Pharmaceutical and medical is the industry we have built for most often. CPHI, EASD, AMWC, Vitafoods, IAS and a run of medical congresses across four cities — enough that the recurring problems are familiar rather than discovered on site.
What we have built in this sector
- CPHI Milan — three stands in one edition, and a returning CPHI client
- EVA Pharma — four stands, four cities
- MEDTRUM — 36 m² at EASD, Stockholm
- Hetero Labs — IAS, Kigali, Rwanda
- AMWC, Monaco — aesthetic and anti-ageing medicine
- Vitafoods Europe, Barcelona and a second Vitafoods build — nutraceuticals
What this sector asks of a stand that others do not
Approved artwork arrives late, and changes
Regulated claims go through medical, legal and regulatory review, and they differ by territory. Artwork is routinely signed off weeks after the structure has to be in production.
The design answer is to separate the two: build graphics as replaceable panels in a fixed frame, so the structure can be fabricated to schedule while the artwork is still in review. This is also what the sustainability rules now reward, because a framed panel is reusable and a bonded wrap is not.
A congress is not a trade fair
At a trade fair, visitors walk aisles all day. At a congress, the floor is empty during sessions and overwhelmed for twenty minutes between them. The stand has to absorb a crowd in a short burst — which means circulation and standing room matter more than they would at a fair, and a single narrow entrance is a real problem.
Private conversation is a requirement, not a luxury
Licensing, distribution and supply conversations are commercially sensitive, and clinicians ask questions they do not want overheard. Even a modest stand usually needs an enclosed or acoustically separated meeting position, and that has to be in the plan from the start — it cannot be added later without taking it from somewhere else.
Sustainability compliance is now enforced, not encouraged
At CPHI Milan 2026 every space-only stand must reach at least Bronze under the Better Stands programme, and a stand between 40 m² and 60 m² that fails can cost the exhibitor the right to a space-only stand the following year. The full CPHI rules are here, and what Better Stands requires is here.
Product that must be handled, or kept at temperature
Ingredients, devices and samples each bring their own requirement — secure mounting and power for a device demonstration, hygienic and cleanable surfaces for anything tasted, lockable storage for anything valuable. These are specification decisions, and they are cheap at design stage and expensive afterwards.
Frequently asked questions
Can you build several stands at one event?
Yes. Three stands at one CPHI Milan edition, two at EASD 2022, and nine at a single CPHI edition. Tell us all of them together so build slots and deliveries are planned as one operation.
Our artwork will not be approved in time. What happens?
Nothing, if the stand was designed for it. Framed replaceable panels let the structure go into production on schedule and the artwork arrive later.
Which pharmaceutical events do you work at?
CPHI, EASD, AMWC, Vitafoods and IAS to date, across Milan, Stockholm, Barcelona, Monaco and Kigali. Tell us your event and we will check its regulations against your design.
Need a pharmaceutical exhibition stand builder?
The reusable-stand standard referenced throughout this page is the industry programme at betterstands.org. Tell us the event, the dates and the stand size, and we will come back with a design and a build plan. Talk to us about your stand, or see every stand we have built.