Sheinbaum goes off script and boosts pharma investment

An interesting turn has taken the position of Q4 around the national pharmaceutical industry in the last week. The recent event where the head of government of Mexico City, Claudia Sheinbaum, enthusiastically announced pharmaceutical investments in the country’s capital reflected a clear change in attitude towards this sector that for the last 4 years has been rather marked by stigma from the government.

Obviously, the governor of the capital stopped worrying about being aligned with the presidential speech attacking the drug-producing sector.

Today it is encouraged to say with all its letters that private investments are important and specifically pharmaceutical ones since they have a low environmental impact and with added benefits such as the fact that it hires qualified labor. It is a notorious change because instead of an attack, now the Morenista government already recognizes the value of the national production of supplies as vital as drugs.

The announcement was originally going to focus in general on the progress of the Vallejo industrial innovation cluster project, but they decided to focus it specifically on the investments of the Neolpharma Group consisting of two production plants and a research center that together will mean around 800 million pesos.

Here clearly there was great work on the part of the team of the businessman Efrén Ocampo and the one that is glimpsed as his successor Astrea Ocampo Gutiérrez de Velasco, who knew how to sell the information on their projects very well to the government, both the Biotechnological Plant focused on developing medicines advanced medicines for autoimmune diseases or cancer and vaccines, such as the injection plant, with the capacity to manufacture 300 million syringes, vials, and vials for oncological diseases, diabetes, and hormonal products. Between the two, it was said, they will trigger the creation of 1,200 direct jobs, news that the head of government liked a lot to announce at a joint press conference. Neolpharma is one of the oldest and fastest growing Mexican laboratories, which today supplies the domestic market but also exports to the United States and Latin American markets.

And the change of script of the 4T is so clear that the secretary of Economic Development of the capital, Fadlala Akabani Hneide, endorsed the new relationship and cordial attitude forward with the pharmaceutical sector, referring to the fact that they will look for areas of opportunity to collaborate with the industry , specifically with the Mexican Association of Pharmaceutical Laboratories (Amelaf) forming working groups, where the Secretary of Education, Science and Technology of the City Government, led by Rosaura Ruíz, will also participate.

Without a doubt, these are positive signs that speak well of the government of Mexico City and also of Amelaf, where its executive president Juan de Villafranca and its council president Luis Verduzco have been doing an excellent job of repositioning the pharmaceutical sector and relations with local authorities. . It must be said that Amelaf is achieving better results in favor of the national drug manufacturing plant, let alone the National Association of Drug Manufacturers (Anafam), which for years has rather been conspicuous by its absence, but the National Chamber itself of the Pharmaceutical Industry (Canifarma). For something, more and more pharmaceuticals are joining the ranks of Amelaf, which today already represents 45 laboratories with more than 80 plants in the country.

Another relevant point is that Mexico City, as one of the main pharmaceutical clusters with the greatest potential, is even recognized internationally, but we must consider the Jalisco cluster that includes the Grupo Pisa plants, which has grown to such a degree that Today it is the main pharmaceutical company in Latin America, and also the Tijuana pharmaceutical cluster, which, although smaller, is important because it is located on the border.

Cancer and work forum

This Wednesday, November 16, a forum will take place where the issue of cancer will be addressed from an approach that has practically been absent, that of the employment position of the growing number of cancer survivors. Organized by the Futeje Foundation that fights against gastric and colorectal cancer, the Grisi Foundation and the National Institute of Cancerology (Incan), the event includes three working groups: Challenges of people with cancer, Lines of communication and Flexible return to work . It is a topic that is not talked about, but it is a harsh reality that every adult diagnosed with cancer lives; Employers do not know how cancer impacts productivity at work, but it should be discussed and how the affected worker should have the option to continue or return to work during or after the illness.

The Government will no longer buy anticovid vaccines

Something that has not been said but that became evident with the approval of the Expenditure Budget for 2023 is that for the Government of Mexico the purchase of reinforcements for the anticovid vaccine in the future is no longer a priority. It is clear that it will no longer buy pandemic vaccines, at least not in a massive way as it was in 2021 and 2022. And this is evident because they simply reduced more than 15,000 million pesos to the budget scheduled for the acquisition of vaccines next year. If by itself there has been a lack of various immunizations, with this cut it is not expected that the situation will improve; It cannot be expected, for example, that they will re-acquire the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccine to protect adolescents above all, but above all hope is lost that we will receive reinforcements again. Perhaps they are anticipating that the Homeland vaccine will come out now…

maribel.coronel@eleconomista.mx