CPHI Worldwide 2026 - officially CPHI Milan - runs 6-8 October at Fiera Milano. Your complete guide to the four pass tiers and the advance-pricing deadline, the zone-by-zone hall map, the new AI & Tech zone and Sustainability Summit, and what to budget for exhibiting.
| Detail | Info | Detail | Info |
|---|---|---|---|
| 📅 Dates | 6-8 October 2026 | 🏛️ Location | Rho, Milan, Italy |
| 💊 Focus | Pharmaceutical ingredients, contract services, machinery, packaging, finished dosage | 🏢 Venue | Fiera Milano |
| 🔁 Frequency | Annual (European flagship rotates host city) | 🌍 Exhibitors | 2,900+ exhibiting companies |
| 👥 Attendance | 62,000 promoted for Milan; 59,000+ at the 2025 edition | 🎟️ Access | Paid business passes - €247 to €3,999 |
Quick Answer: When is CPHI Worldwide 2026 and what is it? CPHI Worldwide 2026 - branded by the organiser as - runs at in Rho, on Milan's north-western edge. It is one of the pharmaceutical industry's largest annual gatherings: an end-to-end supply-chain exhibition covering active pharmaceutical ingredients, excipients, contract research and , machinery and equipment, and drug delivery, bioproduction and finished dosage forms, wrapped around a three-day conference programme with . Halls open , with earlier entry from 09:00 or 08:30 depending on your pass. There is - the four paid pass tiers run , and . New for this edition: four extra zones (AI & Tech, Cold Chain & Logistics, Contamination Control, Labelling) and the inaugural .
If you searched "CPHI Worldwide 2026," you are probably one of three people: an API, excipient or CDMO supplier weighing a stand against the cost of the week, a sourcing or business-development lead trying to work out which pass and which halls actually matter, or someone who has just been told to "go to CPHI" and has discovered it is a major European trade event.
The first thing worth clearing up is the name. Informa Markets, the organiser, now brands the annual European flagship after its host city - so this edition is officially CPHI Milan 2026. The industry still calls it CPHI Worldwide, and both names point at the same show.
This guide covers the 2026 schedule and opening hours, how the four-tier pass system works and where the money actually goes, the zone-by-zone hall map, the conference programme and the new Sustainability Summit, who exhibits, what to budget if you are planning a stand, and how to get out to Rho.
CPHI has run since 1990 and has grown into the pharmaceutical industry's central annual meeting point - the show where a generic manufacturer in Hyderabad, a Swiss CDMO, an Italian machinery builder and a German packaging group all end up in the same halls in the same week.
What makes it unusual among big trade fairs is that it is not organised around a product category but around the drug supply chain itself. The floor is split into zones that map onto the stages of getting a medicine made and to market:
That structure is why CPHI functions less like a marketing showcase and more like a three-day sourcing marathon. Much of the activity on the floor is supplier-to-buyer.
The European flagship rotates its host city rather than staying put. Recent and upcoming editions:
| Year | Host city | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Milan (Fiera Milano) | 8-10 October |
| 2025 | Frankfurt (Messe Frankfurt) | 28-30 October |
| 2026 | Milan (Fiera Milano) | 6-8 October |
The 2024 Milan edition was billed as CPHI's 35th anniversary. Note the calendar shift for this year: 2026 lands in early October rather than late October, roughly three weeks earlier than the 2025 Frankfurt edition. If you plan your Q4 travel from last year's dates, you will miss it.
Attendance figures for CPHI need a little care, because the organiser's promotional numbers and the post-show reports do not always line up. Here is what each source says:
Whichever number you take, the practical conclusion is the same: this is a show of roughly 60,000 people and close to 3,000 exhibiting companies, and you cannot walk it without a plan.
One figure from the Frankfurt 2025 report is genuinely useful for planning, though: 56% of attendees came from Asia, and 54% of exhibitors did too, against 29% and 37% respectively from Europe. Despite being a European show in a European city, CPHI's centre of gravity is the Asian pharmaceutical manufacturing base. Germany, India, the UK, the United States and Italy were the top five attendee countries; Germany, China, India, Italy and Spain the top five exhibitor countries.
The show runs Tuesday 6 to Thursday 8 October 2026 at Fiera Milano.
| Date | Day | Hall hours |
|---|---|---|
| Tue 6 Oct | Day 1 | 10:00-18:30 |
| Wed 7 Oct | Day 2 | 10:00-18:30 |
| Thu 8 Oct | Day 3 (final day) | 10:00-16:00 |
Two scheduling details matter more here than at most shows.
Entry time is a pass benefit, not a fixed opening time. The halls open to the general Standard-pass crowd at 10:00, but higher tiers get in earlier:
| Pass | Floor access from |
|---|---|
| Standard | 10:00 |
| Explorer | 09:00 |
| Leader | 08:30 |
| Networking Leader | 08:30 |
That 60-to-90-minute head start is the most concrete thing an upgrade buys you, and at a show this size it is not trivial - it is the difference between a quiet first meeting and queueing behind three other people at a busy API stand.
Day 3 is a short day. The final day closes at 16:00, two and a half hours earlier than days one and two. Plan Thursday around that shorter window rather than assuming a full afternoon.
The practical shape of the week: days one and two are for meetings, day three is for follow-ups and the stands you did not reach. If you only have one day to spare, Wednesday is usually the safest pick - the full floor is up and running, and most attendees and exhibitors should still be on site for the full day.
CPHI is a paid, business-to-business event. There is no advertised free public tier and no consumer day - standard registration runs on paid business passes, although exhibitors may offer invitation codes to their own customers (see below).
Prices below are the advance rates and the standard rates they revert to. All prices exclude tax.
| Pass | Advance | Standard | What it adds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | €247 | €329 | Floor access from 10:00, exhibitor meetings, content sessions, lead scanning, Match & Meet networking |
| Explorer | €374 | €499 | Everything in Standard, plus 09:00 entry, Match & Meet Lounge access and a 3-day Milan public transport pass* |
| Leader | €599 | €799 | Everything in Explorer, plus 08:30 fast-track entry, Leader Lounge, welcome gift and Leaders Summit access |
| Networking Leader | €3,999 | €3,999 | Everything in Leader, plus concierge service, premium hotel booking access, facilitated matchmaking, a private networking lounge with meeting tables, a Milan city pass, a Duomo after-hours experience and Sustainability Summit access |
* The 3-day public transport pass is only available to attendees who purchase their pass before 22 September 2026. Buy later and you keep the tier's other benefits but lose the transit pass.
Advance pricing ends 7 September 2026, and it is a straight 25% discount on the Standard, Explorer and Leader tiers. Miss it and a Standard pass goes from €247 to €329, an Explorer from €374 to €499, a Leader from €599 to €799. If you are reading this before 7 September and you know you are going, book now - there is no cheaper moment.
Travelling as a team? Groups of 3 to 10 people save a further 15% on registration.
Exhibitors routinely receive complimentary or discounted visitor codes to distribute to their customers and prospects, and many publish them openly ahead of the show. If you already work with a CDMO, packaging supplier or ingredient producer who is exhibiting, ask them for a code before you pay full price. It costs one email and can cover the whole pass.
The inaugural CPHI Sustainability Summit runs 6-7 October alongside the main show and needs either a dedicated Summit pass or an add-on to your CPHI Milan pass. It is bundled into the Networking Leader tier. Summit hours are 11:00-18:00 on 6 October and 08:30-16:15 on 7 October.
Badges are emailed out ahead of the show, and the organiser recommends printing yours before you travel - self-service printing stations exist on site, but they are a queue you can avoid.
For the canonical show record and updates, see the CPHI Worldwide 2026 show page.
This is the section worth screenshotting. Fiera Milano is one of Europe's largest exhibition grounds - roughly 345,000 square metres across 20 pavilions - and CPHI's zones are spread across it. Knowing which hall you need before you arrive saves you an hour of walking a day.
| Zone | Hall(s) | What's there |
|---|---|---|
| Excipients & Fine Chemicals | Hall 1 | Formulation components, advanced intermediates |
| API | Halls 2, 3 & 4 | Active pharmaceutical ingredients, global and specialist producers |
| Natural Extracts | Hall 2 | Botanical APIs for nutraceutical, OTC and pharma use |
| Integrated Pharma | Halls 5 & 7 | Vertically integrated drug-development capability |
| Contract Manufacturing Services | Halls 6, 8, 10 & 12 | CDMOs and development support |
| CRO | Hall 8 | Clinical research, trial design, regulatory support |
| Machinery & Equipment | Hall 9 | Processing, packaging, inspection, manufacturing automation |
| Packaging & Drug Delivery | Hall 11 | Smart packaging, delivery devices, materials |
| Bio Production | Hall 12 | Vaccines, biosimilars, cell and gene therapy manufacturing |
| Finished Dosage Formulations | Halls 14, 16, 18 & 20 | Tablets, capsules, injectables and related products |
Four zones join the floor this edition, reflecting where pharma money and regulatory attention have moved:
Floor tactics for a show this size:
CPHI's content programme has grown into a real reason to attend rather than a side attraction. The official agenda advertises 250+ expert speakers across five content tracks over the three days, spanning topics that include:
The Day One keynote. In announcing the 2026 programme, the organiser named Edgardo Hernandez, Executive Vice President and President of Manufacturing Operations at Eli Lilly, as the opening keynote in the Manufacturing 5.0 Theatre, speaking on "Manufacturing for the Medicines of Tomorrow" - how manufacturers are preparing for future demand through technology-driven modernisation and redesigned global supply networks. Speaker line-ups shift in the months before a show, so check the official conference agenda for the confirmed slot and time before you plan your day around it.
The inaugural Sustainability Summit runs 6-7 October alongside the main show, and is deliberately not a lecture format: 20+ roundtables, interactive discussions and peer-to-peer working groups led by industry experts, aimed at 300+ sustainability stakeholders and pharma decision-makers. Topics span sustainable manufacturing, supply-chain decarbonisation, green chemistry, packaging innovation and regulatory developments. Hall 16 hosts its networking event on 7 October.
If your role touches ESG reporting, scope-3 emissions or packaging compliance, this is the part of the week to protect in your calendar - and the reason to check whether a Summit add-on makes sense before you buy a bare CPHI pass.
With roughly 2,900 exhibiting companies from more than 110 countries, the floor spans global pharma names, the large CDMO and packaging groups, and a very long tail of specialist ingredient producers - the latter making up the bulk of the count, particularly from India and China.
Companies featured by the organiser for the 2026 edition include Gerresheimer, Samsung Biologics, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Lonza, BD, Stevanato Group, Merck, Pfizer, Procaps Group and Hetero Labs.
Exhibitor lists and stand numbers firm up in the weeks before the show. Check the official CPHI exhibitor directory for the current lineup and hall positions before you build your route.
Read this first if you are thinking about a stand this year. The organiser's published deadline for standard CPHI Milan 2026 stand bookings has passed, and the official zones page now points prospective exhibitors toward CPHI Frankfurt 2027. If you still want a presence in Milan this October, contact CPHI directly to ask whether sponsorships, cancellations or space in the newer zones remain available - but treat it as a long shot rather than a plan. Everything below is most useful as planning material for 2027.
CPHI does not publish a public floor-space rate card - pricing comes from the exhibiting team and varies by hall, position and stand type. What is published is the structure.
Stand options
Better Stands Programme. CPHI participates in Informa's Better Stands initiative, which pushes exhibitors away from single-use, throw-away builds toward reusable stand structures. Factor it into your design brief rather than discovering it after you have commissioned a build.
Floor space is quoted directly by CPHI. The build sits on top of the floor-space charge and can become one of the largest additional costs.
Independent stand-building firms that work the show publish indicative ranges of roughly €300-600 per m² for a basic modular booth (around 9-18 m²), €600-1,000 per m² for a custom-designed stand (around 18-50 m²), and €1,000-1,500+ per m² for premium or double-decker builds above 50 m².
Two caveats worth taking seriously. These are illustrative third-party estimates, not CPHI or Fiera Milano prices, and they exclude floor-space rental entirely. They also vary widely in what they include - one contractor's per-square-metre figure may cover design, build, install, dismantle and storage, while another's covers the structure alone. Use them to sanity-check a quote, not to set a budget. Get itemised quotes from two or three builders before committing.
On top of space and build, plan for:
Space in the contested halls - APIs and finished dosage in particular - goes early, which is exactly why the Milan 2026 deadline has already closed. If Frankfurt 2027 is the target, open the conversation with the exhibiting team now rather than in the show year.
The venue. Fiera Milano sits in Rho, north-west of central Milan, not in the city itself. Roughly 345,000 square metres of exhibition space across 20 pavilions. Budget 30-45 minutes each way from central Milan and plan your evenings accordingly.
By metro. The M1 (red line) runs directly to Rho Fieramilano, the terminus, and the station sits opposite the main entrance. This is the simplest route from almost anywhere in the city. A standard ATM ticket covering the Mi1-Mi3 zones is around €2.20.
The free transit pass has a cutoff. Explorer, Leader and Networking Leader passes include a 3-day Milan public transport pass, but only for attendees who bought their pass before 22 September 2026. Register after that and you will be buying your own ATM tickets, so factor roughly €2.20 each way into the week.
By suburban rail. Trenord's S5, S6 and S11 lines stop at Rho Fiera, which can be quicker than the metro depending on where you are staying.
From Malpensa (MXP). Take the Malpensa Express to Cadorna, then M1 to Rho Fieramilano - roughly 55-65 minutes in total. Alternatively, Trenord regional services via Busto Arsizio connect to the S5 line straight to Rho Fiera.
From Linate (LIN). Take M4 from the airport to San Babila, change to M1 and ride to the Rho Fieramilano terminus.
By high-speed rail. Milan is a major hub on the Italian network. From Milano Centrale, take M2 to Cadorna and change to M1; some regional and long-distance services also stop at Rho Fiera station directly.
Accommodation. The organiser runs official booking through Atelier by Informa in partnership with Bnetwork. Book early either way - Milan hotel rates climb sharply during Fiera weeks, and CPHI is one of the largest events on the venue's calendar. Staying near an M1 stop is worth more than staying near the Duomo.
Entry requirements. Italy is in the Schengen Area. Given that more than half of CPHI's attendees travel from Asia, start Schengen visa applications early - October is peak European trade-fair season and appointment slots tighten. The organiser can typically supply an invitation letter for visa applications; request it when you register rather than in late September.
Milan is the flagship, but CPHI runs regional editions through the year that may be closer, cheaper or better matched to your market:
If your sourcing is concentrated in one region, a regional edition often delivers more relevant conversations per euro than the flagship. If your sourcing is global, Milan is where the whole map shows up in one week.
Planning the rest of your quarter? See our October 2026 trade show calendar for the full month.
CPHI Worldwide 2026 - officially branded CPHI Milan 2026 - runs from 6 to 8 October 2026 at Fiera Milano in Rho, Milan, Italy. Halls are open 10:00-18:30 on 6 and 7 October and 10:00-16:00 on 8 October.
Yes. Informa Markets names the annual European flagship after its host city, so the 2026 edition is officially CPHI Milan 2026. The industry still widely calls it CPHI Worldwide, and both names refer to the same event. The 2025 edition was CPHI Frankfurt; 2024 was in Milan.
There are four tiers, all excluding tax: Standard €247 advance (€329 standard), Explorer €374 advance (€499), Leader €599 advance (€799) and Networking Leader €3,999. Advance pricing is a 25% discount that ends 7 September 2026, and groups of 3 to 10 people save a further 15%. There is no advertised free public tier, though exhibitors may offer invitation codes to their own customers.
Mostly access time and networking. Standard gets you onto the floor at 10:00. Explorer adds 09:00 entry, the Match & Meet Lounge and a 3-day Milan public transport pass, the last of which is only available if you buy your pass before 22 September 2026. Leader adds 08:30 fast-track entry, the Leader Lounge and the Leaders Summit. Networking Leader adds concierge service, facilitated matchmaking, a private meeting lounge, a city pass, a Duomo after-hours experience and Sustainability Summit access.
Excipients & Fine Chemicals is in Hall 1; APIs in Halls 2, 3 and 4; Natural Extracts in Hall 2; Integrated Pharma in Halls 5 and 7; Contract Manufacturing Services across Halls 6, 8, 10 and 12; CRO in Hall 8; Machinery & Equipment in Hall 9; Packaging & Drug Delivery in Hall 11; Bio Production in Hall 12; and Finished Dosage Formulations across Halls 14, 16, 18 and 20.
Four new zones - AI & Tech, Cold Chain & Logistics, Contamination Control and Labelling - plus the inaugural CPHI Sustainability Summit on 6-7 October, a programme of 20+ roundtables, interactive discussions and peer-to-peer working groups for 300+ sustainability stakeholders and pharma decision-makers. The Summit needs a dedicated pass or an add-on to a CPHI Milan pass.
The organiser promotes 62,000 attendees, 2,900+ exhibiting companies and 166+ countries for Milan 2026, alongside a conference programme of 250+ speakers across five content tracks. The most recent edition, CPHI Frankfurt in October 2025, reported 59,000+ attendees and 2,900+ exhibitors from 170 countries in its post-show report. Notably, 56% of Frankfurt 2025 attendees and 54% of its exhibitors came from Asia.
Not through the standard process. The organiser's published deadline for CPHI Milan 2026 stand bookings has passed, and the official zones page now directs prospective exhibitors to CPHI Frankfurt 2027. It is worth contacting CPHI directly to ask about sponsorships, cancellations or space in the newer zones, but plan on 2027 if you want a proper presence.
CPHI does not publish a public floor-space rate card - space is quoted by the exhibiting team and varies by hall and stand type. Options are space only, shell scheme, the organiser's Modular Stand Design packages for 12-60 m² stands, and a Start-up Market positioned as a lower-cost entry option for early-stage companies. Independent stand builders publish indicative build-cost ranges of roughly €300-600 per m² for basic modular booths, €600-1,000 per m² for custom designs and €1,000-1,500+ per m² for premium or double-decker builds, but these are third-party estimates rather than CPHI or venue prices, they exclude floor-space rental, and they vary widely in what they include. Get itemised quotes before budgeting.
Take metro line M1 (red) to Rho Fieramilano, the terminus, which sits opposite the main entrance; a standard ATM ticket covering the Mi1-Mi3 zones is around €2.20. Trenord's S5, S6 and S11 suburban lines also stop at Rho Fiera. From Malpensa, take the Malpensa Express to Cadorna then M1 (55-65 minutes total). From Linate, take M4 to San Babila then M1. Explorer, Leader and Networking Leader passes include a 3-day public transport pass, but only for attendees who bought their pass before 22 September 2026.
