CPhI Worldwide announces members of its 2015 expert panel

Kurt Nielson (Catalent), Vivek Sharma (Piramal) and Alan Sheppard (IMS Health) join panel

CPhI Worldwide, organised by UBM EMEA, announces its expert panel for CPhI Worldwide 2015 ahead of the third edition of the annual report to be released in September and October 2015, in three parts. The report presents a holistic overview of pharmaceuticals with key industry leaders providing expertise across the entire pharma supply chain.

This year, the CPhI annual report will see the return of seven industry thought leaders from 2014, along with three new valuable additions; Vivek Sharma, Alan Sheppard and Kurt Nielson of Piramal, IMS Health and Sandoz respectively. Sharma’s addition takes the Indian pharma sector’s representation to four of 10 members on the panel.

Vivek Sharma, Chief Executive Officer, Piramal Critical Care and Pharma Solutions replaces his colleague Vijay Shah to provide insights from one of the most innovative companies within the sector. Alan Sheppard, Principal of Global Generics and Thought Leadership at IMS Health will be giving an overview of the huge global growth of generics and examining its impact over the next five to ten years.

There is a significant shift occurring in the dynamics of drugs consumption and expenditure globally, which is having consequences not only for generic manufacturers but also in the development of new drugs. For example, Kurt Nielsen, Vice President of US Development, Portfolio and Launch Management at Sandoz, will share his invaluable insights on how to optimise development programmes and new bring new drugs to market faster.

Brian Carlin, Director Open Innovation at FMC, returns to the expert panel for the third consecutive year he is also the chair of the IPEC Americas Excipient QbD Committee and the recipient of the IPEC One World Regulatory Excellence Award in 2014. Girish Malhotra (President and Founder of Epcot International) and Hendrik Baumann (CEO of Arevipharma) will again leverage their expertise across manufacturing efficiencies and APIs, with Baumann focusing more on the international market from a European standpoint.

Across supply chain issues, the panel will utilise the knowledge of Hedley Rees (Managing Director at PharmaFlow) and Emil Ciurczak (previously a member of the FDA’s PAT committee and president of Doramaxx Consulting) will focus on PAT, QbD and spectroscopy.

Global regulatory expert and voice of Indian pharma, Dilip Shah (CEO of Vision Consulting Group) also returns to discuss the response of Indian companies to global regulatory standards, with Prabir Basu (President at Pharma Manufacturing – formerly of the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Technology and Education (NIPTE)) focusing on the industry’s approach to innovation.