely buoyant industry and innovation area. This has further accentuated the need over the next 12 months for opportunities to meet partners.