Generics will have investments of US$ 882.4 million
Valor Econômico
The pharmaceutical companies established in the country should invest about R$ 1.5 billion (US$ 882.4 million) this year to increase the production capacity of their factories and meet the strong growth of the segment of generic drugs. This segment advances sustained by breaking of patent of major medicines and the increase of the income of the population. In 2010, sales of these products totaled R$ 6.246 billion (US$ 3.6 billion), with increase of 40% over 2009. In volume, the sale was of 440,343 units, increase of 33% over the previous year, according to a survey by the Brazilian Association of Generic Drugs Industries (Pró Generic).
Major pharmaceutical companies must build new factories to make further progress in this sector. The national laboratory EMS, from Hortolândia (SP), one of the country's largest, announced a new unit - the location has not been defined, although the market point to the Midwest region, between Goiás and Brasília, as the most likely. The investment could reach up to R$ 500 million (US$ 294.1 million), a value that includes the new factory and investments in product launches and sales promotion. The national Aché will invest about R$ 130 million (US$ 76.5 million) this year to complete the investments in its new factory in Guarulhos, in the Metropolitan Area of São Paulo, and also launch new drugs, said Value José Ricardo Mendes Silva, chief executive of the pharmaceutical.
"We have an aggressive plan to generics this year. Today, this segment accounts for 20% of our revenue [which was of R$ 2.3 billion (US$ 1.3 billion) in 2010]", said the executive. Neo Chemistry Laboratories, of Hypermarcas, and the Teuto, both in Anápolis (GO), are also undergoing expansion. Medley, of the French Sanofi-Aventis, will also have a new factory in Brasília.
The share of generics in Brazil reaches 21.3% of the overall market for drugs, which ended last year with sales of R$ 36.265 billion (US$ 20.6 billion), an increase of 20% over the year before. In 2009, the share was in 18.7%, with total sales of R$ 30.251 billion (US$ 15.4 billion). The expectation is that the sector of the generic segment could more than double in coming years, accounting for 40% to 50% of total sales, reaching equal participation of countries like USA and Europe.
"The economy grew in 2010 and the access to medicines accompanied this movement", said Odnir Finotti, chief executive of Pró Generics. Last year, the break of the patent of Viagra (for erectile dysfunction treatment) and Lipitor (combat high cholesterol), both of U.S. multinational Pfizer, helped boost sales of the sector. The EMS started ahead with the launch of the generic version of these two products, but other pharmaceutical also asked for registration in Anvisa (National Health Surveillance Agency) to enter this competition.
The expectation is that the industry continues to grow this year, since other "blockbusters" (drugs bestsellers) are about to lose their patent and can inject into the generics market over R$ 700 million (US$ 412 million). Among the new generics are valsartan (combat hypertension), whose main brand name drug is Diovan, which is owned by the Swiss pharmaceutical Novartis. The EMS has also managed a register to negotiate the generic version of that product. Rosuvastatin (recommended for high cholesterol and heart disease), sold in Brazil by AstraZeneca under the trade name of Crestor, and quetiapine, sold by AstraZeneca under the brand name of Seroquel (antipsychotic), are also in the queue.