The president says that the SUS will help increase pharmaceutical production in the country so that they can compete in the global market
The president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (PT) defended this Friday (Aug 23, 2024) the State’s purchasing power as an important instrument for the development of the national industry, especially in the health sector. He said that the SUS (Unified Health System) will allow Brazilian pharmaceutical companies to gain global competitiveness when demanding medicines and other supplies.
“The purchasing power of the State is a very important factor for the development of national industry. If an industry produces and the State does not want to buy from the national industry and imports because it does not pay taxes and is cheaper, the State will not encourage the emergence of an industry. And we are convinced that the purchasing power of the SUS will allow us to have a pharmaceutical industry capable of competing with any in the world,” said Lula.
The PT member participated in the inauguration of an EMS factory in Hortolândia (SP). The factory complex is the first in Brazil to produce synthetic polypeptides, used in medicines for diabetes and obesity.
The ruler stated that Brazil “tired of being small” and a developing country. “For us, the future starts now and this factory is an example that the future has already arrived in the health era in an extraordinary relationship between the SUS and the business sector”, he said.
For Lula, the development of the Brazilian pharmaceutical industry requires a “new structural leap” which demands technological competitiveness, densification of production chains, investment in research and import substitution.
“Investment in health is the big key, a great opportunity for a new pattern of economic development, with social equity and environmental sustainability. […] Brazil has no idea of the technology and quality of its production. I think that even the people here in the city are not aware of the cutting-edge technology used here”, he said.
The new EMS complex has been ready for 1 year, but is still awaiting approval of the production registration of liraglutide by Anvisa (National Health Surveillance Agency), which must be done within 60 days. The registration of semaglutide must be approved within 6 months, but, as the patent for the drug, owned by the Danish company Novo Nordisk, only expires in 2026, the company will need to wait this period to begin production.
According to EMS Vice President Marcus Sanchez, the expectation is that the production of the compounds will result in revenues of approximately US$ 1 billion in 5 years. The pharmaceutical company intends to sell the products in Brazil and initially export them to the United States, where it should obtain registration for liraglutide soon.
On August 14, Lula announced investments of R$42.7 billion for the Health Economic-Industrial Complex until 2026. Under the project, EMS closed a R$500 million financing with BNDES (National Bank for Economic Development) for the production of 8 generic medicines, including for diabetes and cancer, and 17 innovative compounds for anti-inflammatories, anti-allergics, analgesics and medicines for anxiety, insomnia and nausea.
In recent years, medicines such as Ozempic, Saxenda and Mounjaro have become popular due to their “off-label” use, that is, different from what is prescribed in the package insert, and have started to be used by people who just want to lose weight.
Even Denmark’s GDP (gross domestic product) was affected by sales of Ozempic, produced by Novo Nordisk, which became Europe’s most valuable company in 2023. It was priced at $446 billion, a figure above the country’s GDP, estimated at $395 billion. And it recorded a 26% growth in sales in 2022.
Economy in good shape
Lula stated that “Brazil is experiencing a good moment again”with inflation under control, the economy growing and the country once again becoming part of the “world geopolitics”.
“I talk to Fernando Haddad [ministro da Fazenda] and sometimes he’s in trouble and I say, ‘Haddad, don’t worry, man. Even if it goes wrong, it’s going to work out.’ It’s written. I go to sleep and wake up every single day certain that it’s going to work out again. My opponents say I’m lucky and I’m going to keep being lucky.” he said.
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