“We heard he was out of work, so we figured we’d give him something to do.”
That’s how Jim Pittas, Vice President, Trade Shows for PMMI, announced the news that the well-known and recently retired late-night comedian would be at Pack Expo International as part of the Pack Expo Lecture Series. The show runs November 2-5 in Chicago, and Leno is on tap for November 3 at 5:30 p.m.
The Leno announcement was one of several that were made March 18 at the annual late-winter Pack Expo press briefing held by PMMI in Chicago. New at Pack Expo International this year will be the co-located Pharma Expo, produced jointly by PMMI and the International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering (ISPE). Pittas called the addition of this event to Pack Expo as one of the most exciting developments in recent PMMI history. Pharma Expo will occupy the West Hall, and Pittas reported that exhibit space is 85% sold out already with eight months or so left before the show.
In her remarks at the press briefing, ISPE President and CEO Nancy Berg noted that the pharmaceutical industry is showing remarkable growth. But she also observed that it is a complex business where lots of regulatory oversight only makes it more complex. In such a business environment, she said, partnering with an exhibition powerhouse like PMMI is a good way to expose pharmaceutical stakeholders to best-in-class theories, machinery, and materials that will help lead to operational efficiencies.
Among the challenges the pharmaceutical industry faces, said Berg, none is more vexing than counterfeiting, and close behind it would be errors in drug dosage. Now is the time for the pharmaceutical industry to become less insular and inward-looking, to seek best practices from other industries. There are few better ways to do that than by partnering with PMMI for some cross-industry collaboration, said Berg.
