CPHI Milan Leadership Summit returns for 2026

The pharmaceutical industry is navigating a period of significant change. Geopolitical fragmentation and growing pressure to secure access to critical medicines are influencing decisions about where and how medicines are sourced, manufactured and supplied.

Against this backdrop, the Leadership Summit will return to CPHI Milan in 2026, bringing senior pharmaceutical decision-makers together to examine the forces reshaping the industry and their implications for future strategy. Now in its second year, the closed-door Summit will take place on the first day of CPHI Milan and convene C-suite executives, senior vice presidents, founders and other industry leaders. This year’s programme will focus on four interconnected priorities:

1. Strategic industry transformation
   Examining the structural forces changing the pharmaceutical sector and how organisations can respond.
    
2. Supply chain resilience
   Exploring how geopolitical fragmentation and resource nationalism are influencing sourcing and established supply models.
    
3. Turning policy into practice
   Considering the operational implications of efforts to strengthen medicine security, particularly in Europe.
    
4. Infrastructure for future innovation
   Assessing whether pharmaceutical manufacturing and supporting infrastructure can keep pace with scientific advances.

These themes reflect an environment in which decisions around manufacturing, supply chains and policy are becoming increasingly interconnected. Medicines are also increasingly being viewed as strategic national assets, placing new considerations around security and resilience alongside established commercial and operational priorities.

The Summit is designed to provide a different environment from traditional conference sessions. Its closed-room format will give senior leaders an opportunity to discuss shared challenges candidly, compare how organisations are responding and explore opportunities for collaboration.

As Tara Dougal, Event Director for CPHI Milan, explains, the aim is to help leaders make sense of an evolving operating environment: “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.”

With perspectives from senior speakers and panellists across the pharmaceutical ecosystem, the Leadership Summit will provide a forum to examine the commercial, operational, regulatory and geopolitical factors shaping pharma’s next phase and translate those discussions into practical strategic thinking.

Join senior pharma leaders at the CPHI Milan Leadership Summit to discuss the forces shaping the industry’s future. 

Register to attend CPHI Milan 2026 here.