Flad Hosts Roundtable Discussion on Impacts of Pharma 4.0 at ISPE Annual Meeting

Flad recently invited a handful of pharma and biomanufacturing clients as well as engineering design partners to join a casual roundtable happy hour event at the ISPE Annual Meeting in Charlotte. Building on the theme of this year's conference, the conversation centered on the topic of Pharma 4.0.

The idea of Pharma 4.0 is the holistic implementation of digitalization and advanced technologies such as AI, robotics, and advanced data modeling across all aspects of the pharmaceutical life cycle. The ultimate goals are to increase efficiency and speed to market, ensure quality and regulatory compliance, and meet growing demand. Below are a few takeaways from the thoughtful discussion.

Facility and space implicationsDesign will need to accommodate the robotics and evolving flow of both materials and people. Flexibility is key as spaces will need to be able to quickly adapt to new storage infrastructure, layouts, and technology upgrades. One of the promises of Pharma 4.0 is real-time data and predictive analytics driving more informed decisions and continuous improvement, though there is still work to be done to reach that point. An important note about automation is that the main driver for pharmaceutical companies is efficiency and reducing labor costs, which doesn't necessarily mean a reduction in space needs.

Human-centric designDespite automation, human oversight will still be essential in clinical and manufacturing decisions, and attracting and retaining talent is crucial in this competitive industry. Pharma 4.0 is resulting in some spaces with more robots than humans. However, human-centric design features such as access to natural light, on-site amenities, and spaces designed for collaboration will continue to be a factor in talent attraction and employee engagement. Proximity to skilled workforce will also continue to be a factor in site selection.

Impact on sustainabilityOne of the biggest challenges Pharma 4.0 presents is the inherent increased energy demand associated with advanced technology, data storage, and continuous manufacturing. As of now, sustainability considerations are not the main drivers of project decisions as economic and operational costs are of greater concern to companies. However, these concerns will need to be addressed with innovative solutions. Sustainability is a rising concern for students and the younger generations of workers, which could play a factor in their choice of potential employer.

Future considerationsPharma 4.0 increases the demand not only for facilities to run more efficiently, but to design and build facilities faster. This requires early collaboration among designers, users, and contractors with an emphasis on design-build and integrated delivery models. Faster design can also be achieved with site-agnostic, criteria-based, and standardized processes, which presents the opportunity to improve reliability and lower costs. Designing for resilience will also continue to be important for efficiency and to avoid interruptions with continuous manufacturing and 24/7 operations.

Overall, Pharma 4.0 represents a major change in the way business has been done and a major opportunity for drug therapies to ultimately reach more patients and improve outcomes, and it will take thoughtful planning and collaboration to fulfill the full promise.

Learn more about Flad's expertise

December 22, 2025