The Mexican pharmaceutical industry It could grow between three and four times during the current administration if a State policy focused on modernizing the regulatory framework, generating confidence to attract investment and guaranteeing respect for trade agreements is maintained.
This was stated by the general director of Planning and Evaluation of the Ministry of Economy (SE), Javier Dávila, after highlighting that Mexico is a large market and is the gateway for the rest of Latin America because it has the most diverse clinical fields and geographical proximity to the United States.
However, he recognized that the regulatory lag accumulated for years in the Federal Commission for the Protection against Sanitary Risks (Cofepris) has affected the competitiveness of the national pharmaceutical industry, since some companies moved their clinical trials to other countries, which discouraged investment and caused the loss of opportunities in various areas.
For this reason, he highlighted the importance of modernizing the regulatory framework, streamlining the internal processes of the health authority, advancing its digitalization, accelerating registrations, reducing the backlog and working in coordination with regulatory agencies from other countries, such as the FDA in the United States and the EMA in Europe.
“If we keep pace with the government, the pharmaceutical industry can grow between three and four times in this administration and how do we keep pace? Modernizing the regulatory framework, modernizing Cofepris, modernizing the Mexican Institute of Industrial Property (IMPI),” he noted.
The federal official considered that the regulatory framework has to be dynamic and it is not desirable for it to be static, it has to be permanently renewed.
He added, after his participation in the Forum “Medical Innovation, transforming the lives of patients“, organized by the pharmaceutical company Bayer and Sumedico, that these actions encourage investment and generate confidence in the sector.
Citing data from the National Chamber of the Pharmaceutical Industry (Canifarma), he highlighted the growth potential of the sector, between 2019 and 2022 alone, sales increased 29.8%, going from 413,000 million to 536,000 million pesos.
Javier Dávila reiterated that there are still pending issues, but assured that, “as far as we can reach,” the obstacles will be resolved through the work of various State Secretariats.
He added that the dialogue between the federal government and the Private Initiative, through organizations such as Canifarma, AMIIF, such as AMELAF, among others, is helping to “move towards the correct path.”
“There are many variables that have to be analyzed without stopping the car because this is everyday, but above all, getting to where we want with the Mexico Plan so that the pharmaceutical industry, the national health system, and investment promotion are not going to go out of balance, but quite the opposite,” said the federal official.
Finally, he was optimistic that we are on the right path, with coordinated work between the public and private sectors. “The industry is also participating and is doing it very purposefully, with good intentions. There is great communication, optimism, methodology and will,” he emphasized.
