Pharmaceuticals Mexico report 2012

FOCUS REPORTS 1January 2012 1

MexicoPharma reportAugust 2012

NEW!

DIRECTORY INSIDE

FOCUS REPORTS2 August 2012

Pharma.FocusReports.net

Mexico Report

FOCUS REPORTS 3 3 3


Mexico Report

August 2012



Mexico Report

Acknowledgements

Focus Reports would like to thank all individuals, institutions and companies

involved in producing this report. Special thanks go to Rafael Gual (CANIFARMA),

Hector Valle (IMS), Mikel Arriola (COFEPRIS) who showed us their strong

support and interest throughout our project.

FOCUS REPORTS 5 5 5


Mexico Report

August 2012

Copyright ©All rights reserved. No part of this publication maybe reproduced in any form or by any means, whether electronic, mechanical or otherwise including photocopying, recording or any information storage or retrieval system without prior written consent of Focus Reports.While every attempt is made to ensure the accuracy of the informa-tion contained in this report, neither Focus Reports, neither the authors accept any liabilities for errors and omissions. Opinions expressed in this report are not necessarily those of the authors.

ContentsAcknowledgements .............................................................................. 4

Mexico: Shaking Up The System ..........................................................7

An Outstanding Example .......................................................................8

Rising To The Challenge ......................................................................10

Shifting Landscapes Shift Strategies ...................................................14

Home Turf .............................................................................................. .18

Too Much Tortilla ..................................................................................22

Unreached Potential ............................................................................. .24

Interview with Mikel Arriola, Federal Commissioner, COFEPRIS ......................................................30

Interview with Peter Erlbacher, COO Spanish Latin America, Aspen Labs ...........................................32

Interview with Miguel A. Salazar, Director General, Boehringer Ingelheim Mexico ................................34

Carlos Lopez Patan, Director General, Medix .....................................36

Markus Krenzlin, Country Manager, Shire ..........................................38

Alfredo Rimoch, Director General, Liomont ....................................... .40

Guy Jean Savoir, General Director, Carnot Laboratories...............................................................................42

Directory .................................................................................................47

Index ......................................................................................................54

This report was prepared by Focus Reports

Project Director: Julie AvenaChief Editor Fred GebhartResearch and Editorial: Kirsty WalkerProject Publisher: Béatrice ColletGraphic Assistance: Cristine Guiang



Mexico Report

z_AD ASTRAZENECA FP_1-1.pgs 07.12.2012 10:41 HCL Premedia blackyellowmagentacyan

FOCUS REPORTS 7 7 7


Mexico Report

August 2012

SPECIAL SPONSORED SECTION

AUGUST 2012 FOCUS REPORTS S2

Mexico Report

This sponsored supplement was produced by Focus Reports.

Project Director: Julie AvenaResearch and Editorial: Kirsty Avril Jane WalkerProject Publisher: Béatrice ColletGraphic Assistance: Christine Guiang

For exclusive interviews and more info, please log onto or write to [email protected]

Over ten years ago, the economic concept of the ‘BRIC’ coun-tries—Brazil, Russia, India and China—was formed, and it’s pretty much all we’ve heard about ever since. Yet earlier this year, the very same man who coined the term—Jim O’Neill,

chief economist at Goldman Sachs—declared that by 2020 Mexico would be the seventh largest economy in the world, surpassing both India and Russia. Mexico belongs to one of four recently defi ned ‘growth markets’ alongside Indonesia, South Korea and Turkey. That certainly shakes things up a little for both outside observers and ac-tive local stakeholders in the economy.

Phot

o cr

edit:

Kirs

ty A

vril

Jane

Wal

ker

Shaking Up the System MEXICO:

But what does this recent categorization as a ‘growth market’ suggest for Mexico’s pharma industry, recently left red-faced in regional second place after Brazil’s bull-ish and apparently unstoppable growth?

With an estimated value between 12 and 14 billion USD, the Mexican pharma-ceutical industry has seen some signifi cant changes over the last four years. The gov-ernment has signifi cantly increased public health spending and coverage in an effort

to pull Mexico up from the bottom of the pile; according to the latest OECD Health Data, Mexico fared 33rd out of 34 OECD countries for total expenditure on public health as a percentage of GDP. The gov-ernment is also fi ghting against rapidly in-creasing levels of chronic long-term ill-nesses rife in the population, such as diabetes.

Most notably, the Popular Insurance Scheme ‘Seguro Popular’ increased its cov-

erage from 17 million Mexicans to more than 50 million who were previously not under any kind of health scheme. Now al-most every single Mexican in the country is covered under a public health system.

The Federal Commission for the Protec-tion against Sanitary Risk (COFEPRIS) oversaw several recent regulatory changes. Suppression of the manufacturing plant law in 2008 enables foreign pharmaceutical companies to distribute and sell their prod-



Mexico Report

This sponsored supplement was produced by Focus Reports.

Project Director: Julie AvenaResearch and Editorial: Kirsty Avril Jane WalkerProject Publisher: Béatrice ColletGraphic Assistance: Christine Guiang

For exclusive interviews and more info, please log onto or write to [email protected]

Over ten years ago, the economic concept of the ‘BRIC’ coun-tries—Brazil, Russia, India and China—was formed, and it’s pretty much all we’ve heard about ever since. Yet earlier this year, the very same man who coined the term—Jim O’Neill,

chief economist at Goldman Sachs—declared that by 2020 Mexico would be the seventh largest economy in the world, surpassing both India and Russia. Mexico belongs to one of four recently defi ned ‘growth markets’ alongside Indonesia, South Korea and Turkey. That certainly shakes things up a little for both outside observers and ac-tive local stakeholders in the economy.

Phot

o cr

edit:

Kirs

ty A

vril

Jane

Wal

ker

Shaking Up the System MEXICO:

But what does this recent categorization as a ‘growth market’ suggest for Mexico’s pharma industry, recently left red-faced in regional second place after Brazil’s bull-ish and apparently unstoppable growth?

With an estimated value between 12 and 14 billion USD, the Mexican pharma-ceutical industry has seen some signifi cant changes over the last four years. The gov-ernment has signifi cantly increased public health spending and coverage in an effort

to pull Mexico up from the bottom of the pile; according to the latest OECD Health Data, Mexico fared 33rd out of 34 OECD countries for total expenditure on public health as a percentage of GDP. The gov-ernment is also fi ghting against rapidly in-creasing levels of chronic long-term ill-nesses rife in the population, such as diabetes.

Most notably, the Popular Insurance Scheme ‘Seguro Popular’ increased its cov-

erage from 17 million Mexicans to more than 50 million who were previously not under any kind of health scheme. Now al-most every single Mexican in the country is covered under a public health system.

The Federal Commission for the Protec-tion against Sanitary Risk (COFEPRIS) oversaw several recent regulatory changes. Suppression of the manufacturing plant law in 2008 enables foreign pharmaceutical companies to distribute and sell their prod-



Mexico Report

S3 FOCUS REPORTS AUGUST 2012

For Nadine, achieving good

self-management with support from

her friends and family is just as

important as treatment for living well

with diabetes. This is why we

produce education and support

materials speci�cally developed for

people with diabetes and those

living close to them.

Our support programmes are based

on DAWN™ (Diabetes Attitudes,

Wishes and Needs), a groundbreak-

ing study of the psychosocial barriers

to good diabetes management

conducted in collaboration with the

International Diabetes Federation.

Our ongoing research into diabetes

needs will continue to produce

targeted tools and programmes that

ensure diabetes is never to be lived

in isolation.

Discover more about changing

diabetes at novonordisk.com

NADINE ABRAHAMS AND TAMSYN LA VITA

In good company, South Africa

Nadine has type 1 diabetes

Changing Diabetes® and the Apis bull logo are

registered trademarks of Novo Nordisk A/S

z_AD NOVO TP_1-1.pgs 07.05.2012 05:00 HCL Premedia blackyellowmagentacyan

ucts in Mexico without the presence of a manufacturing plant on Mexican territory. The deadline for new generic drug registra-tions passed in February 2010 which, after being subjected to stringent bio-equivalen-cy testing, cleaned up an estimated 7000 products from the market. Additionally, the antibiotics law was enacted in August 2011, requiring a prescription to be presented be-fore any antibiotic can be dispensed.

For Rafael Gual, general director of CANIFARMA, the National Chamber of the pharmaceutical industry, there is one goal that COFEPRIS must still achieve, “Full recognition [from PAHO, the Pan American Health Organization], which will provide a strong opportunity for national companies to reach the Latin American market; a win-win situation for both indus-try and government.”

These wide-reaching changes have af-fected industry dynamics, and coupled with the patent cliff and the worldwide innova-tion drought, have opened up a bigger space for generics penetration and created the per-fect storm that has pushed present multina-tional companies to either diversify, or to focus on niche markets. Mexico’s solid mac-roeconomic policies and encouragement of foreign investment have also increased com-petition in the market, pushing local com-panies to take a side step on their strategies and in some cases to be more resourceful and aggressive in retaining and increasing their share of the pharmaceutical pie.

Last but not least, there has been an un-deniable shift of power towards the point of sale: phar-macies and super-markets. Pharmacy giants are taking warehousing and distribution into their own hands and private label (store brand) drugs are becom-ing increasingly popular. Some say posi-tioning a general medical service with doc-tors at the point of sale has created an even bigger demand for private label medicines at the expense of other brands. For many players in the market, it is a bitter pill to swallow.

Mexico certainly offers a lot of growth potential. One can debate whether Mexico is still truly an emerging market, but as Ri-cardo Alvarez Tostado, president and gen-eral director of AstraZeneca Mexico points out, “It is not how fast you grow, but how consistent your growth is over time, and I genuinely believe that Mexico is very well positioned through a rigorous monetary policy and an improving fiscal policy. It is a democratic, free enterprise emerging mar-ket. Mexico is, and will remain, a strategic market for any industrial interest.”

But to grow, or in some cases survive, pharmaceutical companies must adapt to dynamic market conditions. Those who

m a n a g e t o achieve this flex-ibility in Mexico will be the ones with smiles on their faces in 2020 as success-ful players in one of the world’s largest econo-mies.

AN OUTSTAND-ING EXAMPLEHealthcare has been a top prior-ity in Mexico for

Rafael Gual, General Director, CANIFARMA

MACRO DATA OF THE MEXICANPHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY(last available data, INEGI 2009, OECD 2010)

Share in GDP

Share in Manufacturing GDP

Health expenditures as a share of GDP

Health expenditures per capita (dlls.)

Value of the Pharmaceutical Market (billion dlls.)

Direct Employment

Indirect Employment

Source: COFEPRIS - with data from INEGI and CANIFARMA*Note: value estimated for 2011 using 12.42 pesos per dollar, average exchange rate for 2011.

1.2%

6.9%

6.1$

934

13*

78,500

330,000

FOCUS REPORTS 9 9 9


Mexico Report

August 2012

Mexico ReportSPECIAL SPONSORED SECTION


the last ten years, with the government working hard to keep its promise of universal coverage and increased hospital and medi-cal infrastructure throughout the country.

As a testimony to this, Margaret Chan, the director general of the World Health Organization, openly praised the Mexican gov-ernment at the International Forum on Universal Health Cover-age in Mexico City on April 2nd, 2012 by stating: “I am pleased to hear that Mexico is achieving its goal [of universal coverage], with health care available to everyone in the country. This gives the world an outstanding example of what can be achieved through high-level political commitment.”

Under the current system, there are three major institutions. The Mexican Institute of Social Security (IMSS) is the largest so-cial security institution in Latin America. IMSS covers all formal workers in the private sector, which according to the latest IMS Health data represents 44.3% of the total population.

The Institute of Health and Social Services (ISSSTE), covers all government workers and represents around 9.8% of the total

population. Recent fi nancial restructuring and cost saving initiatives within both IMSS and ISSSTE have contributed to a strongly pro-generics attitude within the two health systems.

Thirdly, Seguro Popular was created in 2003 as a type of public insurance scheme to provide health service coverage for Mex-icans not affi liated with any social security institution. Seguro Popular has been the main driver of increased public health cov-erage, and the government recently pledged that 80% of state-purchased medicines should be comprised solely of generic drugs.

The Mexican pharma market has always had an historically low generics penetration, and these three initiatives are pushing it fi rmly towards a more generics-focused environment.

Although the pharmaceutical industry has expressed its delight at such a noble scheme, the government healthcare systems have not been without their problems. Many people in the industry feel that when price is the only basis on which to win a government tender, quality falls into second place.

Hector Carillo, general director of Apotex Mexico, points out that “The government continues to be a good business for us because supplying on time is becoming increasingly impor-tant. When it comes to timely and high quality product deliv-ery, they know we can do it. But we cannot supply at their re-quested benchmark prices. They demand the lowest possible pricing from the market, and while we understand Seguro Pop-ular has a limited budget and is required to look for the lowest possible prices, Apotex cannot compromise on quality just to get the extra sale.”

Alongside these pricing concerns are questions over the ad-ministrative complexities of Seguro Popular and the fact that

it is run locally across each State in the country. This is caus-ing headaches for pain specialists Grünenthal.

Tomas Bordonaba, general manager of Grünenthal de Mex-ico notes that, “The institutional market represents a big op-portunity for Grünenthal, but it has additional complexity because every state manages its own budget and has its own priorities. You have to create an individual strategy for every

www.lundbeck.com.mx

Lundbeck is a Danish company dedicated to

Research and Development of medication

speci�cally for the treatment of Central

Nervous System diseases. Our products

bene�t millions of patients in over 100

countries. Lundbeck invests a signi�cant

proportion of its resources in the search for

new therapeutic solutions which are

focused on our mission: to improve the

quality of life for those su�ering from

psychiatric and neurological disorders.

Lundbeck started operations in Mexico

in the year 2000 and since then has

provided the medical community with safe

and e�ective alternatives for managing

Depression, Anxiety, Alzheimer's Disease

and Schizophrenia, among others.

The company's a�liates on a national level

recognize the role they play in this �eld, and

Lundbeck has proudly been recognized as

one of the best places to work in Mexico.

Lundbeck Pharmaceutical company

with a global presence

Lundbeck in Mexico

Specialists in Psychiatry Pioneers in Neurology

z_AD LUNDBECK QP_1-1.pgs 07.05.2012 04:57 HCL Premedia blackyellowmagentacyan

Ricardo Alvarez Tostado, President and General Direc-tor, AstraZeneca Mexico

SHARE OF MARKET BY COMPANY TYPE

18%

17%

66%

22%

25%

53%

14%

28%

58%

21%

46%

34%

60%

19%

22%

61%

11%

29%

9%

77%

15%

35%

25%

40%

US Germany France Russia

LOCAL OTHER FOREIGN LARGE GLOBAL (15)

India Korea China

Source: IMS Health, MIDAS 2010. Argentina, Venezuela, Brazil, Mexico & Korea Retail only; China hospital only

Brazil Mexico Arg.

20%

26%

55%

54%

13%

33%



Mexico ReportMexico Report



state.” He also goes on to say that, “In general, the awareness of the importance of correct pain management strategies is growing across the different institutions,

and Grünenthal is playing a key role.”

Awareness with-in government insti-tutions and the need to treat certain con-ditions has become a priority within the pharmaceutical in-dustry. Since public health institutions have increased their

coverage of the population, the sales ra-tio between the government and the pri-vate market for the pharmaceutical in-dustry as a whole has shifted in favor of the government. Awareness is the key that unlocks the door to new business oppor-tunities, otherwise known as market ac-cess. This has been surprisingly rosy in recent times as Aurelio Martinez, gen-

eral manager for Cegedim Mexico, CA & Caribbean can qualify when it comes to orphan drugs.

“When the government started getting involved because of the high cost of treatments and the growth of social services, they also started listening more closely to the industry,” he says. “That is the reason why market access has gained such impor-tance for pharmaceutical com-panies in Mexico.”

On February 29th 2012, the government published a change in the general health law to recognize the presence of both or-phan diseases and the drugs available to treat them. In essence, the Ministry of Health is now required to support the di-agnosis and treatment of orphan diseases.

For Markus Krenzlin, country manag-er of Shire Mexico, the change has been fantastic news.

“Mexico has a great attitude towards

orphan drugs,” he said. “The Mexican au-thorities are very conscious of the various niche problems that exist for patients across the country and have been very open in

making orphan drugs available to them. This Mexican public sector consciousness is the rea-son why we have been able to provide patients with new treat-ments.”

Despite a universal health coverage coming forward in leaps and bounds, fi gures show that coverage is still limited in some areas. Current out-of-pocket spending accounts for

more than 50% of total healthcare costs, and 85% of pharmaceutical expenditure. This is more than substantial enough to fuel a large retail sector. But Mexico’s age pyramid is becoming more similar to that of a mature market each day, and for the most part this means rising healthcare costs for the government as more Mexicans turn to the state for support. Medical education is contributing towards a more effective culture of diagnosis, and chronic disease demographic is on the increase. All of which will require the Mexican government to be very well equipped with the right skills, decision makers and foresight to cope with these mammoth changes.

RISING TO THE CHALLENGECommunication is the name of the gameLife has not been easy for Mikel Arriola since he stepped in as head of COFEPRIS in March 2011. The organization regu-lates 10% of the Mexican GDP and 12% of the country’s international trade, and the regulatory authority’s agenda is, and has been, fi t to bursting since Arriola’s entrance. But aside from the immense responsibility and the current adminis-trative blockages in the system, there was a different kind of challenge that pre-sented itself fi rst of all. For Arriola it was a completely new area, which represent-ed a tough barrier in terms of commu-nicating with the industry.

“The most important challenge I faced when entering COFEPRIS was the hu-

z_AD ASPEN TP_1-1.pgs 07.12.2012 10:40 HCL Premedia blackyellowmagentacyan

Tomas Bordonaba, General Manager, Grünenthal Mexico

Héctor Carrillo, General Director, Apotex Mexico



man challenge. There was a myth that this agency had to be administered by doctors or by people related to the med-ical or pharmaceutical busi-ness, and I came from the Min-i s t r y o f F i n a n c e , s o conceptually, that was the big-gest challenge,” he recalls.

It also seemed that there was a strong sense of good cop-bad cop where historically the authorities seemed to systematically chal-lenge the opinion of the industry. This re-quired Arriola to apply a complete com-munication ‘reset’. Regular meetings with CANIFARMA and other industry asso-ciations, together with an ‘open door’ policy for meeting directly with pharma-ceutical companies helped the relation-ship enormously.

As Rafael Gual of CANIFARMA points out “The way they have been communi-cating and working with the [industry] has

been tremendously supportive.”Indeed, the new COFEPRIS

leadership team appeared, by almost complete industry con-sensus, to bring about one of the most positive changes the indus-try has seen.

Both leading up to and while Arriola and his team have been heading up the organiza-tion, there have been three main items on the COFEPRIS

agenda. Firstly, the essential ‘clean up’ of the market. Secondly, the continuous im-provement of regulatory framework and reduction of barriers to enter the market. Finally, the agency has been working hard to get recognition from PAHO as a regu-latory body.

Getting rid of bad eggsIn terms of ‘cleaning up’ the market, in February 2005 COFEPRIS amended Ar-ticle 376 of the country’s General Health

Law that mandated the renewal of every drug registration in the market. All gener-ic pharmaceutical products were expected to have proven bioequivalence and thera-peutic effi cacy by February 2010. It was a much anticipated move for the industry, opening up the way for innovative and ge-nerics companies alike. It also ensured there were only two types of medicine available: generic and innovative.

The reform was crucial, but it was also the main cause of the administrative back-log when the government enforced the re-form in February 2010. Normally, COFE-PRIS would receive 400 renewals or registration applications per month, but in February 2010 they received more than 4000. In the last twelve months, COFE-PRIS met the backlog challenge and issued an impressive 9000 renewed drug regis-trations, representing, Arriola said, about 1.2 billion USD.

To help them through this backlog, last year COFEPRIS published three separate

z_AD CARNOT HP_1-1.pgs 07.05.2012 05:00 HCL Premedia blackyellowmagentacyan

Mikel Arriola, Fed-eral Commissioner, COFEPRIS

FOCUS REPORTS 11 11 11


Mexico Report

August 2012



man challenge. There was a myth that this agency had to be administered by doctors or by people related to the med-ical or pharmaceutical busi-ness, and I came from the Min-i s t r y o f F i n a n c e , s o conceptually, that was the big-gest challenge,” he recalls.

It also seemed that there was a strong sense of good cop-bad cop where historically the authorities seemed to systematically chal-lenge the opinion of the industry. This re-quired Arriola to apply a complete com-munication ‘reset’. Regular meetings with CANIFARMA and other industry asso-ciations, together with an ‘open door’ policy for meeting directly with pharma-ceutical companies helped the relation-ship enormously.

As Rafael Gual of CANIFARMA points out “The way they have been communi-cating and working with the [industry] has

been tremendously supportive.”Indeed, the new COFEPRIS

leadership team appeared, by almost complete industry con-sensus, to bring about one of the most positive changes the indus-try has seen.

Both leading up to and while Arriola and his team have been heading up the organiza-tion, there have been three main items on the COFEPRIS

agenda. Firstly, the essential ‘clean up’ of the market. Secondly, the continuous im-provement of regulatory framework and reduction of barriers to enter the market. Finally, the agency has been working hard to get recognition from PAHO as a regu-latory body.

Getting rid of bad eggsIn terms of ‘cleaning up’ the market, in February 2005 COFEPRIS amended Ar-ticle 376 of the country’s General Health

Law that mandated the renewal of every drug registration in the market. All gener-ic pharmaceutical products were expected to have proven bioequivalence and thera-peutic effi cacy by February 2010. It was a much anticipated move for the industry, opening up the way for innovative and ge-nerics companies alike. It also ensured there were only two types of medicine available: generic and innovative.

The reform was crucial, but it was also the main cause of the administrative back-log when the government enforced the re-form in February 2010. Normally, COFE-PRIS would receive 400 renewals or registration applications per month, but in February 2010 they received more than 4000. In the last twelve months, COFE-PRIS met the backlog challenge and issued an impressive 9000 renewed drug regis-trations, representing, Arriola said, about 1.2 billion USD.

To help them through this backlog, last year COFEPRIS published three separate

z_AD CARNOT HP_1-1.pgs 07.05.2012 05:00 HCL Premedia blackyellowmagentacyan

Mikel Arriola, Fed-eral Commissioner, COFEPRIS



Mexico ReportMexico ReportSPECIAL SPONSORED SECTION


calls for individuals or entities interested in working alongside them. The idea was to assist COFEPRIS with the control and as-sessment of pharmaceutical products under the new registration scheme. Cristina Viruega, co-founder of TAPVS, one of the new authorized third parties, explains one of the many benefi ts of the system.

“We can communicate more closely with the industry. It is just like having an offi cial from COFEPRIS working with you in the company, helping to integrate and create the correct dossiers in anticipation of your product registration applications,” she says.

This new registration setup was an important milestone in the organization’s history, and more so because it helped to phase out the so called similares from the market. Similares were le-gally questionable medicines without proof of bioequivalence, and incredibly popular amongst lower income population groups. Similares caused regulatory and safety concerns for the govern-ment and some say that due to adverse side effects, they had fi red up suspicion in the general public about generic medicine as a whole. The elimination of similares, together with the increase in public healthcare using predominantly generic medicines, have essentially made generics more accessible to the Mexican pub-lic; both fi nancially and psychologically.

Hector Valle, general manager for IMS Health in North Lat-

z_AD MORE PHARMA QP_1-1.pgs 07.05.2012 05:01 HCL Premedia blackyellowmagentacyan

Strengthening Guidelines for BiosimilarsDespite being in the Mexican market for over twenty years, biosimilars have never been regulated as a separate entity. They have always been regulated as simply another cate-gory of generic medicines.

“This enabled almost unmonitored competition from China, India, South Korea and other fast-growing coun-tries, which sometimes caused more damage than good to the patient,” explains Jaime Uribe, CEO of Mexican biosimilar company Probiomed.

“This is the reason why biosimi-lars started to be regulated much more closely… and after � ve years of negotiations the law was � nal-

ized,” he continues. The Mexican guidelines for the ap-proval of biotech and biosimilar drugs became effective in April 2012.

Dr. Ana Cristina Mirassou, director of biotechnology in Jalisco-based company, Grupo IFACO, tells us how this lack of tight regulation affected the launch of their � rst biotechnology product.

“There has been some turmoil around biotech regulation in Mexico, and for a long time, the authorities were uncertain as to which require-ments to ask for in a new biotech product. Companies who were able to register their products before this turmoil were granted the registra-tion in about six months, whereas we had to wait three years.”

According to BMI � gures, Mexi-co’s biopharmaceutical sector currently employs almost 25,000 Mexicans in more than 32 biotechnology compa-nies. Biotechnology is also becoming more of a priority for many States in Mexico when compared to traditional pharmaceuticals.

“The governor of Jalisco declared biotechnology as one of the key strategic industries for the state. He sees bio-technology as the future,” Mirassou says.

Uribe adds, “Half of new innovative drug registrations given here in Mexico are for biotechnology products: the world is looking to biotechnology and companies are invest-ing more and more every day.”

Indeed, Mirassou sees Grupo Ifaco’s biotechnology cen-ter as the main growth driver for the group, and concludes:

“Mexico is emerging as an important hub for the production of biotechnology products. Once we have our legislation in order, we will be extremely competitive, not only inside Mexico, but internationally.”

Ana Cristina Miras-sou, Biotechnology Manager, Grupo IFACO

Jaime Uribe, CEO, Probiomed



Mexico Report

August 2012



in America, says that as a company they run 10,000 interviews on a monthly basis with customers leaving the point of phar-maceutical sale. This is to understand what is happening to the end consumer.

As a testimony to the increasing levels of public understanding on generics, Val-le explains “80% of the people we inter-viewed said they understand generics, but when we ask more questions to qualify their understanding, it is actually 50%. Around 41% said that if there was a ge-neric version of products they buy normal-ly, they would buy the generic. That’s a huge change, and part of it has to do with the government putting a lot of informa-tion out, and also giving quick registra-tions for generic drugs to speed up access.”

This fl urry of activity to make generics more understandable and better trusted also generated a need for companies to pro-vide bioequivalence and clinical analysis services, approved by the authorities.

There were some drugs on the market

that had never been submitted for clinical analysis at all. “This created an explosion of necessity that had never existed in Mex-ico before. There were a few clinics around, but none integrating all the services that were required.” remarks Hector Avila, general manager of CE-CyC Pharma, an authorized third party bioequivalence clin-ical trials center. “I decided to create a Mexican company that could cater for all those needs in one place. Our main areas are clinical research and analysis, and the whole regulatory sec-tion—because new regulations are tough to understand, and we wanted to offer this regula-tory service as part of our value chain.”

Reducing barriers to entryStep two on the COFEPRIS agenda was to eliminate barriers to entry in the market. This was partly done by suppressing the

manufacturing plant requirement enabling foreign companies to distribute and sell their products in the market hence adding to pricing competition. COFEPRIS also built a consensus around biotechnology

regulation. Thirdly they issued 109 new generic drug registra-tions in the last twelve months. The registrations granted cov-ered almost 60% of diseases re-lated to mortality in Mexico. According to COFEPRIS it saved around 100 million USD in just six months, and the agency will save a further 1 billion USD in private and public money over the next four years.

Dr. Dagoberto Cortés, gen-eral director of Hormona Laboratories, points out that in the government’s contin-ued push to open access and reduce barri-ers for cheaper generic products, they have also signifi cantly reduced time to market.

“A couple of years ago, the average time

z_AD OCTAPHARMA HP_1-1.pgs 07.05.2012 04:58 HCL Premedia blackyellowmagentacyan

Héctor Valle, Gen-eral Manager North Latin America, IMS Health






between patent loss and generic arrival on the market was two years… today COFE-PRIS is making a great effort to reduce the time needed to issue a generic registration. In some cases the time to market has reduced to a couple of months. This is very important for the authorities be-cause it represents a lot of sav-ings.”

International RecognitionThe third step for COFEPRIS is to build international recog-nition. In 2005, the organiza-tion launched a project with PAHO to harmonize regulators in Latin America. Since then, other countries in the region have been much faster on the uptake in recognizing the importance of being audited and approved by the inter-national health authority. Brazil and Co-lombia were the fi rst to be given recogni-tion, followed by a string of other

countries, and only in June 2011 did COFEPRIS reinitiate the process with PAHO. At the moment they are already

on their fi nal audit: a positive sign for a country, where rec-ognition has been long overdue.

An approval from PAHO would indicate the strength and rigidity of Mexico’s sanitary regulations, and the bar that has been raised in terms of the quality of drugs produced in Mexico.

As Mikel Arriola puts it, to receive PAHO certification means that “we will have closed

the circle in terms of modernization of the agency and implementing the best practic-es required. More importantly, COFEPRIS will be able to guarantee predictability, ef-fi ciency, safety and now recognition by an external authority which is the fourth pil-lar in our work agenda. It will be the add-ed value of President Calderon’s presiden-

cy – to build a strong, comprehensive and recognized sanitary institution.” he says.

COFEPRIS has come a long way since it opened in 2003. It is still a very young organization that has to deal with con-stantly increasing responsibilities, but PAHO recognition will be the fi rst step in sending a plain and categorical message to other regulatory agencies about Mexi-co. COFEPRIS would not only fulfi ll its role as a sanitary regulator, but also as an economic regulator.

SHIFTING LANDSCAPES SHIFT STRATEGIESThe patent cliff is not a ground-breaking story. It is affecting Mexico as well as oth-er pharmaceutical markets across the globe. Sources say that in Mexico, the market will lose 600 million USD in exclusivity by 2015. Marked socio-economic differences are also playing an important role in pushing the uptake of generics, and these issues are starting to affect multinational corpora-tions (MNCs). MNCs are being forced to open up and diversify, quite simply to have their fi ngers in as many pies where they can compete successfully. Alternatively they are applying a more focused sales strategy to concentrate on niche markets.

Alvarez Tostado of AstraZeneca believes that MNCs need to adjust their activities to become competitive in both the private and public sector.

“Mexico provides a uniquely generous market structure where you have the insti-tutional sector, the private out-of-pocket segment of the market, and then you have the new up-and-coming popular insurance systems that will cater to those who have very little access to medical care, if they have access at all. So in that regard, I think the industry has to realign itself to make sure that it is able to provide adequate ser-vices to the institutional sector; provide broadened access to the out-of-pocket con-sumer, and obviously realign to be com-petitive in the Seguro Popular concept.”

Mexico is no exception to the global trend of companies moving towards brand-ed generics either, a successfully growing sector in a very much brand-driven Mexi-

z_AD RANDALL TP_1-1.pgs 07.05.2012 05:01 HCL Premedia blackyellowmagentacyan

Dr. Dagoberto Cortés, General Director, Hormona Laboratorios



Mexico Report

August 2012

z_AD Medley_1-1_1-1.pgs 07.23.2012 05:24 HCL Premedia blackyellowmagentacyan






z_AD IFACO HP_1-1.pgs 07.05.2012 05:01 HCL Premedia blackyellowmagentacyan

can society. Bertrand Baron, general director of Sanofi Mexico, is confi dent that Sanofi ’s global strategy of diversifi cation fi ts well

with the current climate in Mexico. “I believe that Sanofi in Mexico is a per-

fect example of what we are as a diversifi ed healthcare player because here we are play-ing in all the markets: human vaccines, con-sumer healthcare, biotech, rare diseases, innovative products, generics, and soon we will be in eye care.” says Baron.

Sanofi acquired Mexican laboratory Ken-drick in 2009, and last year bought Medley, the Brazilian branded generics company that currently sits at #1 in Brazil and #3 in Latin America for its category. The acquisi-

tions are perfect examples of decisions that will allow the com-pany to compete in all market segments.

“We believe there is a huge market, and generics were a piece of the market we were not tackling. Now we are doing it with good quality brands, guaranteeing quality to both the physician and the patient.” he continues.

The fi rst products under the Medley brand were launched in the Mexican market just a few months ago with high expecta-

tions. Medley is already rising fast up the industry ranks.

Aspen Labs, the South African phar-maceutical giant and relative newcomer to the Mexican market, started operations in Latin America through a 50% acquisition of Strides in 2007. Aspen found the key to success in Mexico was through turning an originally hospital-focused and opportu-nistic market business into a business driv-en primarily by promotion and branding.

“In 2009, Aspen started to implement a structure that would enable us to enter into the private ethical market, or the pre-scription-based business. That is where we started to build up our sales and market-ing team. At the same time, we were launch-ing a small portfolio of locally developed and manufactured branded generics. The combination of the two provides a strong platform with greater brand recognition for future Aspen branded generics.” says Peter Erlbacher, COO of Aspen Labs, Span-

Bertrand Baron, General Director, Sanofi Mexico

Peter Erlbacher, COO Spanish Latin America, Aspen Labs

Timothy Daveler, VP and General Direc-tor, MSD Mexico



Mexico Report

August 2012



ish Latin America. This turnaround strategy to harness the Mexican market

trends was proven successful as Erlbacher goes on to explain. “Since then, Aspen Labs has performed incredibly well: we have delivered signifi cant growth, more than trebling our turnover in the last three years.”

Other MNCs did not turn around to join the generic playground, but fought back by taking it a step further from a lo-calization point of view. They are either making tailor-made solutions from their current portfolio, or using their innova-tive pipelines to target niche biotechnol-ogy sectors.

Tim Daveler, vice president and general director of MSD in Mexico explains, “We have a unique development laboratory here in Mexico [the Mexican Product Development Labora-tory] that is not commonly seen in other companies, especially not multinational companies. We use this development labora-tory to expand the lifecycle management for our products in order to meet the needs of Mexicans. Many of our products that are on the shelves in Mexico have come from our develop-

ment laboratory… in order to meet the market needs here in Mexico.”

Karel Fucikovsky, general director in Mexico & Central America for the French company Pierre Fabre Médicament, be-lieves a specialty focus will bring reward.

“The rules of the market will keep chang-ing… International companies will start to focus on higher specialty drugs, and a com-pany like Pierre Fabre Medicament that is very focused on products and medical spe-cialties, will be able to deliver growth.”

On the same tack, multinational Novartis decided to change their business model in Mexico and shift their resources away from mature brands. They are focusing their efforts on new brands in niche markets and promoting awareness and partnerships within the government.

“Now our pipelines are focused on specialty products for rar-er diseases treated by high-priced biotechnology products that very few people can buy for themselves. For this strategy we need to partner with the Government and Social Security system in order to get reimbursement, and so that pa-tients can receive the products. Only now are [the authorities] beginning to open up and put resources into new products again.” says Sergio Duplan, country president and general manager of Novartis Mexico.

Medical education and awareness has traditionally been quite challenging in Mexico, leading some companies to put resources into education in order for the market to open up.

Angel Sosa, general director in Mexico of human protein spe-cialists Octapharma, explains that “It is not easy to show the government authorities the savings to be made in giving patients

LET’S MAKE THINGS HAPPEN.

Pierre Fabre Médicament is the 2nd largest independent French pharmaceutical

laboratory, and orients its development on specifically targeted therapeutic lines.

The discovery of new molecules has enabled the firm to reinforce and emphasize

its world-wide development.

Pierre Fabre Mexico started operations 9 years ago, and is rapidly becoming a

leading company in Oncology and Woman's Health.

Pierre Fabre Farma de Mexico S.A. de C.V.Boulevard Manuel Avila Camacho N.191Col. Los Morales Polanco, C.P. 11150 Mexico DF.www.pierre-fabre.com

z_AD PIERRE FABRE QP_1-1.pgs 07.05.2012 05:00 HCL Premedia blackyellowmagentacyan

Karel Fucikovsky, General Director Mexico & Central America, Pierre Fabre Médicament

Sergio Duplan, Coun-try President and General Manager, Novartis Mexico

Angel Sosa, General Director, Octaphar-ma Mexico

17% –3%

Source: IMS Health analysis and estimates; CER:13.45 USD

12% 7%

26% 3%

10% 1%

35%

GenericsOriginalbrands

Institutional

Retail

Originalbrands

Generics

BrandedGenerics

42%

21%

13%

19%

5%

5%

1%

11%

7%

2%

2%3.032 Growth

vs. PY

Growthvs. PY

Units(M packs)

14.040

Value(US$ M)

TOTAL PHARMACEUTICAL MARKET BY PRODUCT TYPE(MAT JANUARY 2012)



Mexico Report

GLOBALIZATION AND INNOVATIONProviding the world with health solutions

Headquarters:Amores 1304, Col. Del ValleMéxico D. F., C. P. 03100 Tel. (52-55) 5488 3700 Manufacturing plant :Prolongación 6 Norte No. 200 Parque Industrial Toluca 2000Toluca, Edo. de México.Tel. (722) 548 0770

www.silanes.com.mx



z_AD SILANES DHS_1-1_1-1.pgs 07.23.2012 05:24 HCL Premedia blackyellowmagentacyan

the treatments that they require, but it is possible, and it is also the key to further developing immune defi ciency treatment in Mexico.”

Octapharma takes an active role in promoting this, he says.

“We participate in both government and scientifi c meetings in which authori-ties, physicians and patients discuss aware-ness issues openly… and in the fi eld of immune defi ciencies, we have been work-ing very closely with a patient organiza-tion by sponsoring a road trip across the country that transmits the key focal signs of the diseases to local physicians.”

Here to Stay“We are clearly fl ying on the radar; Mexi-co is a priority market… and Pierre Fabre Medicament is here in Mexico to stay”, re-marks Karel Fucikovsky. Despite the range of necessary strategy shifts deployed by many multinationals to stay present on the undulating Mexican landscape, it seems

there is so much potential to be realized that it is duly worth the effort. In some cases, it has catapulted Mexico onto the priority list for investment and resource as-signment—in some cases placing Mexico as their Latin American headquarters.

Norbert Oppitz, senior vice president for Nycomed, a Takeda Company, in Lat-in America points out, “Today, Brazil is the most important economy, but in a regional context Mexico will be the most important player for decades to come… Mexico today is much more consolidated than many of the other so called truly emerging markets, it is a more industrialized and modern so-ciety than many people realize. Things are moving here, and one of the most danger-ous things we can do as a multinational company is not to understand it.”

HOME TURFOn the inside, looking outIf multinational companies are looking in, then you could say that Mexican compa-

nies have been looking out to send their products elsewhere. IMS Health fi gures show that local companies in Mexico have introduced more products to the market than multinationals in the last 10 years. In 2011 for example, national companies launched a total of 657 SKUs (stock-keep-ing units, or unique products) in Mexico, compared to 492 SKUs from multination-al companies. In the last two years nation-al companies have either maintained or increased promotional investment in or-der to gain market share. They are also fi nding it more tempting to look across the border and export their products—both North and South of Mexico—to increase revenue, despite the challenges faced along the way.

This could possibly be explained by turn-ing back the clock for a second. Guy Jean Savoir, general director of national compa-ny Carnot Laboratories recalls: “In 2008 you could fi nd a market that was extremely healthy and a feeling that both price and unit



Mexico Report

August 2012



increases would continue to be prevalent; everything was easy.”

In 2008, things started to change. Savoir points out that Mexico has three main sources of capital: oil, tourism, and remit-tance (this is the income from Mexicans working in the United States). When the global economic crisis hit the world that year, all three income sources dropped sig-nifi cantly. Remittance dropped, the oil price dropped after being high for so long, and tourism was sent packing after both swine fl u and the spiraling war on drugs. Acqui-sition power reduced dramatically, at the same time COFEPRIS implemented bio-equivalence regulations that suddenly en-abled the public to access cheap, trusted generics. Generics didn’t stop growing, for-eign competition also joined the crowd, and prices dropped even more. For the ma-jority of companies, faces dropped too.

Some companies had foreseen these mar-ket changes and preferred to look outwards and export sooner, rather than later.

Guillermo Funes Rodriguez, CEO of innovative Mexican company Silanes com-ments, “Due to the fact that our major market was Mexico, we had to make a change ourselves. The only way was to diversify our products and go into Latin America, the United States and Europe to build up strategic alliances. We are now growing in those markets and we are currently developing new products in our European re-search and development facili-ties.” Silanes as a company puts 10% of sales back into research and development. Although Mexico is still their principal market, they have also been manufacturing their own products in Bra-zil after forming a strategic alliance with Ache Labs, the Brazilian pharmaceutical company.

Silanes is the fi rst and only Mexican company to have an innovative drug de-

veloped on home turf and approved by the FDA. The company is exporting their snake, scorpion and spider bite anti-ven-om to the United States and soon to parts of Africa. He notes, “if we had decided to

go into the North American market with just generics, as other companies have done, we would have failed because Asian countries are selling their ge-nerics to the Americans much more cheaply than Mexicans ever could. So we had to con-quer the North American mar-ket with quality and innovation in the fi eld of biotechnology.”

For most Mexican pharma-ceutical companies, an FDA ap-

proval means open doors, but for Silanes the process took eleven years.

Socorro España Lomeli, executive di-rector of ANAFAM the association of pharmaceutical manufacturers, believes, “When a company wants to export, they

z_AD SILANES DHS_1-1_1-1.pgs 07.23.2012 05:24 HCL Premedia blackyellowmagentacyan

Guy Jean Savoir, General Director, Carnot

GLOBALIZATION AND INNOVATIONProviding the world with health solutions

Headquarters:Amores 1304, Col. Del ValleMéxico D. F., C. P. 03100 Tel. (52-55) 5488 3700 Manufacturing plant :Prolongación 6 Norte No. 200 Parque Industrial Toluca 2000Toluca, Edo. de México.Tel. (722) 548 0770

www.silanes.com.mx






are often blocked by bureaucratic red tape and regulations which makes it impossi-

ble. It is mainly the administrative pro-cesses that pose a problem, not the quality. This has been a big hurdle for Mexico in both en-tering the United States market, and some Latin Ameri-can markets.”

Silanes has completed its learning curve, which leads Funes to conclude: “By the end of 2013 we hope to have two more products approved by the FDA, and we will then submit a further three. Now we know the mechanisms and the processes behind approvals, we can be more effi cient and faster in complying with them. The long term outlook of Silanes is fantastic: we have patented products in biotechnol-ogy, with a plant that is FDA and soon to

be EMA approved. We are ready to com-pete globally”

Many other national companies are also exporting home-grown innovation. Guy Jean Savoir of Carnot Laboratories realized that their differentiat-ed and innovative pipeline was essential to export success.

“Today Mexico is a tougher market; you have to be aware of the added benefi ts of a dif-ferentiated product… When you export generics the only driving factor is price, which means you have to be very price conscious if you want to succeed and be competitive. This is not our busi-ness model—we have 130 peo-ple in Research and Development and we have decided that this is the side of the fence for us to be on. In fact, our differentiated pipeline was exactly what enabled us to successfully export and launch in different markets in the fi rst place.” says Savoir.

His advice: “Don’t overlook Mexican innovation. Mexico is a place where mul-tinational companies might want to come and fi nd out what we are doing, and to take our products into markets where we

are not capable of going by our-selves.”

Vanquish is another local company not fazed in the least by this “bureaucratic red tape”. The company started manu-facturing in Brazil through commercial partners in Latin America, and has already start-ed exporting their nutritional supplements to the United States.

“I think it is important to be in the main markets in America…if you want to be global, you need to think big. If we can be successful in the two biggest markets in Latin America, we will be on the radar for other companies who want to have a commercial partner with the muscle to make their products and brands successful.” says Arístides Torres, Vanquish CEO.

Building TrustOther companies decided to stick to their strategy dur-ing these tough times and came out on top, due to the strength of their brands and the trust built up with the medical communi-ty. Liomont Labo-rator ies , whose portfolio is 75% prescription medicine, will celebrate 75 years in the industry next year and is in the top ten rankings for prescription drugs in the country. Alfredo Rimoch, general director of the company, explains how they won through on trust and reputa-tion.

“Over recent years we have put particu-lar focus on branded generics which we promote to doctors through a very strong

z_AD MEDIX TP_1-1.pgs 07.05.2012 05:01 HCL Premedia blackyellowmagentacyan

Luis Calderón, Managing Director, Stendhal

Arístides Torres, CEO, Vanquish

Alfredo Rimoch, General Director, Liomont



Mexico Report

August 2012



Giving PATIENT NEEDS

our highest priority.

We provide NEW SOLUTIONS to unmet medical

needs, in pain and beyond; by focusing on our

core strenghts and being MARKET-ORIENTED.

We are a partner of choice in Latin America

with full regional coverage. Mexico is a

growth driver with investment focus.

We are preparing for aggressive growth

– Our plan is to double sales by 2015

– A signi�cant portion relying on in-lincensing

and other forms of inorganic growth

– Strong track record as partner

46% of sales come from in-licenced products

We are interested in:

– In-licensing existing or new products

– Acquisitions

– Open to other forms of strategic alliances

Contact information for Partnerships:

[email protected]

z_AD GRUNENTHAL TP_1-1.pgs 07.12.2012 10:40 HCL Premedia blackyellowmagentacyan

Family Business, Still Hot?Figures show that 95% of Mex-ican businesses are still whol-ly family-owned and run. In fact, the family business could be seen as a ’base unit’ for Mexi-co’s economy. But with such a rapidly changing business en-vironment, for how long will this hold true?

It seems there are many challenges to family-run com-panies, but perhaps they have more intrinsic benefits that may never have crossed the minds of those working for publicly traded firms. A recent article in the Economist suggested that family businesses may have longer-term vision and more solid growth because they don’t have to deliver ever-im-proving quarterly results to HQ. Family companies also have intimate local knowledge that no international company could match.

This solidity and long-term vision is what Nicolás Rubió, attributes to his company’s sur-vival. Industria Farmaceútica Andrómaco has been through some of the worst economic crises the country has seen.

“The company was founded in Spain by my grandfather, and this year marks the 80th anni-versary of Andrómaco in Mex-ico. In the 1980s, we went through an economic crisis and in order to survive, Andromaco’s operations downsized and my father focused on the compa-ny’s main product, Hipoglos, which enabled him to survive the downtrodden decade,” Rúbio says. The company came out of the crisis gasping for air, but ready to keep growing. It now holds 94% of market share with its strongest product, and

is already exporting to the United States.

Rodrigo Iturralde, corporate direc-tor of Randall Laboratories, notes that was essential for him to get a grasp of the business from an early age in order to make the best decisions for the business today.

“We have been almost 60 years in the business, with the winning com-bination of experience and youth. I am 31 years old and have been working in the company for eight years, which for me has been a great learning ex-perience from the very beginning. I’ve learnt how to package medicine, how to sell it, how to talk with doctors, pro-

viders and distributors, and my whole family has always dedicated itself to the pharmaceutical industry.”

Knowing the business so well, he concludes, is how they are able to stay flexible and form successful commer-cial partnerships. Randall Laborato-ries are “always looking for something better in the markets that correspond to our strengths as an organization.”

Both companies, as all successful family enterprises, have had to make sacrifices in order to continue grow-ing and keep up with the competitive environment. But one thing is for sure: they are part of Mexico’s social fabric, and here to stick around.



Mexico ReportMexico ReportSPECIAL SPONSORED SECTION


sales force. We prepared well for the boom in pure generics, which took a lot of work, but we succeeded. Branded generics have exist-ed for a long time in Mexico and we have worked for many years in promoting our vision of the company which is based on quality and trust through our services and our products.”

Stendhal has based a large part of its business on in-licensing innovation from multinationals and building itself up to be the government’s partner of choice. That is not an easy task, espe-cially when focused on the anti-retroviral market involving tricky negotiations with government healthcare institutions. The com-pany has managed to maintain 25-30% yearly growth over the last two years and its products are now offered to 70% of HIV patients in Mexico. Luis Calderón, managing director of Stend-hal, attributes this to their long-term attitude and quality.

“Stendhal is not a company that looks for opportunistic busi-ness, by participating in a tender one year and disappearing the following year: we want to increase our market share sustain-ably and be in a place where we can adapt alongside the chang-ing interests of the healthcare environment in order to increase patient share.” he explains.

Maquila country Other companies have turned to contract manufacturing, an easier revenue generator as long as you have quality standards

and long-term vision. In fact, many companies use contract manufacturing to provide the revenue needed to develop their own brand.

This is the case with Biofarma Natural CMD, whose general director Ignacio Luna explains, “Creating a brand in Mexico in-volves many years of hard work and a lot of investment, and for us it has been much easier to simply generate revenue through our manufacturing strengths. We are proud of the fact that we are one of the only manufacturing plants in Mexico granted licenses for both medical products and herbal products. We have all the cer-tifi cates and Good Manufacturing Processes (GMPs) that go with it. This attracts companies in the industry who are searching for high quality.”

TOO MUCH TORTILLAAccording to the BMI’s Burden of Disease Database (BoDD), a few years ago diabetes represented 6% of all disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) in Mexico. This fi gure will continue to rise until more than 1.5 million DALYs are lost to the disease less than fi f-teen years from now. Local data indicates that more than a third of Mexicans who have diabetes are unaware that they are suffer-ing from the disease. As it stands, diabetes represents about 35% of all Mexico’s public health spending, and data published sug-gests that there will be more than 13.5 million sufferers by the year 2025.

Diabetes is clearly Mexico’s biggest current health problem, which may be explained by the fact that Mexico is currently top in the world for child obesity, and number two for adult obesity. Although looking at increasingly popular eating habits in Mexi-co, the problem most likely isn’t too much tortilla. It is the high-ly westernized diet that has crept into Mexican society in the form of too many processed foods and far too many sugar-fi lled sodas.

Joel Durán, director of marketing at diabetes specialist Novo Nordisk in Mexico, suggests that due to the sheer size of the problem, a solution backed by all stakeholders in the market needs to be found.

“Given the speed at which diabetes is rising we need stron-ger collaborations and partnerships in order to change the men-tality of the Mexican people. If we do not do this, we will not achieve the common goal of changing the face of diabetes and tackle the problem in the most effective way. We should beat di-abetes before it beats us. That is our main concern—how can we make a change and how can we participate and provide knowl-edge, expertise, education, and be a factor of change in terms of fi nding a solution, to ultimately beat diabetes.”

Not many people can disagree with that stance, but it may be easier said than done.

The three largest social security institutions in Mexico; IMSS, ISSTE and Seguro Popular, run specifi c diabetes programs that include nutritional education and psychological support. They are also trying to include a wider selection of pharmaceutical treatments in an attempt to provide more comprehensive care.

z_AD ANDROMACO QP_1-1.pgs 07.05.2012 04:57 HCL Premedia blackyellowmagentacyan



Mexico Report

August 2012



But are these enough?If combating diabetes requires a com-

plete change in mentality for Mexicans, then it certainly is a tall order. It is far more achievable if the pieces of the cur-rent mentality puzzle can be put together and understood. Many people say that there is a social stigma surrounding dia-betes and a dislike of anybody knowing that you have the disease. This would probably explain the high percentage of undiagnosed sufferers. Durán believes there is a strong emo-tional connection with food in Mexico because of the high pro-portion of family events that involve eating, and the thought of treatment might drag pa-tients away from being able to participate.

“This emotional connection is preventing a lot of patients from making small but crucial changes in diet and lifestyle habits that would enable bet-ter treatment compliance,” he explains.

If mentality is the underlying cause of both under-diagnosis and non-compliance with treatment, it becomes even more im-portant to break down barriers and to start to tackle this elephant of a problem. Carlos Baños, president and general di-

rector of Eli Lilly in Mexico believes, along with the ma-jority of the indus-try, that education is essential for treat-ment compliance. This not only in-volves telling people about the disease and what they need to do, but tailor-making real educa-

tional solutions for society. “In Mexico the average person reads

fewer than two books a year. This is a big challenge because we can produce the most beautiful material about how to manage diabetes, but achieve nothing because the materials have not been read.” One of Eli

Lilly’s solutions to the problem is an edu-cational tool called Diabetes Conversations Maps.

“This tool was developed globally and adapted locally to adjust to the culture of Mexico. It is a game, similar to Monop-oly, which helps teach people liv-ing with diabetes and their fam-ily all they need to know on the disease and how to care for them-

selves.” he continues.When it comes to

diabetes treatments, the sharp increase of competi-tion in the fi eld has made brand loyalty more important than ever. Increasing compliance and making the physician’s life eas-ier is essential. Education to en-sure brand loyalty can often be seen in Mexico in the form of a trained nurse who spends more time with the patient than

the doctor in the patients’ own homes, to show them how to use the treatment equip-

ment, how to clean it and store it properly. A big invest-ment on the part of the phar-maceutical companies, but brand loyalty for chronic ill-nesses seems to be worth it.

Carlos López Patán, gen-eral director of Medix, the Mexican specialists on obe-sity, explains that for him, the key to success in provid-ing obesity treatment lies in

the provision of an entire catalogue of individualized services and products.

“It is important to recognize the three phases in obesity treatment, the fi rst step being diagnosis. The second step is to treat and manage the disease, and the last step is to maintain the healthy weight achieved by the completion of the fi rst two steps. By creating products for each step in the process—the diagnosis, treatment and

z_AD MENARINI TP_1-1.pgs 07.05.2012 04:57 HCL Premedia blackyellowmagentacyan

Carlos López Patán, General Director, Medix

Joel Durán, Market-ing Director, Novo Nordisk Mexico

Carlos Baños, President and Gen-eral Director, Lilly Mexico






maintenance—we are not just offering a product, but a holistic solution that ad-dresses many factors in the equation,” says Lopez Patan.

“Since we started reinforcing and de-veloping this central model, we have been growing very rapid-ly: the annual average increase rate is 20%... we are number one in the private prescription market supplying almost 40% of the total units,” he contin-ues, attributing the success to their integrated approach.

It is not only diabetes and obesity that are increasing as Mexican lifestyles become more developed. The preva-lence of CNS illnesses is also on the up. The more developed a society becomes, the more prone people are to illnesses such as depression. The WHO reports that the highest levels of growth in de-pression are coming from emerging mar-

kets like Mexico. Oscar Parra left Mex-ico eleven years ago and came back last year as general manager for Lundbeck Mexico, the CNS specialists.

“I believe Mexican attitudes have changed a lot. When I left the country people were talking about depression as a weakness, and now people refer to it as a disease. Patients are much more likely to see a general doctor or a psychiatrist to talk about it now than they were ten years ago.” For pharmaceutical com-panies, CNS seems to be an area of true opportunity.

“The CNS market in Mex-ico is growing much faster than

the rest of the market: depression at 9%, Alzheimer’s at 16%,” continues Parra.

Diabetes, obesity and CNS diseases are growing at a fast pace in Mexico, and the burden of indirect costs for these diseases is often higher than the treatment for the

diseases themselves. Surely this means that with the right amount of education in the right place, governments should be wak-ing up to the benefi ts of making access to treatment more available. As the stigma is slowly shaken off, more patients should also be willing to get diagnosed and com-ply with treatment. This combination makes a market ripe for picking.

UNREACHED POTENTIALAccording to industry data, the pharma-ceutical sector represented 7.2% of Mex-ico’s manufacturing GDP last year. When compared to other manufacturing indus-tries in Mexico, this is signifi cant, but by no means in star place.

The presence of foreign and local clin-ical research organizations (CROs) has also increased substantially over the last few years. This is both as a result of a re-cent tightening of regulations, and a sign that Mexico is becoming more strategic for foreign investors.

z_AD Apotex HP_1-1.pgs 07.05.2012 04:55 HCL Premedia blackyellowmagentacyan

Oscar Parra, General Manager, Lundbeck



Mexico Report

August 2012



But can we call Mexico a real ‘hub’ for the pharmaceutical industry?

This June, the 21st Convention of CAN-IFARMA was held in Merida in the State of Yucatan. The event culminated in de-fi ning the sector’s development plan con-cerning the coming period 2012-2018. The fi rst phase defi ned 54 courses of action rep-resenting the strategic points that can em-power the industry. The second phase was the integration of the industry’s fi rst cen-sus in Mexico, delivered in Merida.

The census concluded that of course it was necessary for the 186 companies that make up CANIFARMA to come together to turn the industry into an authentic gen-erator of jobs, attractive for new investments, but with a special focus on manufacturing.

Rafael Gual of C A N I F A R M A clearly states, “Our goal is to make the Mexican pharma-ceutical industry the biggest manufactur-ing sector in Mexico over the next 5 to 6 years. Currently pha r maceut i c a l manufacturing rep-resents 7% of man-

ufacturing GDP in Mexico, and we want to push it into fi rst place.”

In 2008 COFEPRIS abolished articles 168 and 170 of pharmaceutical legislation, which meant that companies no longer needed a plant in Mexico in order to dis-tribute their products in the country. Since then, fi ve companies have entered the mar-ket without a Mexican manufacturing plant. This includes Spanish company Me-narini, Daiichi Sankyo from Japan, and Swedish Meda Pharma. But it also result-ed in several multinationals re-assessing their Mexican manufacturing strategies as plants were no longer required to be part of the market.

Miguel A. Salazar, general director of Boehringer Ingelheim Mexico points out, “The pharmaceutical real estate market is getting crowded because everyone is sell-ing their plants.”

There are some obvious benefi ts in set-ting up a manufacturing hub for Latin America in Mexico, as compared to Bra-zil. Labor costs are signifi cantly lower, it is geographically very strategic bordering the United States, and Mexico also shares a common language with most of the region.

“In 1995, Boehringer Ingelheim wrote their manufacturing strategy and decided that Mexico was to be a center of excel-lence in terms of manufacturing, and the company invested more than 70 million USD in a new plant which would be one

of the manufacturing hubs for the rest of the world.” says Salazar, confi dent of the company’s award-winning plant located in the south of Mexico City.

“Around 60% of our products are ex-ported globally and 40% is local. We are focused on high quality and high deliv-ery.” He continues.

Along the same lines, Bertrand Baron of Sanofi comments, “Today we have three manufacturing sites in total and we strong-ly believe in increasing our business in Mexico… 80% of what we sell in terms of volume is coming from our local plant. I would be shooting myself in the foot if I withdrew our Mexican plant.”

Despite these multinationals here to stay, how can the industry live up to Gual’s tough target of becoming the number one manufacturing sector for the country? So-corro España Lomeli of ANAFAM strong-ly believes that the government should play a bigger role, especially when it comes to local companies.

If you are interested in forming strategic alliances, please contact us!

Circuito de la productividad No. 105, Parque Industrial Guadalajara

El Salto, Jalisco, Mexico, C.P. 45690

Teléfono: 0052 33 3836 4570 | Fax: 0052 33 3836 4593

www.biofarmalab.com.mx

Taking care of your health, naturally.Your partner of choice for

herbal medicines.

z_AD BIOFARMA TP_1-1.pgs 07.12.2012 10:40 HCL Premedia blackyellowmagentacyan

Facilities of Boehringer Ingelheim

Miguel A. Salazar, General Director, Boehringer Ingel-heim Mexico






“I believe fi scal incentives are very im-portant because they encourage industries to grow,” she concludes.

These fi scal incentives have not only been suggested for manufacturing in Mex-ico, but also for research and development, specifi cally clinical trials. Mexico has tra-ditionally been a strong choice for per-forming clinical trials due to the wide-ranging demographic and different climates. The combination gives rise to a suffi ciently diverse patient pool. Moreover, due to the rapidly growing Hispanic pop-ulation in the United States it will become more and more important to have a Mex-ican clinical subset in every trial.

Salazar agrees: “There is not one sin-gle clinical trial in the company in which Mexico is not participating. It has allowed us to gain rapid approvals for products due to the preference given to clinical trials performed in Mexico with Mexican re-searchers and Mexican patients. COFE-

PRIS is willing to give fast-track approval when they see Mexico getting involved.” Bertrand Baron concurs:

“Last year we did 102 clinical trials in Mexico with almost 1,000 researchers par-ticipating in them. Mexico has been a sig-nifi cant participant in one of our most im-portant R&D projects which is the dengue vaccine development. All of Sanofi ’s research in [Latin America] is managed from here”

However, Mexico has not seen as large an investment in clinical trials as it could have. Arturo Rodriguez, director of Mex-ican CRO, Infi nite Clinical Research, be-lieves it has to do with administrative in-effi ciency.

“It now takes almost triple the time to get approvals, which sometimes means we lose out on clinical trials because custom-ers move them to other countries, predom-inantly in Asia.” However, he admits that, “Today, the regulation process length can be attributed to the audit from the Pan

American Health Organization, which spurred the harmonization with interna-tional guidelines, in turn making Mexico competitive on an international level.”

Mexico will be holding the annual Lat-in American CRO Congress later this year: a key indication that they are taking a more active role in promoting clinical trials in the country.

Can Mexico reach its so far unreached potential as a pharmaceutical production and clinical trial hub for Latin America? Perhaps if we take the tightening regula-tory environment, the imminent PAHO approval of COFEPRIS, and the stable economic situation, combined with rela-tively low labor costs and the geographi-cally strategic position, things get more interesting. Put these factors together with the 186 CANIFARMA member compa-nies joined in a common and determined goal… watch this space!

PHARMA’S AFFAIR WITH PRIVATE LABELSWhen asked to defi ne the three most im-pactful changes on the Mexican pharma-ceutical industry over the last few years, executives put Seguro Popular and COFE-PRIS regulation in the lead. The third change is muttered perhaps a little more reluctantly. “The Point of Sale”.

The truth is that the rise of large phar-macy chains is starting to hit the industry in big way. This is a fast-moving shift of control away from the pharmaceutical wholesalers, who have been the tradition-al torch bearers. It does not just change the dynamics of the industry today; it trans-forms the future dynamics of the pharma-ceutical landscape.

Pharmacy chains are gradually moving their purchasing ratio in favor of buying directly from pharmaceutical manufactur-ers as opposed to wholesalers. The manu-facturers involved face opposition from wholesalers, but they can still see the po-tential benefi ts, and act on them.

Farmacias del Ahorro, one of Mexi-co’s largest pharmacy chains, is starting to take warehousing and distribution into its own hands. It recently opened a large warehouse just outside of Mexico City

z_AD CECYC TP_1-1.pgs 07.05.2012 04:53 HCL Premedia blackyellowmagentacyan



Mexico Report

August 2012



and is planning to open two more in the coming years.

“The most recently opened warehouse will account for 70% of the units that we buy directly; today we have a ratio of roughly 60/40 favoring direct purchasing from the pharmaceutical companies,” says

Gabriel Zavala, the company’s commer-cial director.

“The distributors will always be neces-sary in the future. But at the same time, we will be prepared for ongoing changes in the market with the infrastructure to support more laboratories if they wish to

sell directly.”With more pharmaceutical companies

selling directly to pharmacy chains and chain supermarkets, the niche of 3rd party pharmaceutical logistics has opened a little more. For companies that specialize in this area, the need to offer differentiated ser-

z_AD LIOMONT QP_1-1.pgs 07.05.2012 04:57 HCL Premedia blackyellowmagentacyan

Recruiting and retaining fresh, entre-preneurial talent is a challenge that all Mexican pharmaceutical companies have to face. Given the rapidly evolv-ing business environment, companies need rapidly evolving employees that are not daunted by a challenge. There is a strong talent pool in Mexico, but smaller companies face a bigger chal-lenge without an internationally re-nowned company name and brand with which to attract good people in the � rst place.

Young local company More Pharma is aiming to establish itself as the part-ner of choice for in-licensed innovative products coming from the United States and Europe. CEO Guillermo Ibarra ex-plains what he offers potential recruits, the kind of person he looks for, and the challenges involved:

How do you recruit the right talent when up against other young companies look-ing for the same people?“The way I sell the company to any can-didate is that when they are tired of big pharma; come to us. It is not a po-litically correct statement… but the

umbrella message is that when you are tired of lengthy and bureaucratic decision making processes and you feel better in an entrepreneurial envi-ronment; come to us. I don’t think there are good or bad companies, just dif-ferent environments that � t different personalities.”

“Any position within the company is a very entrepreneurial one, we don’t hire agencies or third parties, we do everything ourselves, it’s a hands-on business model.”

What kind of recruit would most � t More Pharma’s corporate philosophy?

“Every time we look for a new employee, we need someone who can react fast, take decisions, act swiftly and execute in an even faster changing environment. We look for people who will roll up their sleeves, and you can usually see this during the interview process.”

If you have such well-trained and en-trepreneurial staff, how do you stop them from walking away from More Pharma and joining another company?“When you work in a large company, you need a ‘glue’ to make everybody stick to the same set of values, and that is a best practice we have adopted at More Pharma as well. Two years ago we de� ned and launched our set of core values, and launching these values meant a commitment from top man-agement to each company associate. We believe in our culture and we want every More Pharma team member to live according to our values. This culture has helped us create passion for our company, increasing ownership of our growth plans. We have been able to in-crease employee’s satisfaction while improving overall company results.”

Roll Up your Sleeves!

Guillermo Ibarra, CEO (left), and his man-agement team, More Pharma






vices is a key factor in the ever more com-petitive environment.

Mario Sicilia, CEO of 3rd party logis-tics company BOMI Mexico tells us, “Our main competitive advantages are special-ization and personalized rela-tionships. The fl exibility in the procedures that we offer is an-other relevant competitive ad-vantage. We can adjust our accounts receivable, warehous-ing and shipping accordingly.”

On the other side of the coin, opportunities are not just opening up in the private mar-ket, but in the public sector too. The number of Mexicans who benefi t from public health-care has doubled in the last decade caus-ing a number of infrastructural problems within the system.

Jorge Escalona, general director of

MAYPO, a pharmaceutical wholesaler that works exclusively with large government institutions explains, “In the past, all [gov-ernment] institutions had their own infra-structure and were operating their own

warehouses. Distributors mere-ly had to deliver the products to the government warehouse and then the health institution would be in charge of delivering the products to the hospitals.”

But since the growth of Se-guro Popular, which has no physical infrastructure, the sit-uation has changed. Govern-ment distributors have to pro-vide a much more comprehensive service.

“The suppliers and distributors now have to deliver to the hospitals directly – which means that when we used to have just one point of delivery, we now have hun-

dreds. The second major shift is that in the past, the government was responsible for dispensing, whereas today it is the distrib-utor’s responsibility. The government pays the distributors upon dispensing, and no longer upon delivery.” he continues.

Not only are pharmacy chains buying directly from pharmaceutical companies, but a more visual change is taking place. Private label drugs have had a growth ex-plosion in Mexico and are affecting the way both national and international com-panies operate.

Hector Valle of IMS explains, “The national companies who used to sell to the government are now coming to the private market because of the price drop in the institutional sector. Now private labels give them a very good opportunity to do just that. This enables national com-panies to grow but also affects the brands from multinational companies as well.”

Companies promoting their own brands to sell in retail stores, at the same time fi nd themselves increasingly attracted to man-ufacturing private label goods for that very same point of sale. Pharmaceutical com-panies are ‘having an affair’ with private labels, but can they have their cake and eat it, too?

Local company Gelpharma is doing just that. Luis Verduzco, managing direc-tor of the company, realizes just how im-portant private labels are to his business after producing primarily for the public sector.

“The private market didn’t have the same level of uncertainty as the government market, so we changed direction. At the moment, we are giving higher priority to third party manufacturing for private la-bels because the relationships we are form-ing with pharmacy chains and supermar-kets are extremely important. If we don’t make those relationships robust now, may-be in a couple of years there will be anoth-er company offering the same service and we will lose market share.”

The core Mexican business of U.S. com-pany Perrigo is to manufacture private la-bel medicines. When compared to the Unit-ed States or Europe, up until now Mexico

z_AD VANQUISH_1-1.pgs 07.12.2012 10:41 HCL Premedia blackyellowmagentacyan

Gabriel Zavala, Commercial General Director, Farmacias del Ahorro



Mexico Report

August 2012



has been fairly slow on the uptake of pri-vate label products. But not only for phar-maceuticals. Ricardo Ganem, vice presi-dent and general manager of Perrigo Mexico, explains why it took so long.

“For many years, store brands in general were all about putting a “cheaper” product next to the leader with focus on low prices, but often at the expense of quality. The stigma that private labels are low qual-ity stayed in the mind of the Mexican consumer, but this has changed dramatically over the last several years.”

Ganem also notes that Mexico is the country with the highest brand loyalty index. He observes that this can be ex-plained by studies on the monopolistic advertising structure favoring high-priced media such as television, for the last 60

years. Ironically, this historical attrition to well-known brands is exactly what is helping to make private label generic med-icines successful now. Mexicans feel con-

fi dent buying own-brands from pharmacy and supermarket chains that they know and love.

In August 2010, regulations prohibiting the sale of antibi-otics in retail pharmacies were implemented by the health au-thorities, with the intention of reducing risk related to inap-propriate usage of antibiotics and increased bacterial resis-tance. Retailers came up with a solution in the form of hav-

ing a qualifi ed doctor on site to avoid any problems, which also fuelled the intense rise of private label medicines.

A recent study by IMS Health showed that the majority of Mexicans who use a doctor at the point of sale had used the

service up to ten times previously. This is clear evidence of its popularity. The most common reasons for using a doctor pres-ent in a pharmacy were found to be con-venience and low price; the perfect com-bination for a busy, working Mexican on a budget.

So what next for the private label busi-ness at the points of sale? Ganem is al-ready thinking to the future and working on innovative ways to develop his cus-tomers’ products.

“I’ll give it another three or four years before most retailers will have upgraded strategies in place with differentiated brands to satisfy specific consumer needs.”

Zavala adds, “Many years ago power in the industry was in the hands of the pharmaceutical companies, a few years after that it was in the hands of the dis-tributors, and today we have it in the points of sale.”

z_AD STENDHAL HP_r1_1-1.pgs 07.12.2012 10:38 HCL Premedia blackyellowmagentacyan

Ricardo Ganem, VP and General Manager, Perrigo Mexico



Mexico Report

INTERVIEW WITH: MIKEL ARRIOLA, FEDERAL COMMISSIONER, COFEPRIS

It’s been one year since you were appointed as Federal Commissioner of COFEPRIS in March 2011. What have been the biggest challeng-es you’ve faced within this time?The biggest challenge was to famil-iarize myself with the new agency. COFEPRIS regulates every sanitary

risk relative to any industry- we regulate 10% of Mexican GDP, and 12% of Mexican international trade, and the most impor-tant challenge I faced when entering COFEPRIS was getting to know with whom I was dealing. There was a myth that this agency had to be administered by doctors or by people related to the medical or pharmaceutical business, and I came from the Ministry of Finance, so conceptually, that was the biggest challenge.

However, the first physical challenge was facing the huge backlog of sanitary registrations. We had a great legal reform in 2005 that mandated the renewal of every drug registration in the market to ensure that we had only 2 types of medicines: generics and innovative medicines. This reform was crucial, but the government didn’t regulate this reform in administra-tive terms until 5 years later. Therefore in February 2010, when we had to face the deadline for renewals, we were not pre-pared. Under normal conditions, COFEPRIS receives 400 ap-plications a month in terms of renewals and new registrations, and in February 2010, we received in a single month, more than 4000. This agency went into an administrative crisis, and when I arrived from the Ministry of Finance, had to deal imme-diately with the backlog. COFEPRIS issued 150 registrations in 2010. Between March 2011 and March 2012, we issued 9000 registrations, so I think we have met this challenge. We still have a lot to do but if you measure it in terms of value, those 9000 registrations represent 1200 million USD.

The other challenge was also to be very clear as to what we

want in terms of pharmaceutical policy. Our pharmaceutical policy is to provide the patient – our main object of protection – with the best alternatives in the market. Therefore, we have to take out all the barriers to entry into the market to provide the best quality and the best prices. The COFEPRIS universe was unreadable and lacking priorities; we needed to set them and to reset communication with the whole industry.

Another strategy was to establish access to medicines for all Mexican families – so we started to issue sanitary registrations for generic drugs. Before that, we didn’t have a strategy as a government regarding generics: we are the OECD country that spends the most on private health expenses, and the second worst in public spending. So since October, we have issued 109 generic registrations, covering almost 60% of the diseases related to mortality of Mexican population, and saving since October 2011 until March 2012 around 100 million USD. We are expecting savings of 1000 million USD in private and public money during the following 4 years.

What steps have you taken to actively change the reputation of COFEPRIS in the minds of the Mexican public, and in the pharmaceutical in-dustry?

The COFEPRIS universe was unreadable and lacking priorities; we needed to set them and to reset communication with the whole industry.



Mexico Report

August 2012

We have to generate predictability for the market, and send the right messages to our regulated industries, and by doing so, we are going to have a better set of alternatives for the consumer, hence protecting public health. We have to assume our position as a sanitary regulator, but also as an economic regulator, and build strong relations with the sectors we man-age. For example, we are now holding monthly meetings with CANIFARMA to discuss a growth agenda for the market which has generated a lot of solutions. I invest a lot of my time receiv-ing companies of all sizes and, I suppose, this is how the image of the institution has changed. We need to be the best for the health of the consumer and the industry can’t survive without a market; we can’t meet our objective to protect the consumer if we don’t regulate firmly but with a commitment to both industry and consumers.

We have heard many times that the Govern-ment should start to see COFEPRIS not just as a quality controller, but as a promoter for Mexi-can exports. How do you achieve this?This year I learnt that the Mexican pharmaceutical industry is an industry with great quality, and is a huge asset for the Mexi-can economy. If we can work with the industry to expand their opportunities to invest internally and externally, we are making a change for our country. We have to be creative, and build the best profile for the Mexican industry to be able to attract more investment and provide better opportunities. We have to create a more flexible market, and the best tool to create this is regulation. I want to be very aggressive in terms of gain-ing market share internationally. The Mexican government has built the best economic situation in terms of macroeconomic policies and our economic structure holds better than other

Latin American countries, including Brazil. We have the sec-ond best public deficit in the OECD region and Mexico is the third country in terms of inflation in Latin America, we have balanced trade, a strong framework of free trade agreements, and we have been open since the 1980s to capital markets. If you translate this to the pharmaceutical market, it means we have lost our first place in terms of market size, but we want to win it again!

COFEPRIS should gain recognition from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) be-fore the end of the year, opening up the door for Mexican exports to Latin America. Which steps has COFEPRIS had to go through and which steps remain to gain this recognition? In 2005 Mexico launched a project with PAHO to harmonize regulators in Latin America, however since June 2011, we started rebuilding our relationship with them, and decided to initiate the process of PAHO recognition. We had the first informal audit in August, and the second informal audit in December was much better with an 8.4 out of 10 result. I’m pretty confident we will receive certification this year, and if we do, we will have closed the circle in terms of modernizing of the agency and implementing the best practices required by PAHO. As a direct effect of PAHO recognition, our documents are going to be recognized by Brazil, Colombia, and other Latin American countries which will greatly empower our ex-porters and take a lot of transaction costs out of their balance sheets. It’s a very attainable goal. More importantly, COFEPRIS will be able to guarantee predictability, efficiency, safety and recognition by an external authority which is the fourth pillar in our work agenda.

What do you feel have been the most signifi-cant achievements of COFEPRIS since you have been in place managing the organization?

We designed a very specific strategy when we first arrived in COFEPRIS, and I think we have been quite successful in com-plying and enforcing it. Firstly, we had to reduce the backlog, and we have since then issued 9000 registrations. Secondly, we had to improve our regulatory framework and eliminate barriers to entry into the market, which was done by issu-ing 109 generic registrations, suppressing the manufacturing plant requirement and building consensus around our regula-tions on biological products and bio-similars. Thirdly, we had to build international recognition, and we are in the process with the pending PAHO recognition. My conclusion is that we have a strategy to reinforce the Mexican market for the well-being of our patients and we are on the right path.

We have to assume our position as a sanitary regulator, but also as an economic regulator, and build strong relations with the sectors we manage



Mexico Report

INTERVIEW WITH: PETER ERLBACHER, COO SPANISH LATIN AMERICA, ASPEN LABS

What was Aspen’s original strategy behind the acqui-sition of their Latin Ameri-can business through In-dia-based Strides Arcolab Limited (Strides)? How has it lived up to expectations since Aspen entered the market in 2007?Initially Aspen’s 2007 transaction

with Strides took the form of a 50/50 joint venture. We were looking for an opportunity to acquire an existing business that could provide a platform which we could really build on and that we could make the necessary changes to in terms of the business strategy.

When Aspen moved into Latin America, we had already negotiated on a global basis with multinational companies like GlaxoSmithKline, and were therefore able to source global products that offered existing brand equity. This approach en-abled Aspen to enter the Latin American market immediately and to gain credibility from the start of our private market operations.

In 2009, Aspen started to implement a structure that would enable us to enter into the private ethical market, or the pre-scription-based business. That is where we started to build up our sales and marketing team. At the same time, we were launching a small portfolio of locally developed and manufac-tured branded generics. The combination of the two would provide a strong platform with greater brand recognition for future Aspen branded generics.

Since then, Aspen Labs has performed incredibly well: we have delivered significant growth, more than trebling our turn-over in the last three years. Organic growth is gaining momen-tum, and we are now securing new product registrations that were submitted through Aspen’s South African pipeline.

Do you expect future growth in Mexico to come from Aspen’s own branded products?Yes, so far most of this has come from our branded generic pipeline in South Africa while we identify appropriate local products to license.

In each of the Latin American markets where Aspen has es-tablished a business, we have achieved success by transitioning from a hospital-focused and opportunistic market business, to a branded and promotion driven business; all of which pro-vides for the prospect of future sustainable growth.

Moving forward, will Aspen be focusing on their inclusive business model, or will it attrib-ute more importance to manufacturing or find-ing new partners?We want to keep the mix as it is in our inclusive business mod-el, rather than run an exclusive model. We also have a local manufacturing facility which gives us a competitive edge in terms of local developments, tendered products and annual bidding with social security - IMSS and ISSSTE, whilst still con-sidering business opportunities with ‘Seguro Popular’, where we have already worked with certain state level distributors.

Many multinational companies are seeking op-portunities in branded generics, and there have been several acquisitions by multinationals in recent years following this strategy. What is Aspen’s strategic plan to compete against such strong companies in the Mexican market?Aspen’s pipeline from South Africa is based on generic products suitable for rapidly expanding therapeutic categories. Chronic degenerative diseases are becoming increasingly important in the Mexican market including diabetes and cardiovascular dis-ease, which is primarily driven by obesity.

Mature brands also offer significant opportunities which



Mexico Report

August 2012

validate Aspen’s activities in identifying tail end brands in dif-ferent fast-growing segments. We are expanding our strategy for these products to ensure effective promotion to the doctor and at point of sale, which has become increasingly relevant.

Aspen Labs has also plans to increase its activity in the over-the-counter (“OTC”) sector through a pharmacy team that will ensure increased Aspen presence in pharmacies. In April 2012, we acquired a portfolio of well-established OTC products from GSK, important not only for Mexico, but even more so for Cen-tral America.

Promoting mature brands has been one of Aspen’s success stories as a Group - many territories across the Aspen business network have proven that they have the expertise and com-mercial capacity to extend the lifecycle of these mature brands and grow them.

When Aspen entered Mexico, what was the im-age of the company? The image we have is a South African company that was very strong in HIV. Was that concept brought to Mexico when you started?We elected to introduce reputable brands acquired from GSK and MSD to the market, which we combined with Aspen’s lo-cal products. This approach has been beneficial to the Group. Establishing brand equity takes significant financial investment and time, and it’s fair to say that Aspen is not a household brand in Latin America as yet. Of significance though is that Aspen is acknowledged as the pre-eminent pharmaceutical manufacturer in the southern hemisphere and is being glob-ally recognized for manufacturing and distributing high quality medicine at affordable prices - not only from a generic per-spective, but also from an innovative product perspective.

You said it was the people that make the differ-ence in Aspen. What is your opinion of the tal-ent pool in Mexico, and how well it fits with the company’s values, challenges and philosophy?Mexico has a wealth of well-educated and hard-working peo-ple, and I think that level of commitment and talent is reflected across the different functional areas of our organization. We have a much more entrepreneurial approach and we expect our people to hold the same values and standards. We have a strong creative team with astute marketing expertise but also with a thorough understanding of the financials behind the product.

The level of responsibility and empowerment that our local people receive is probably fairly difficult to find in a multina-tional company. We are fast at taking decisions, and they are well thought out with due consideration given to financial and risk exposure.

Where do you see the challenging competition pushing the Mexican market in the next few years?Something that represents a major challenge to all players in the branded market is the rapid growth of pharmacy chains and the rising level of generic substitution at the point of sale. Today, an increasing number of patients go to doctors operat-ing inside the pharmacies, and no longer to traditional doctors if they know they just need a script for a product with which they are already familiar: and this trend will continue to grow.

As a result, traditional independent pharmacies will get weaker due to the increased presence of the larger chains and their store brands. For the first time we see the traditional pri-vate ethical market decreasing in both values and volumes. This does not mean that the Mexican pharmaceutical market is shrinking as a whole; but it is nowadays primarily the ‘alterna-tive market’ that is gaining importance and market share.

You have been with Aspen for three and a half years. What can we expect from Aspen in Mexico three years from now?

Our focused growth strategy is to build up the Latin Ameri-can business to be the third pillar in the Group alongside South Africa and Australia.

Our objective is clear: we want to be among the top 20 pharmaceutical companies in the near future, not only in Mex-ico, but also across Latin America. We are confident that this can be achieved - both as a result of our organic growth and also through acquisitions. To do it, we need to drive the organ-izational growth of our operations in Brazil, Mexico and Ven-ezuela; establish and embed the Aspen culture; and retain the passion that the employees have for working at Aspen by en-suring due recognition for personal and professional growth.

Something that represents a major challenge to all players in the branded market is the rapid growth of pharmacy chains and the rising level of generic substitution at the point of sale



Mexico Report

INTERVIEW WITH: MIGUEL A. SALAZAR, DIRECTOR GENERAL BOEHRINGER INGELHEIM MEXICO

You arrived to the position of General Director inMexi-co in 2010. What have been some of the most exciting milestones and achieve-ments you have presided over during this time?The first challenge was recogniz-ing that the organization needed to be realigned with a totally differ-

ent mind-set. Boehringer Ingelheim as a company started to change in 2008 with the realization that we had a pipeline of products offering huge opportunities in the market, and that would be ready for release at the same period of time: which is a luxury that doesn’t happen very often. I needed to align the Mexican organization accordingly.

From the point of view of a research-driven organization, we truly believe that the level of leadership and entrepreneur-ship from the pharmaceutical industry has improved consid-erably over the last few years. My competitors are also my counterparts, and although we have products that are direct competition with each other, the reality is that we behave like colleagues and we are not afraid of speaking to each other. This creates momentum and strength when it comes to build-ing the pharmaceutical industry into a very strong asset for the country.

Could this change in the way of working with-in the Mexican pharmaceutical industry be the reason behind Boehringer Ingelheim being ranked 7th in Mexico, yet 15th globally?I would attribute it to something that is even more power-ful. This is a privately owned company, a company that has a long-term view; we are not pushed by the forces of the market which gives us tremendous stability and strength in our pipe-line. On a global level, the amount we invest in our Research

and Development is extremely competitive. This tells you that even though we are a privately owned company, we have the mind-set of an entrepreneurial public company. Worldwide we have a market share of 1.6%, and here in Mexico we have close to 4%, so this gives you an idea about how important operations are here.

What strategies does Boehringer Ingelheim have to work with the government?We do sell a lot to the government, and Seguro Popular is one of our fastest growing segments. The government has granted a faster access process for innovative drugs and although the pricing is very low, we get it back in volume so it’s a win-win situation for everyone involved. Seguro Popular is a great initia-tive: Mexico deserves a stronger and high quality public health system and the need for a new model has been met.

We heard that one of the biggest changes in the industry over the last few years has been that the industry is being listened to more by the government. Do you agree with this?Mikel Arriola has done more for the industry in one year than in the last ten. He has the endorsement of the pharmaceutical

This creates momentum and strength when it comes to building the pharmaceutical industry into a very strong asset for the country



Mexico Report

August 2012

industry, we feel listened to, and we feel we can trust him. Mexico lacks international marketing, and we usually only get bad foreign press- you don’t hear about the fantastic things that are happening here, but people are actually starting to consider the benefit of the patients on both the government and industry side. The innovation we plan today will be the opener for the generics in ten or fifteen years’ time. If there is no innovation there will not be any generics or broader access or better patient treatments.

What new areas and strategies are planned for Boehringer Ingelheim Mexico in order to in-crease Mexican market share, both privately and institutionally?We have always been strong in respiratory and anti-inflamma-tory treatments, and we have just entered cardiology, diabetes, anti-coagulation, virology, and cancer. For diabetes, anti-coag-ulation and cardiology we already have best in class products, and we have also just decided to explore immune diseases for conditions that could be vaccinated against such as malaria, but this is a long way down the pipeline.

Mexico is still a country with a young population and an av-erage age of 24-25 years, so treatments for young people re-main extremely important. A tremendous problem with obesity arose which also drives the cardiovascular and diabetes market and we have just created a long-term alliance with Eli Lilly for at least four or five diabetes products; one of which is the 2nd most prescribed product for the condition in Mexico.

Boehringer Ingelheim globally has invested a substantial amount in research and clinical tri-als. What do you think are Mexico’s qualities as a clinical trial hub over other Latin American countries?It’s a greenfield; there is not one single clinical trial in the com-pany in which Mexico is not participating. Right now we have more than 37 trials running for both current and future prod-

ucts, and it has allowed us to gain rapid approvals for prod-ucts due to the preference given to clinical trials performed in Mexico with Mexican researchers and Mexican patients. COFE-PRIS is willing to give fast-track approval when they see Mexico getting involved.

In Mexico we have a group of Mexicans leading teams in South America, which means we have centers of expertise here in Mexico leading research in, for example cardiovascular, for the rest of Latin America.

There is a lot of contract manufacturing coming out of Bra-zil for Boehringer Ingelheim. What is the situation in Mexico?

In 1995, Boehringer Ingelheim wrote their manufacturing strategy and decided that Mexico was to be a center of excel-lence in terms of manufacturing, and the company invested more than $70 million USD in a new plant which would be one of the manufacturing hubs for the rest of the world. Since 1995 we have been the only company approved by the FDA to export prescription medicines for human health to the United States, and we have manufactured and exported from here to the United States since then. Around 60% of our products are exported globally and 40% is local, and even part of the local production goes to third party manufacturing. We are focused on high quality and high delivery, and the executives who have worked in Boehringer Ingelheim for the last 20 years have cre-ated such a great reputation for Mexico in this sense, which actually allowed is to invest more.

Having an FDA plant puts us in a very advantageous posi-tion; we have great cost benefit which enables us to compete against India, China, the United States and Europe.

We asked Rafael Gual, general director of CANI-FARMA which companies, in his opinion, repre-sented great corporate culture- and he told us Boehringer Ingelheim. What makes you stand out from other companies in this respect?Boehringer Ingelheim has a clear family tradition, we are a privately owned company and we intend to remain like that; we give value through innovation, and that is our motto. We believe that leadership is about groups of people working to-gether, and we try our hardest to empower them. The char-acter of the company is made up of four different elements: trust; empathy; respect; and passion. When you speak to peo-ple working here, you will see that they have these four ele-ments in common. We have 1,800 employees in Mexico, and every day we try to remind them who they are and why they are here: we are here to save the lives of millions of patients. Boehringer Ingelheim employees are extraordinary people, and by changing our individual square meter of space, we can change the world itself.

Seguro Popular is a great initiative: Mexico deserves a stronger and high quality public health system and the need for a new model has been met.



Mexico Report

INTERVIEW WITH: CARLOS LOPEZ PATAN, DIRECTOR GENERAL, MEDIX

Medix is a company focused on the treatment of obesi-ty. With regards to perfor-mance, last year the com-pany grew an impressive 35%. How was this growth achieved? We have always had a branch of products to fight against overweight and obesity but five or six years ago

we turned it into our main business unit where we also in-tegrated and consolidated the whole work of the company. Everything that we have been working on since 2007 was built and constructed around this concept- the integral manage-ment and treatment of obesity and being overweight.

Since then we have been growing very rapidly: the annu-al average increase rate is 20% and the highest growth was close to 35%. We are #1 in the private prescription market supplying almost 40% of the total units, and almost 60% of the total number of prescriptions. Basically, we are the number one option for physicians in order to treat obesity.

By creating products for each step in the obesity chain- the diagnosis, treatment and maintenance- we are not just offer-ing a product, but a holistic solution that addresses many fac-tors in the equation.

Mikel Arriola told us that he doesn’t just see the COFEPRIS as a regulatory body, but an eco-nomic promotor. What are your thoughts? I completely agree. When you talk to Mikel, the main idea he transmits is not only medical, but economical, and specifi-cally how COFEPRIS can support the exportation of products and services. He says we need to regulate the pharmaceutical industry but at the same time to promote it. They are not op-posite objectives; they are complimentary goals that can be achieved in conjunction with each other.

Medix exports products to Argentina and the manufacturing plant has been certified by AN-MAT. What makes exporting so attractive for Medix? We have been exporting products to Central America since the 1990s and through a distributor. Now we are exporting more than products, we are exporting the model that I mentioned earlier which is the integral treatment and management of obesity. In general, governments are anxious to have viable op-tions to combat obesity, and exporting the model has seemed to work opening the doors in South America. Although we are able to export this concept of a complete model, it is very im-portant to consider the uniqueness and characteristics of every country. If you try to export the Mexican model to Argentina you might not succeed because every country is different.

In order to achieve this ‘tailor-made’ approach, Produmedix Internacional Argentina needs to establish relationships with the authorities in that country in order to understand how things operate, and especially regarding health cost invest-ment and social services. The aim is to integrate their interests with ours to achieve a complete and flexible model for each country.

Everything that we have been working on since 2007 was built and constructed around this concept- the integral management and treatment of obesity and being overweight.



Mexico Report

August 2012

Diet, nutrition and exercise are extremely important but there are also several psychological, social and environmen-tal factors to consider when looking at treatment in a certain country. These can range from working conditions, food type availability in your area, home conditions, and education. It would be impossible to recommend a treatment without tak-ing those factors into consideration.

How have you perceived the change in public and Government opinion towards obesity and its treatment in the last few years? In Mexico we have tried to create awareness surrounding over-weight and obesity. The problem is the lack of general access to the tools required to fight against it effectively and as a result, Mexico is #1 globally for childhood obesity and #2 for adults, and growing!

We need to find out why people do not have a minimum level of activity in their life. Diet and exercise are part of the treatment but not the whole solution.

At the end of the day, responsibility needs to come from the patient to adhere to treatment, but while the cost in terms of finance is enormous, they usually require external help and analysis from an expert. Globally, governments have been get-ting increasingly involved in creating awareness amongst the population but not necessarily offering the very best solutions. It’s a work in progress.

Does Medix have any awareness projects run-ning in conjunction with the government, or with doctors, in order to increase obesity awareness? Firstly, we have to educate. Secondly, the nutritional options available in schools need to be improved. Much of your per-sonality, habits and beliefs are developed during school years, and good nutrition is key. On top of that if we create a well-educated society, people will start to demand a higher quality of food and in turn industry will have to supply it and provide a wider range of nutritional options.

We also train and teach about obesity in higher-education institutions. We have a specialized 120 hour course for institu-tions and companies across the country that discusses purely overweight and obesity. We also finance medical training in universities and teach professionals to take a holistic approach when it comes to overweight and obesity, instead of simply isolating specific physical problems to do with comorbidities. We are also working with partners in the area of meals, which helps but it is not the final solution: education and habits are the solution but it is not a short process.

Companies also need to support the treatment of over-

weight and obesity by starting with their own employees, and we have a Medix team dedicated to this. If you reduce obesity levels by 5% within a company you will get happier and more productive employees, all for a very low investment.

What particular awareness programs do you have in Medix? We have a program called Medix Light. Two years ago we re-ceived an award from the government for having the best pro-gram of this kind, not in the pharmaceutical industry, but in all industries. We are going to receive another award this year for the same program.

Medix Light was an in-house initiative that we now use as the model for implementing in other companies. As part of our culture, the idea is to combat overweight and obesity using an integral approach within the company.

Medix has received a series of awards for being a socially re-sponsible company; can you tell us a little bit more about this?

Yes, we have achieved recognition for being a Socially Re-sponsible Company for the last seven years. We also received the National Technological Award which was granted by the President for having high quality integrated technological practices for a medium-sized company.

Social responsibility within a company is very important in the sense that is not only a declaration but the core of the or-ganization. It is an essential part of each and every successful business in today’s world, and the way to integrate correctly and effectively with society.

You mentioned in a previous interview that 2012 would be a decisive year. What exactly do you mean by decisive? In the next five years the market itself will also grow and we will be integrating new products, not only medications, but partnering with other companies in order to have meals and diagnosis equipment. We cannot make every product, but we can form strategic partnerships to provide the pieces of the puzzle that are missing. This will help us to become the num-ber one option for overweight and obesity treatment in both Mexico and Latin America.

If you could define your overriding philosophy on one sentence, what would it be? Fighting against obesity means that you are also contributing to society, and I believe you need to create value for society in order to make a business.



Mexico Report

INTERVIEW WITH: MARKUS KRENZLIN, COUNTRY MANAGER, SHIRE

Please can you give us a rundown of Shires activi-ties in Mexico in the last four years, and the key achievements and mile-stones along the way?Shire started operations in Mexico in 2008 and we have had a compound growth rate of almost 100 percent per year. We are doing this by focus-

ing on a segment of the market that has always been there, but only now are people actually receiving the treatment.

I think that Mexico has a great attitude towards orphan drugs. The Mexican authorities are very conscious of the vari-ous niche problems that exist for patients across the country and have been very open in making orphan drugs available to them. This is why Shire has been able to establish itself here and make treatments available to patients. Over the past two years we have been able to get four products onto the market, three of which are available in the public health system: one for Hunter’s Disease, another for Fabry Disease, and the third that was approved last year is for Gaucher´s Disease.

The situation in Mexico seems different from Brazil where some patients have had to fight in court in order to receive their treatment. Has this ever happened in Mexico?We know there are patients in Mexico that have legally fought for access to their drugs, but now there is no need to take le-gal action. Together we made access possible for orphan drugs simply through dialogue with the authorities.

A great example is Seguro Popular, which provides one of our treatments – for Hunter Disease – to patients under 10 years of age. These are very poor patients whose families would never be able to afford a biotechnology drug in order to be treated privately.

There was a change to general health law in Mexico pub-lished on February 29th. Article 224 has been amended so that it both recognizes that there are orphan diseases, and that there are orphan drugs to treat them. In essence it means that the Ministry of Health has to support the development of the diagnosis and treatment of these diseases. I think this opens up considerable possibilities, and if you look at the social issues in Mexico then you can see this is a huge step forward. We have now cases with people living in very poor and remote areas that are getting treated with a biotechnology product.

But doesn’t Seguro Popular just cover the basic needs of the population. How did you manage to get orphan drugs under the umbrella?The Seguro Popular covers basic needs but it has also very important programs for catastrophic diseases such as certain type of cancers. It’s true that our products are not cheap, but they are providing great value to patients and their family and the society overall by really enabling people with life threaten-ing diseases to lead better lives. In addition to the authorities’

The Mexican authorities are very conscious of the various niche problems that exist for patients across the country and have been very open in making orphan drugs available to them.



Mexico Report

August 2012

awareness on the problem, there are also a number of very active and well organized patient organizations who, through dialogue, have been able to open up the doors to get these approvals.

Do you think there is enough awareness for the diseases you are treating in Mexico, amongst both the public and the physicians?Awareness is definitely a problem: if you look at prevalence or incidence data and how many patients have been either identified or are on treatments, you will find figures indicating that only 10-15 percent of the theoretical disease population have been diagnosed. This means there are a large number of patients in need of our treatment but not receiving it.

Even though there is not a high level of awareness, it is dif-ficult to do any big campaigns because these diseases are so rare. There are maybe 250 cases in the whole of Mexico, so we need to deal with awareness differently. We usually manage awareness through supporting medical education programs or through supporting the patient associations because they know the families and the patients, which helps them to han-dle the problem more effectively. We are also doing continuous support to physicians for diagnosis, but even though we are trying to play our part it is very difficult as many of the patients live in extremely rural areas, and Mexico is a huge country.

Will the growth of healthcare from the govern-ment aid this awareness issue? Yes I believe so. We are already in discussions with the authori-ties on how we can support them and provide training and in-formation to the parties involved. At the end of the day Shire is a company that enables patients with difficult and life-threat-ening diseases and their families to live much better lives.

Angus Russell, the CEO of Shire worldwide said Shire is different because its employees care about what they do and what they are working for. How has that corporate philosophy shaped

Shire Mexico?It is all about people, and it starts with hiring the right people who come to us for the right reasons. Shire is a company at-tractive to a certain breed of employees who are really looking to make a difference in patients’ lives. People come and work with us with the expectation of truly helping people, and here they will have the opportunity to do so from the very begin-ning.

This might sound slightly strange, but sometimes it is not re-ally about business, it is about getting people onto treatments. The impact for the patient is so huge, not just physically, but for their entire social environment which exactly is what drives us to overcome any difficulties along the way.

How difficult is it to attract the right talent and successfully recruit in Mexico?Finding the right talent is very difficult in any market, and Mex-ico is especially a complicated market in terms of talent. On top of that we need to find the right talent with the mindset I just described, which makes it even harder. You need to put in a great deal of effort and resources to identify the right peo-ple, and after being 10 years in the market here I’ve seen that there is a huge pool of young, very well prepared, and very well-oriented professionals who are the right people for Shire.

Where can we expect to see Shire in five years’ time?At the moment we just do Human Genetic Therapies (HGT) here in Mexico, but there are two more business units one of which specializes in Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disor-der (ADHD) and Gastrointestinal (GI) which are about to be launched here rather soon, and the third business unit is re-generative medicine. So we expect establishing full Shire op-erations in the country in the mid-term.

In your opinion, what makes Shire stand out from the rest of the pharmaceutical crowd? We at Shire are committed to delivering value to all our stake-holders and that is not just a corporate phrase. Shire in Mexico is dedicated in becoming a partner to the authorities, to the patient associations, and to all stakeholders in the market seg-ment. Shire globally has a BRAVE culture, and we strive to do better every day. We are patient-orientated and that is the reason I am working here. You cannot imagine the impact of knowing that a patient gets treatment and a transformed life because of you.

Only 10-15 percent of the theoretical disease population have been diagnosed



Mexico Report

INTERVIEW WITH: ALFREDO RIMOCH, DIRECTOR GENERAL, LIOMONT

Please can you tell us more about Liomont as a compa-ny?Liomont will be 75 years old next year and over recent years we have put particular focus on branded ge-nerics. Branded generics have ex-isted for a long time in Mexico and we have worked for many years in promoting our vision of the company

which is based on quality and trust through our services and our products. Doctors that rely on the quality of our products always choose us, and because there has been so much con-fusion surrounding the concept of generics, many doctors still cannot rely on the quality of pure generics.

In 2008, only 5% of Liomont business came from the institutional market. Have you seen more growth opportunities over the last few years now that the Government has prioritized health coverage?The situation with government sales varies from year to year and relies purely on price opportunities because that’s the only element that is valued by the government in Mexico. Person-ally I don’t think it is the best strategy for them because it has created a lot of problems in terms of product availability. When you rely solely on price, a company can win a tender but might not be prepared to manufacture and deliver the products in a timely manner, which then creates a big problem for the Government in terms of product availability. Then that forces the Government to purchase products at a much higher price, outside of the tender organization.

How much does Liomont export, and do you see this as a future growth strategy?

In terms of value, our export is worth about 5% of our busi-ness, but 8% in terms of volume. We export some of our OTC products mainly to the Hispanic market in the United States, mainly California and Texas. We are also in the process of entering the United States generics market through a local partner and have several Abbreviated New Drug Applications (ANDAs) pending. One month ago we were inspected by the European authorities and obtained the GMP certificate for the Europe, since then we have already filed our first ANDAs in Spain, Italy, France, Sweden and Germany. We have a strong partnership with a Spanish company Pensa Pharma, which is the generic brand of Esteve.

What kind challenges has Liomont faced enter-ing the Unites States, and do you expect to find the same challenges entering the European market?The real challenge lies in documentation and bio-equivalency compliance. We had to carry out bio-equivalence tests outside of Mexico because the requirements are slightly different to here. There has been a policy of automatic recognition by the

We are in the process of building a new research and development facility which will be one of the largest research centers in the country to be inaugurated in 2012.



Mexico Report

August 2012

Mexican authorities to products which are registered by the FDA which I personally believe does not make for loyal com-petition. When it comes to recognizing drug registrations from other countries, I would agree with automatic registration, but only if there is mutual recognition which I think is a process that the authorities should seek and aim for.

All the countries in South and Central America are very dif-ferent, but which are the most important markets for Liomont.

At present we have expanded specifically in Guatemala, El Salvador, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Panama, Peru, the Dominican Re-public from where we distribute to the Caribbean, Venezuela is also one of our strongest markets, and finally Chile.

Where do you see the future for Liomont in Re-search and Development, where will you be po-sitioned in the coming years?For many years at Liomont it has been very clear for us that it is the way to go. We know we are not going to discover new molecules in the short-term, but we do carry out a lot of clinical research in terms of developing new formulations and combinations, dosage forms, uses of medicines and delivery systems. We are in the process of building a new research and development facility which will be one of the largest research centers in the country to be inaugurated in 2012.

Do you think there is a sufficiently large talent pool in Mexico on the side of scientists? Do you ever have problems recruiting the right people?I think there are very good scientists in Mexico, but for the industry it has been very difficult to find the right people that have the right philosophy in terms of science combined with business. There is a lot of talent in some of the academic re-search centers, but do not have the mind set to work in indus-try. In an academic environment you get incentives through the number of publications, whereas in industry it is important to be able to patent the research or product, and when you publish something, it instantly loses the opportunity of being patented.

Liomont has a very strong corporate culture and has been awarded for its Corporate Social Responsibility many years in a row. How has that helped to shape Liomont’s culture and growth?Liomont has a very strong culture of social responsibility at its core, which originated from the founders of the company. Our founder was very concerned about “easing human pain”- the company took it quite literally and it has been incorporated into the company’s mission statement ever since.

We are Distintivo H and ISO 9001 certified, we received the CONCAMIN award for outstanding implementation of ethi-cal values every year from 2005 until today. We have received two Best Corporate Practice awards from CEMEFI, and the ESR award for being a socially responsible company seven years in a row.

In terms of social projects, we have been awarding children from secondary schools for carrying out environmental pro-jects in their area for the last 12 years. We have also joined up with UNICEF since 1999 in order to carry out projects such as Friendly School, where we bring basic educational aid to small schools in very poor rural areas of Mexico. We are also carrying out a campaign in health centers across the country for parents on how to stimulate their children’s learning from a very early age, and working on a project where we provide inserts in our paediatric products that give tips to parents on the same subject. We also have a campaign that helps with the treatment of infectious and parasitic diseases in very remote areas of the country where we provide the treatment for free.

When we come back in 2016, where will Lio-mont be positioned in Mexican, and global pharmaceutical market?I see Liomont more and more as a global company- the world is getting too small to rely solely on the local market. Overall the main growth of the company is in our export sales which are growing at a rate of 16%. We have truly international standards in the company and we base our growth on quality and trust.

I see Liomont more and more as a global company- the world is getting too small to rely solely on the local market.

We have received […] the ESR award for being a socially responsible company seven years in a row



Mexico Report

INTERVIEW WITH: GUY JEAN SAVOIR, GENERAL DIRECTOR, CARNOT LABORATORIOS

Techsphere is celebrat-ing 70 years as a company. Please can you describe to us in your own words the evolution of the Mexican pharmaceutical industry, and the most impactful changes for the company?In 2008 you could find a market that was extremely healthy, from 2008

until now there have been a lot of changes that significantly impacted the industry, both regulatory, financially and inter-nally. Between 2002 and 2008 the Mexican industry commit-ted price abuse and year after year there were price increases of around 25%, which was a huge mistake. It was possible at the time because Mexico didn’t really have a generics law: you had non-generics and you had ‘similares’ that were targeting a different segment of the population. As a result of these prices increases, the public started having problems with out-of-pocket expenditure which became a significant incentive to change things.

In 2008 we had a really big problem with the global crisis pushing Mexico into a very difficult economic situation, which had a strong impact on the population’s power of acquisition- hence the draw towards generics.

The last thing that happened was the change in regula-tion; Mikel Arriola in COFEPRIS has been very hard at trying to make it work by understanding the needs of the people, the needs of the industry and matching them into something that actually gives results, and the generics law was passed allowing the public to find quality interchangeable generics at reasonable prices.

The compounding of those three events generated aggres-sive growth in the generics market: probably more aggressive than in Brazil and the United States, and as a result the private prescription market ended up losing a lot of business, generat-ing difficult times.

Today you have to be extremely price conscious when you launch a product on the market, you have to be aware of the added benefits of a differentiated product.

Was the massive boom in generics what prompted Carnot to look more closely into for-eign markets?In short, yes. I had started the export side of the business in 2002 and proposed that we needed to diversify the company’s risk and seek markets outside of Mexico, because our current operations were unsustainable in the long run.

We also have 130 people working on Research and Devel-opment in the company which gives us the potential to have differentiated products, giving significant protection against generics because we have patent protection allowing the higher revenues to continue growth and investment in further Research and Development.

So those are our two strategies: to seek export markets and continue releasing innovative products that meet currently un-met needs in the local market.

Today you have to be extremely price conscious when you launch a product on the market, you have to be aware of the added benefits of a differentiated product.



Mexico Report

August 2012

If exporting to foreign markets is one of your major strategies, four years ago you were en-tering Argentina and Colombia, but what is the situation now regarding export activity in Car-not?So far we are in Colombia, Peru, Uruguay, we have a joint venture in Brazil and Argentina, and a new subsidiary in Vene-zuela. Plans that used to be just good ideas in the past are now operating and functioning today, and in those markets there is good, healthy growth with an increasing middle class and growing purchasing power. Brazil is the next big one for us, and Venezuela is the next medium-sized market to tackle, both of which we are more confident about after having success-fully entered and operated in other Latin American countries.

We are also going to transfer our export model outside of Latin America and we are currently looking for partners in North Africa, non-EU Eastern Europe, Middle East, South East Asia and West Africa.

Talking about differentiation, four years ago you were in the process of getting the licenses to sell one of your unique fertility products in the United States and Canada. How has that progressed?We closed that license with Ferring Pharmaceuticals and they will launch the product for us in North America- right now we are going through the regulatory process. The product was launched in Mexico and we are selling it right now; it’s a suc-cess.

Also in our line of delayed-release injectable medicines, like our fertility product, is the lowest dose of hormonal replace-ment therapy that is available on the market. It contains a mix of P4 Progesterone and B17 Estronil, which is exactly what doctors are asking for. Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) is needed in order to prevent Osteoporosis and for women’s general health, but it needs to be given at the lowest dose possible. Our HRT is a twenty times lower dosage than the current oral HRTs which is a significant safety benefit, and we are looking for partners for this next big licensing agreement.

What do you think are Carnot’s most attractive qualities are in order for it to have been proven a good partner in business?We have got good differentiated products with a world-class quality system, and we have the flexibility to price our products in a way that allows us to access developing markets.

Why do you think that other Mexican compa-

nies have not chosen to go abroad and export more outside of Central America?They are starting to take that leap forward and if you look at the industry right now, there are many companies doing so. We were all late to do it, it’s just that we were ‘less late’ that the others!

Do you feel there is enough work being done in the academic institutions in Mexico to home-grow talent across the board?I’ll break it into two parts- for the Research and Development we are doing a lot more work with the institutions now than we were a few years ago which is great. We are happy that we can have agreements with them on various product develop-ments. On the export and logistics side, the problem is that universities don’t have anything specific and it is something that has developed as an industry need. The idea is to start generating our own seeds of talent from within and create Export managers, Logistics managers and Area managers that have the capacity to do a great job.

Where do you see Carnot positioned in five years from now, both in Research and Develop-ment and also going international?We currently have an intensive Research and Development program planned for the next few years with some new addi-tional new technologies being developed. I also see the ability to license our technology platforms to other countries. This includes delayed-release injectable microsphere technology; orally dissolving delayed-release capsules; and an innovative platform for inhalable products.

On the international side, I expect to see us as a very well-placed company in all of the important Latin American mar-kets, and a company that has a significant distribution network outside of Latin America.

What would be your defining message about the Mexican pharmaceutical industry and the potential it holds?Don’t overlook Mexican innovation because there are some important technological developments being managed here by local laboratories. Quite a few companies here are working on innovation in a big way, and Mexico is a place where multina-tional companies might want to come and find out what we are doing, and to take our products into markets where we are not capable of going by ourselves.



Mexico Report

Exclusive interviewsMore interviews available on www.pharma.focusreports.net:

Bertrand Baron, Director General, Sanofi Mexico

Carlos Banos, President and Director General, Lilly Mexico

Dagoberto Cortes, General Director, Hormona

Dr Juan Francisco Millan Soberanes, Director General, CETIFARMA

Ana Cristina Mirassou, Biotechnology Manager, Grupo IFACO

Angel Sosa Hurtado, Director General , Octapharma Mexico

Aristides Torres, CEO, Vanquish

Aurelio Martinez, General Manager Mexico, CA & Caribbean, Cegedim

Héctor Carrillo, General Director, Apotex Mexico

Héctor Valle, General Manager North Latin America, IMS Health

Israel Garcia Crespo, General Manager, Almirall Mexico

Jaime Uribe, Probiomed

Gabriel Zavala, Commercial General Director, Farmacias del Ahorro

Guillermo Funes Rodriguez, Director General, Silanes

Guillermo Ibarra, CEO and his management team, More Pharma

Hector Avila, General Manager, CECyC Pharma



Mexico Report

August 2012

Joel Duran, Marketing Director, Novo Nordisk Mexico

Jorge Escalona Theurel, Director General, MAYPO

Karel Fucikovsky, General Director Mexico & Central America, Pierre Fabre Médicament

Luis Calderon, Managing Director, Stendhal

Luis Verduzco, General Director, Gelpharma

Nicolás Rúbio, Vice President, Industria Farmacéutica Andrómaco

Norbert Oppitz - Senior Vice President Latin America, Nycomed, A Takeda Company

Oscar Parra, General Manager, Lundbeck Mexico

Rafael Gual Cosio, Director General, CANIFARMA

Ricardo Alvarez-Tostado, President and Director General, AstraZeneca Mexico

Ricardo Ganem, VP and General Manager, Perrigo Mexico

Rodrigo Iturralde, Corporate Director, Randall

Sergio Duplan, Country President and General Manager, Novartis Mexico

Timothy Daveler, VP and Director General, MSD Mexico

Tomas Bordonaba, General Manager, Grünenthal de Mexico



Mexico Report

For more interviews with leaders of the global

pharmaceutical industry, go to

pharma.focusreports.net



Mexico Report

August 2012

Company directoryGovernmentCOFEPRIS Monterrrey 33 Col. Roma Norte México 06700 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 5080 5200

CONACYT Avenida Insurgentes Sur 1582 Col. Crédito Constructor México 03940 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 5322 7700

Consejo de Salubridad General Lieja 7, Piso 2 Col. Juárez México 06600 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 5062 1648

IMSS Paseo de la Reforma 476 Col. Juárez México 06698 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 5211 2874

ISSSTE Avenida de la República 154 Col. Tabacalera México 06030 Distrito Federal MEXICO +1800 001 2007

ProMexico Camino a Santa Teresa 1679 Col. Jardines del Pedregal México 01900 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 5447 7070

Secretaría de Economía Alfonso Reyes 30 Col. Hipódromo Condesa México 06140 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 5729 9100

Secretaría de Salud Lieja 7 Col. Juárez México 06600 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 5062 1600

Seguro Popular Gustavo E. Campa 54 Col. Guadalupe Inn México 01020 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 5090 3600

SEPROE Jalisco López Cotilla 1505, Edificio SEPROE, Piso 9 Col. Americana Guadalajara 44140 Jalisco MEXICO +52 (33) 3678 2000

United States FDA Sierrra Nevada 115 Col. Lomas de Chapultepec México 11000 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 5028 5400

Associations and FoundationsAFMAC Nicolás San Juan 1511 Col. Del Valle México 03100 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 9183 2060

AMELAF Alfonso Esparza Oteo 144 Col. Guadalupe Inn México 01020 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 5662 2014

AMIIF Avenida Cuauhtémoc 1481, Piso 1 Col. Santa Cruz Atoyac México 03310 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 5688 9477

ANAFAM Avenida Cuauhtemoc 1481 Col. Santa Cruz Atoyac México 03310 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 5601 3082

CANIFARMA Avenida Cuauhtemoc 1481 Col. Santa Cruz Atoyac México 03310 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 5688 9477

CETIFARMA Avenida Cuauhtémoc 1481, Piso 3 Col. Santa Cruz Atoyac México 03310 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 5688 9477

Funsalud Periférico Sur 4809 Col. El Arenal Tepepan México 14610 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 5655 9000

INMEGEN (Institute for Genomic Medicine) Periférico Sur 4809 Col. Arenal Tepepan México 14610 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 5350 1900



Mexico Report

Pharmaceutical CompaniesAbbott Laboratories Calzada de Tlalpan 3092 Col. Coyoacán México Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 5809 7500

Allen Laboratorios Avenida Instituto Politecnico Nacional 4728 Col. Tlacamaca México 07380 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 5587 0955

Allergan Avenida Santa Fé 505, Piso 11 Col. Cruz Manca Santa Fé México 05349 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 5999 8502

Almirall Periférico Sur 3325, Piso 1 Col. San Jeronimo México 10200 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 5999 8600Amgen Avenida Vasco de Quiroga 3000, Piso 4 Col. Sante Fe México 01210 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 4424 4600

AMSA Laboratorios Las Flores 56

Col. La Candelaria México 04380 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 5421 6550

Apotex Damas 120 Col. San José Insurgentes México 03900 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 5482 9000

Armstrong Laboratorios de México División del Norte 3311 Col. Candelaria México 04380 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 3000 1531

Asofarma Avenida Periférico Sur 5358 Col. Olímpica México 04710 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 5424 8500

Aspen Monte Elbruz 124, Piso 4, Oficina 401 Col. Palmitas México 11560 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 9126 0860

Aspid Pharma Bélgica 518 Col. Portales México 03300 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 2595 0970

AstraZeneca Periférico Sur 4305, 5th Floor Col. Jardines en la Montaña México 14210 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 5374 9600

Baxter Presidente Masaryk 111, Piso 4 Col. Polanco México 11570 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 9126 5000

Bayer Boulevard Miguel Cervantes Saavedra 259 Col. Granada México 11520 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 5728 3000

Beaufour Ipsen Calle Lafayette 94, Colonia Anzues, Mexico DF 11590 México Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 3640 2100

Biofarma Natural CMD Circuito de la Productividad 105 Parque Industrial Guadalajara El Salto 45690 Jalisco MEXICO +52 (33) 3836 4570

Boehringer Ingelheim Maiz 49 Xochimilco México 16090 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 5629 8300

Bristol Myers Squibb Avenida Revolución 1267 Col. Tlacopac México 01049 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 5337 2800

Carnot Laboratorios Heriberto Frias 1035 Col. Del Valle México 03100 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 5488 7000

Daiichi Sankyo Avenida Manuel Ávila Camacho 76, Piso 9 Col. Lomas de Chapultepec México 11000 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 9178 7647

Dermaceutical México La Quemada 240 Col. Piedad Navarte México Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 5579 2869

Eli Lilly Barranca del Muerto 329 Col. San José Insurgentes México 03900 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 1719 4500

Farmasa Schwabe Búfalo 27 Col. Del Valle México 03100 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 5200 2680



Mexico Report

August 2012

Ferring Avenida Nemesio Diez Riega Mza. 2, Lote 15, No. 15 Col. Parque Industrial Cerrillo 2 Lerma 05200 Estado de México MEXICO +52 (728) 284 7140

Fresenius Kabi Paseo del Norte 5300 Guadalajara Technology Park Zapopan 45010 Jalisco MEXICO +52 (33) 3540 7855

Galderma José María Ibarrarán 20 Col. San José Insurgentes México Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 5593 4353

Gelpharma Avenida Paseo del Pacifico 410 Technology Park Zapopan 45010 Jalisco MEXICO +52 (33) 3777 4770

Genomma Lab Avenida Santa Fe 495 Col. Cruz Manca Santa Fé México 05344 Distrito Federal MEXICO 01800 717 1305

GlaxoSmithKline Calzada México Xochimilco 4900 Col. San Lorenzo Huipulco México 14370 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 5483 8300

Grunenthal Periférico Sur 5991 Col. Arenal Tepepan México 14610 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 5641 4488

Grupo IFACO KM 22.5 Carretera Guadalajara-Morelia Tlajomulco de Zuniga 45640 Jalisco MEXICO +52 (33) 3283 0000

Grupo Roche Syntex Cerrada de Bezares 9 Col. Lomas de Bezares México 11910 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 5258 5000

Hormona Boulevard Adolfo Lopez Mateos 314 - 2 Col. Tlacopac México 01049 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (5)5 5481 5600

Hospira Prolongación Paseo de la Reforma 1015, Torre A, Piso 20 Col. Desarollo Santa Fe México 01376 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 3067 4300

IFA Celtics Periférico Sur 3325, Torre Corum Piso 6 Col. San Jerónimo Aculco Magdalena Contreras México 10400

Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (777) 329 9800

Industria Farmacéutica Andrómaco Boulevard Manuel Ávila Camacho 88, Piso 9 Col. Lomas de Chapultepec México 11000 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 9178 7558

Industrias Suanca Nogal 64 Col. San José de los Cedros México 05200 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 5813 2000

Janssen Cilag Miguel Angel de Quévedo 247 Col. Romero de Terreros México 04310 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 5484 2300

Keton Lago Xochimilco 65 Col. Anahuac México 11540 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 5341 9751

Laboratorios Kener Paseo de los Tamarindos 400, Torre Poniente Oficina 7A Col. Bosques de las Lomas México 05120 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 5095 4940

Laboratorios Sanfer Boulevard Adolfo López

Mateos 314, Piso 1 A Col. Tlacopac México 01049 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 5481 5400

Laboratorios Senosiain Andrés Bello 45, Piso 21 Col. Polanco Chapultepec México 11560 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 5280 4999

Laboratorios Servier Paseo de las Palmas 830 PH Col. Lomas de Chapultepec México 11000 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 5520 3119

Laboratorios Sophia Paseo del Norte 5255 Guadalajara Technology Park Zapopan 45010 Jalisco MEXICO +52 (33) 3001 4200

Laboratorios Valdecasas Avenida Insurgentes Sur 4058 Col. Tlalpan México 14000 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 5573 5256

Landsteiner Scientific Boulevard Adolfo Ruíz Cortinez 4124, Torre 2A, Piso 8 Col. Jardines del Pedregal México 01900 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 5449 3690



Mexico Report

Liomont Adolfo Lopez Mateos 68 Col. Cuajimalpa de Morelos México 05000 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 5814 1200

Lundbeck Avenida Insurgentes Sur 1605, Torre Mural, Piso 28 Col. San José Insurgentes México 03900 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 5062 6900

Manuell Jarcieria 237 Col. Morales México 15270 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 5795 2212

Mavi Farmacéutica Puente de Xoco 35 Col. Xoco México 03330 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 1084 2502

Meda Pharma Pico de Verapaz 435 - 302 Col. Jardines en la Montaña México 14210 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 3089 2720

Medix Calzada de Hueso 39 Col. Ex-Ejido de Santa Ursula Coapa México 04650 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 5096 2200

Medley Avenida Universidad 1738 Col. Coyoacán México 04000 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 5484 4400

Menarini Periférico Sur 4118 - 102, Edificio Zafiro Torre 1 Col. Jardines del Pedregal México 01900 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 5020 7000

Merck Calle 5 No.7 Naucalpan de Juárez México 53370 Estado de México MEXICO +52 (55) 2122 1600

Merz Avenida Insurgentes Sur 1196, Torre de los Parques, Piso 15 Col. Del Valle México Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 9140 0650

Moksha8 Paseo de los Tamarindos 90, Arcos Bosques 1, Torre 1, Piso 14 Col. Bosques de las Lomas México 05120 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 3601 3676

More Pharma Ejercito Nacional 926, Int. 203 Col. Los Morales Sección Palmas México 11540 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 5557 3388

MSD Avenida San Jerónimo 369 Col. La Otra Banda México 01090 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 5481 9708

Nafar Laboratorios Periférico Sur 8565 B, Int 2 Col. El Mante Tlaquepaque 45609 Jalisco MEXICO +52 (33) 3188 9009

Nordin Paseo Lomas Altas 292 Fracc. Lomas del Valle Zapopan 45129 Jalisco MEXICO +52 (33) 3642 3030

Novartis Calzada de Tlalpan 1779 Col. San Diego Churubusco México 04120 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 5628 6700

Novo Nordisk Montes Urales 715 Col. Lomas de Chapultepec México 11000 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 5002 6686

Nucitec Comerciantes 15, Nave 3 Col. Peñuelas Querétaro 76148 Querétaro MEXICO +52 (442) 220 6424

Nycomed, a Takeda Company Avenida Primero de Mayo 130 Col. Industrial Atoto México 53519 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 5387 9330

Octapharma Calzada Mexico Tacuba 1419 Col. Argentina Poniente México 11230 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 5399 5644

Opko Avenida del Niño Obrero 651 Col. Chapalita Oriente Zapopan 45040 Jalisco MEXICO +52 (33) 3121 2761

Perrigo Mariano Escobedo 476, Torre Polanco Col. Nueva Anzures México 11590 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 5340 2235

Pfizer Paseo de los Tamarindos 40 Col. Bosques de las Lomas México 05120 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 5081 5800

PharmaService Calle 3 #28 Zona Industrial Benito Juárez Querétaro 76120 Querétaro MEXICO +52 (442) 312 2712



Mexico Report

August 2012

Pierre Fabre Boulevard Manuel Ávila Camacho 191 Col. Los Morales Polanco México 11510 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 2122 3703

Pisa Farmaceutica Avenida España 1840 Col. Moderna Guadalajara 44190 Jalisco MEXICO +52 (33) 3678 1600

Pro Ventas General Leon 40 Fracc. Lomas del Valle México 11850 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 5515 2821

Probiomed San Esteban 88 Col. Santo Tomas México 02020 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 5352 3122

Psicofarma Calzada de Tlalpan 4369 Col. Toriello Guerra México 14050 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 8503 8900

Randall Lago Rodolfo 58 Col. Granada México 11520 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 5545 0088

Rayere Emiliano Zapata 72 Col. Portales México 03300 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 5532 6020

Rimsa Camino a Santa Teresa 1040, Piso 5 Col. Fraccionamiento Jardines en la Montaña México 14210 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 5449 9900

Sanofi Avenida Universidad 1738 Col. Coyoacán México 04000 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 5484 4100

Shire Paseo de los Tamarindos 90, Torre 1, Piso 7 Col. Bosques de las Lomas México 05120 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 5081 0120

Siegfried Rhein Bosque de Alisos 47 - B Col. Bosques de las Lomas México 05120 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 1055 2600

Silanes Miguel Laurent 427 México 03100 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 5488 3700

Solfran Laboratorios Altos Hornos 2721 Col. Industrial el Álamo Tlaquepaque 44490 Jalisco MEXICO +52 (33) 3666 1423

Stendhal Avenida Camino a Santa Teresa 1040 Col. Jardines de la Montaña México 14210 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 2000 6630

Stern Pharma José María de Teresa 65 Col. San Ángel México 01000 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 5616 4651

Streger KM 8 Antigua Carretera Xalapa-Coatepec Consolapa Coatepec 91500 Veracruz MEXICO +52 (228) 8160 330

Teva Pharmaceuticals Pasaje Interlomas 16, Pisos 2 y 5 Col. San Fernando La Herradura México 52784 Estado de México MEXICO +52 (55) 5950 0262

UCB Homero 440, Piso 7 Col. Chapultepec Morales México 11570 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 9159 6868

Unipharm Calle de la Amistad, Lote 3 Col. Los Reyes Industrial México 54073 Estado de México MEXICO +52 (55) 1500 9080

Valeant Calzada de Tlalpan 2021 Col. Parque San Andrés México 04040 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 5062 4800

Vanquish Calle 9 Este 235, Planta Baja Col. Civac Jiutepec 62578 Morelos MEXICO +52 (777) 3261042

CROInfinite Clinical Research Calle Florencia 65, Piso 6 Col. Cuauhtémoc México 06600 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 5514 9439



Mexico Report

Third Authorized Parties

CECyC Amores 320 Col. Del Valle México 03100 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 5682 2752

TAPVS San Francisco 1384, Torre C , Planta Baja Col. Del Valle México 03200 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 5575 2301

Service ProvidersBaker & MacKenzie Boulevard Manuel Ávila Camacho 1, Piso 12 Col. Lomas de Chapultepec México 11000 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 5279 2900

Olivares & Cia Pedro Luis Ogazon 17 Col. San Angel México 01000 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 5322 3000

Cegedim Avenida Insurgentes Sur 1787 Col. Guadalupe Inn México 01020

Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 9172 1201

IMS Health Avenida Insurgentes Sur 2375, Piso 5 Col. Tizapán México 01090 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 5062 5200

Knobloch Information Group Rio de la Plata 53, Bis-101 Col. Cuauhtémoc México 06500 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 5286 0600

Warehousing, Distribution and Retail

Bomi de México Avenida Industria Automotriz 128 Parque Industrial Coecillo Toluca 50246 Estado de México MEXICO +52 (722) 249 2002

Corporativo Fragua Avenida Enrique Díaz de León 261 Norte Col. Villaseñor Guadalajara 44600 Jalisco MEXICO +52 (33) 3669 3333

DHL Express México

Avenida Fuerza Area Mexicana 540 Federal México 15700 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 5345 2000

Farmacia San Pablo Avenida Insurgentes Sur 800, Piso 19 Col. Del Valle México 03100 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 5354 9001

Farmacias Benavides Avenida Fundadores 935, Int. 301 Col. Valle del Mirador Monterrey 64750 Nuevo Leon MEXICO +52 (81) 8150 7700

Farmacias del Ahorro Avenida Insurgentes Sur 1605, Piso 23 Col. San José Insurgentes México 03900 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 5322 4320

Farmacias Similares Alemania 10 Col. Independencia México 03630 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 5422 4500

Fármacos Nacionales Doctor Pasteur 93 Col. Doctores México 06720 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 5134 2100

Federal Express Holdings México y Compañía Avenida Vasco de Quiroga 2999, Piso 1 Col. Peña Blanca Santa Fe México 01207 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 5228 8100

Grupo Casa Saba Paseo de la Reforma 215 Col. Lomas de Chapultepec México 11000 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 5284 6600

Grupo Fármacos Especializados Querétaro 137 Col. Roma México 06700 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 5265 2300

MAYPO Periférico Sur 4118, Edificio Zafiro Torre 1, Piso 8 Col. Jardines del Pedregal México 01900 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 5000 0150



Mexico Report

August 2012

NADRO Avenida Vasco de Quiroga 3100 Col. Centro de Ciudad Santa Fe México 01210 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 5292 4343

United Parcel Service (UPS) Almacén Fiscalizado 21 Aduana del Aeropuerto International Benito Juárez México 15520 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 5228 7981

Press

Diálogo Ejecutivo Patricio Sanz 1582 Col. Del Valle México 03100 Distrito Federal MEXICO +52 (55) 5061 3500



Mexico Report

Ache Labs .................................................. 19

ANAFAM ............................................. 20, 26

Apotex ........................................................ 9

Aspen Labs ......................................... 16, 17

AstraZeneca .......................................... 8, 14

Biofarma Natural CMD ............................ 22

BMI ...................................................... 12, 22

Boehringer Ingelheim Mexico ................. 25

BOMI ......................................................... 28

CANIFARMA .............................. 8, 11, 25, 26

Carnot Laboratories ........................... 19, 20

CECyC Pharma .......................................... 13

Cegedim Mexico, CA & Caribbean .......... 10

COFEPRIS ....................7, 8, 10-14, 19, 25, 26

Daiichi Sankyo .......................................... 25

Eli Lilly ....................................................... 23

Farmacias del Ahorro ............................... 27

Gelpharma ................................................ 28

Grünenthal de ...................................... 9, 10

Grupo IFACO ............................................. 12

Hormona Laboratories ............................. 13

IMS Health .............................. 13, 18, 28, 29

Industria Farmaceútica Andrómaco ........ 21

Infinite Clinical Research ......................... 26

Liomont Laboratories ........................ 20, 22

Lundbeck .................................................. 24

MAYPO ...................................................... 28

Meda Pharma ........................................... 25

Medix .................................................. 23, 24

Medley ...................................................... 16

Menarini ................................................... 25

More Pharma ............................................ 27

MSD ........................................................... 17

Novartis .................................................... 17

Novo Nordisk ...................................... 22, 23

Nycomed ................................................... 18

Octapharma ........................................ 17, 18

Perrigo ...................................................... 29

Pierre Fabre Medicament .................. 17, 18

Probiomed ................................................ 12

Randall Laboratories ................................ 21

Sanofi ............................................ 16, 25, 26

Seguro Popular ......................... 7, 23, 26, 28

Shire Mexico ............................................. 10

Silanes ................................................. 19, 20

Stendhal .................................................... 22

TAPVS ........................................................ 12

Vanquish ................................................... 20

COMPANY INDEX



Mexico Report

August 2012

PAST REPORTS



Mexico Report

email: [email protected]

Date post:	24-Mar-2016
Category:	Documents
Upload:	focus-reports
View:	238 times
Download:	3 times

Pharmaceuticals Mexico report 2012

Documents