Pharma Manufacturing & Supply Chain Summit | Day 1
7:45 am
NETWORKING BREAKFAST: BUILD COMMUNITY CONTACTS
- Start your day off right and connect with pharma manufacturing & supply chain leaders
- Get to know your industry peers and colleagues over a delicious breakfast
- Source practical tips, discuss best practices and prepare for the day ahead
8:45 am
OPENING COMMENTS FROM YOUR HOST
Gain insight into today’s sessions so you can get the most out of your conference experience
9:00 am
OPENING KEYNOTE: NAVIGATE EVOLVING GMP REQUIREMENTS AND INSPECTION TRENDS IN CANADA TO PROTECT SUPPLY AND CONTINUOUS PRODUCT AVAILABILITY
How to Protect Supply and Continuous Product Availability in Canada
GMP expectations are evolving globally, with increasing focus on data integrity, risk-based quality systems, and digital manufacturing. Discover Health Canada’s insights on how to align your processes with regulatory priorities and maintain uninterrupted market access. Source practical tips to help you:
- Achieve compliance with Health Canada GMP expectations and understand alignment with FDA and EMA global guidelines.
- Improve inspection readiness with tips from the latest inspection trends, common findings, and enforcement actions.
- Bolster compliance across CMOs and global suppliers whilst safeguarding product quality.
Apply GMP evolution principles to protect your patient safety and ensure continuous market access.
9:30 am
PANEL DISCUSSION: BUILD A RESILIENT MANUFACTURING AND SUPPLY CHAIN STRATEGY TO OVERCOME AND PREVENT DRUG SUPPLY SHORTAGES
How to Overcome and Prevent Drug Supply Shortages
Drug shortages remain a critical issue in Canada, especially for injectables, sterile products, and essential medicines. Optimize your strategy and processes to ensure a robust and consistent product supply. Master the success factors to:
- Adapt, identify, and prioritize commercial supply risk.
- Heighten manufacturing resilience across sites and CDMOs/CMOs.
- Perfect an agile supply chain designed to counteract disruption.
- Bolster and work with regulators to prevent and mitigate shortages.
Create a strong manufacturing and supply chain strategy to prevent delays and maintain a consistent supply of your product to the market.
10:00 am
INDUSTRY EXPERT: HARNESS DIGITAL TWIN TECHNOLOGY
How to Optimize Your Manufacturing and Supply Chain Operations and Costs
Digital twins are transforming manufacturing and supply chains by enabling smarter operations, preventing disruptions, and ensuring compliance at a commercial scale. Optimize your manufacturing and supply chain operations. Take away specific solutions to:
- Master digital twin strategies in commercial manufacturing and supply chain operations.
- Improve and benefit from predictive maintenance and operational efficiency.
- Transform supply chains to enhance risk mitigation and decision-making.
- Optimize measurable outcomes and lessons learned from real-world applications.
Use digital twin technology to streamline manufacturing, enhance supply chain resilience, and reduce your operational costs.
10:30 am
SPEED NETWORKING! MAKE MEANINGFUL CONNECTIONS
Grow your network by meeting like-minded individuals to share your latest ideas and projects with:
- Enjoy a quick icebreaker, exchange LinkedIn information, and build lasting business relationships.
- Achieve your conference networking goals in a fun and agile fashion.
- Join a community of pharma manufacturing and supply chain experts and gain invaluable support.
11:00 am
EXHIBITOR LOUNGE: VISIT BOOTHS & SOURCE EXPERTISE
- Explore the latest pharma manufacturing and supply chain products, services, and strategies with our industry-leading sponsors
- Share your challenges with the biggest innovators in the business.
- Schedule one-to-one private meetings for personalized advice.
11:30 am
FIRESIDE CHAT: SCALE BIOLOGICS & ADVANCED THERAPIES
How to Maximize Manufacturing Efficiency and Market Profitability
As biologics and advanced therapies transition into sustained commercial supply, manufacturing leaders must industrialize processes. You need to embed quality into operations and ensure long-term performance across growing product portfolios. Create a roadmap to:
- Advance late-stage tech transfer and industrialize processes for reliable commercial manufacturing.
- Amplify GMP compliance and inspection readiness into routine operations.
- Perfect operational excellence to improve yield, throughput, and cost of goods.
- Impact scalable and resilient manufacturing capabilities to support launch, growth, and lifecycle demands.
Optimize manufacturing and secure compliance to drive your production efficiency and long-term commercial success of biologics and advanced therapies.
11:30 am
PRESENTATION: CONTROL COSTS & PROTECT MARGINS IN COMMERCIAL OPERATIONS
How to Optimize End-to-End Performance
Rising input costs, domestic manufacturing investments, and supply chain complexity are placing pressure on commercial margins. Implement end-to-end performance optimization strategies to improve your financial control across manufacturing and supply operations. Source practical tips to:
- Identify cost drivers across manufacturing, inventory, and distribution networks.
- Optimize production planning and network configuration to improve cost efficiency.
- Improve cross-functional financial visibility to support better decision-making.
- Excel advanced analytics to reduce waste and improve operational margins.
Strengthen financial performance across commercial manufacturing and supply to protect your margins while maintaining service and compliance.
12:00 pm
INDUSTRY EXPERT: ADVANCED & CONTINUOUS MANUFACTURING ADOPTION
How to Overcome Operational and Regulatory Challenges to Enable Commercial Scale-Up and Reliable Manufacturing
The pharmaceutical industry is increasingly adopting advanced and continuous manufacturing technologies. Implementing these technologies on a commercial scale requires overcoming your technical, operational, and regulatory challenges while maintaining a reliable supply. Develop a blueprint to:
- Reduce adoption barriers and align advanced manufacturing approaches with regulatory expectations.
- Perfect modular, flexible facilities that support multiple products and technology platforms.
- Amplify commercial-scale tech transfer and scale up while maintaining operational reliability.
- Advance lessons from real-world case studies to address operational and technical challenges.
Drive your operational efficiency, regulatory readiness, and scalable commercial manufacturing through innovative, advanced, and continuous manufacturing strategies.
12:00 pm
INDUSTRY EXPERT: COLD CHAIN & SPECIALTY LOGISTICS STRATEGY
How to Ensure Safe, Compliant, and Reliable Delivery of Temperature-Sensitive Products
Temperature-sensitive biologics and specialty therapies face unique challenges in global supply chains, from maintaining cold conditions to complying with regulations. Optimize your cold chain operations to reduce risk and ensure reliable delivery of critical therapies. Take away solutions to:
- Perfect temperature-sensitive biologics and specialty therapies throughout commercial supply chains.
- Reduce risk and variability in global transportation lanes.
- Advance effective monitoring, documentation, and compliance strategies.
- Amplify lessons learned from real-world cold chain logistics operations.
Enhance reliability, maintain regulatory compliance, and protect patient safety through your robust cold chain and specialty logistics strategies.
12:30 pm
NETWORKING LUNCH: DELVE INTO INDUSTRY CONVERSATIONS
- Meet interesting speakers and pick their brains on the latest industry issues
- Expand your network and make connections that last beyond the conference
- Enjoy great food and service while engaging with your pharma manufacturing and supply chain colleagues
1:30 pm
EXHIBITOR LOUNGE: VISIT BOOTHS & WIN PRIZES
- Browse sponsor booths and explore solutions designed to enhance commercial manufacturing and supply performance
- Enter your name for a chance to win exciting prizes
- Take advantage of event-specific offers and special content
1:45 pm
PANEL DISCUSSION: APPLY DIGITAL & ADVANCED MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGIES
How to Drive Efficiency and Quality
Manufacturing scales and regulatory expectations are increasing, rendering digital and advanced manufacturing technologies essential to maintain efficiency, quality, and compliance. Implement tools and technologies to improve your performance. Develop solutions to:
- Advance existing and emerging technologies and future priorities to drive efficiency, quality, and innovation.
- Bolster digital and advanced manufacturing from pilot projects to commercial operations, hearing successes and lessons learned.
- Advance GMP compliance while integrating automation, AI, and digital tools.
- Heighten operational changes and workforce readiness to effectively adopt new manufacturing technologies.
Integrate innovative manufacturing technologies to streamline manufacturing and elevate your product quality.
1:45 pm
PRESENTATION: IMPROVE ACCURACY, SERVICE LEVELS, & CROSS-FUNCTIONAL DECISION-MAKING
How to Demand Forecasting and Integrated S&OP Alignment
Commercial supply chains rely on accurate demand forecasts and effective S&OP processes. Achieving alignment across your commercial, manufacturing, and supply functions requires clear governance, collaborative processes, and actionable metrics. Take away specific solutions to:
- Align commercial forecasts with manufacturing, supply, and inventory planning across functions.
- Improve forecast accuracy and service levels through collaborative S&OP processes.
- Optimize governance models that strengthen cross-functional decision-making and accountability.
- Adapt and learn from real-world examples and lessons across pharma, biotech, and vendor perspectives.
Strengthen your operational alignment across teams to enhance supply reliability, reduce inefficiencies, and support informed commercial decision-making.
2:15 pm
INDUSTRY EXPERT: DIGITAL PLANTS, AUTOMATION, & INDUSTRY 4.0 IN PRACTICE
How to Scale Smart Manufacturing for Operational Efficiency and Supply Reliability
The industry is increasingly adopting digital plants, automation, and industry 4.0 strategies. Scaling these technologies beyond pilot projects requires integrating systems, managing your operational change, and demonstrating measurable business impact. Create a roadmap to:
- Optimize and scale automation from pilot projects to full commercial operations.
- Advance MES, ERP, and plant-level systems to enable connected manufacturing and improved operational visibility.
- Transform, measure, and demonstrate ROI from smart factory initiatives and digital transformation projects.
- Implement case study insights to overcome operational and technical challenges.
Drive smarter, more connected manufacturing operations, improve your decision-making, and ensure reliable supply through digital and automated solutions.
2:15 pm
INDUSTRY EXPERT: ENSURE RELIABLE COMMERCIAL SUPPLY THROUGH PROACTIVE RISK MITIGATION
How to Improve Supply Chain Risk Management and Contingency Planning
Global supply chains for pharmaceuticals face constant risks, from transportation disruptions and supplier delays to regulatory changes and temperature-sensitive product handling. Vendors can provide expertise and real-world solutions to help you anticipate, mitigate, and manage these challenges. Source practical tips to:
- Impact high-risk points in the supply chain and implement proactive mitigation strategies.
- Achieve contingency plans for global distribution, sourcing, and inventory management.
- Leverage lessons from vendor-enabled solutions.
Ensure reliable supply, reduce your operational disruptions, and build resilient supply chains through actionable, vendor-led strategies.
2:45 pm
CASE STUDY: STRENGTHEN EXTERNAL MANUFACTURING PARTNERSHIPS
How to Ensure Reliability in Commercial Performance
As your outsourcing models expand across therapeutic areas, manufacturing leaders must ensure external partners consistently deliver quality, scale, and supply reliability in the commercial phase. Walk away with actionable strategies to:
- Advance commercial tech transfer and lifecycle management with external manufacturing partners.
- Strengthen quality oversight and ensure inspection readiness across outsourced operations.
- Bolster performance, transparency, and accountability in long-term manufacturing partnerships.
- Heighten resilient external manufacturing strategies to support growth, capacity demands, and supply continuity.
Ensure external manufacturing networks operate as seamless extensions of your commercial operations.
2:45 pm
CASE STUDY: ENHANCE SERIALIZATION & TRACEABILITY
How to Safeguard Produce Integrity and Combat Counterfeiting in Global Markets
The pharmaceutical industry faces rising counterfeit threats, with regulations mandating serialization and traceability to ensure medicine integrity. Implement effective serialization and traceability systems to protect your brand from counterfeiting. Adopt best practices to:
- Perfect global serialization regulations with a focus on Health Canada, FDA, and EU requirements.
- Achieve advanced technologies for track-and-trace, including blockchain, RFID, and unique identifiers.
- Advance serialization into the supply chain, ensuring compliance and mitigating potential disruptions.
- Transform the challenges and reap benefits of maintaining product integrity and securing patient safety.
Navigate serialization regulations to enhance traceability and safeguard your products from counterfeit risks across global markets.
3:15 pm
EXHIBITOR LOUNGE: ATTEND VENDOR DEMOS & CONSULT INDUSTRY EXPERTS
- Enjoy exclusive sponsor demos and experience the next level of pharma manufacturing and supply chain innovation firsthand
- Meet one-on-one with leading solution providers to discuss organizational hurdles
- Brainstorm solutions and gain new perspectives and ideas
3:45 pm
INDUSTRY EXPERT: OPTIMIZE OUTSOURCING, PARTNERSHIPS, & COMMERCIAL MANUFACTURING PERFORMANCE
How to Advance CDMO/CMO Strategy and Decision-Making
At the commercial stage, manufacturing leaders must decide which processes and capabilities to retain internally versus outsource to CDMOs/CMOs. These decisions impact your scalability, operational efficiency, compliance, and long-term supply reliability. Master techniques to:
- Improve strategic outsourcing versus internal capability retention for commercial manufacturing operations.
- Perfect governance and performance oversight models to manage CDMO/CMO partnerships effectively.
- Advance risk-sharing and long-term partnership structures that support reliable and scalable supply.
- Access lessons from real-world vendor collaborations.
Strengthen your commercial manufacturing decision-making by aligning make-vs-buy strategy with operational performance, regulatory compliance, and reliable supply.
3:45 pm
INDUSTRY EXPERT: DRIVE EFFICIENCY, PREDICTABILITY, & DECISION-MAKING
How to Increase Supply Chain Visibility and Data-Driven Operations
Modern supply chains require end-to-end visibility and real-time insights to optimize inventory, prevent disruptions, and enhance operational efficiency. Leverage case studies and strategies showing you how technology and analytics transform supply chain performance. Adopt strategies to:
- Advance data across sites, suppliers, and distributors for complete operational visibility.
- Enrich predictive analytics to anticipate disruptions and optimize inventory management.
- Master vendor-enabled tools and case studies to improve operational performance and service levels.
Enable smarter, more connected supply chains with technology-driven insights that reduce your risk and enhance operational efficiency.
4:15 pm
PANEL DISCUSSION: ALIGNING MANUFACTURING, SUPPLY CHAIN, & QUALITY
How to Achieve Seamless Commercial Operations
The pharmaceutical industry faces increasing complexity as manufacturing, supply chain, and quality teams often operate in silos, creating operational inefficiencies and increasing risks to supply continuity. Align your cross-functional teams to break down silos, improve operational performance, and ensure reliable commercial supply. Take away best practices to:
- Improve communication and decision-making across manufacturing, supply chain, and quality.
- Bolster commercial tech transfer, product lifecycle activities, and operational changes.
- Strengthen performance, compliance, and supply continuity with internal and external partners.
- Advance data and KPIs to monitor and optimize cross-functional operations.
Drive cross-functional collaboration to optimize your operational efficiency, compliance, and supply reliability.
4:45 pm
CLOSING KEYNOTE: BUILDING A DIGITAL-BASED RELATIONSHIP
How to Prepare Manufacturing and Supply for Industry 4.0
The essence of digital transformation is to become a data-driven organization, ensuring that key decisions, actions, and processes are strongly influenced by data-driven insights. You will only transform when you have managed to change how people behave and how things are done in your organization. Develop a blueprint to:
- Advance and assess your digital upskilling strategy — understand where Bayer started and where it is now.
- Master new skills to bring your CMO on board.
- Optimize the importance of the Humanized Technology and key relationship concepts used by Bayer.
- Transform your strategies after sharing success stories within the operations management team.
Recognize that your digital transformation is about the people, not only the technology!
5:15 pm
CLOSING COMMENTS FROM YOUR HOST
Review the key solutions and takeaways from today’s sessions. Source a summary of action points to implement in your work. Discuss tomorrow’s highlights!
5:20 pm
EVENING RECEPTION: ENJOY GREAT CONVERSATION, MUSIC & NETWORKING
- Relax and unwind with tasty cocktails after a long day of learning
- Don’t miss your chance to win fun prizes at our Reception Gift Giveaway
- Make dinner plans with your new connections and explore the best of what Toronto nightlife has to offer. Just be sure to set your alarm for Day 2!
6:15 pm