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NEW POSSIBILITIES FOR MEXICAN PATIENTS RODRIGO PUGA President and Country Manager of Pfizer Mexico
Q: Pfizer will invest more than US$26 million in Mexico
and that all processes are transparent. The link between
during 2018. How will Pfizer allocate these funds?
COFEPRIS and IMPI needs to be strengthened to accelerate
A: Mexico is a priority country for Pfizer in terms of
the approval of sanitary registrations. It is also necessary to
investment and is included in the Top 15 affiliated worldwide.
eliminate the “counter bound” provision. Once the affected
The local pharmaceutical market, together with the size
party sues an offender for patent infringement, the former
of Mexico’s economy, ensures Pfizer’s future in Mexico.
can place a bond that forbids commercialization of the
We think that the country will continue to be a key player
product by the latter. However, the offending party can
for the future, so we are investing in clinical research at
place a counter bound, which allows them to commercialize
our manufacturing plant in Toluca. We are increasing the
the product again.
plant’s capacity and adding state-of-the-art production lines for oral products. This plant exports 22 percent of its
Q: How can innovative medicines reach the general
production to 18 countries in Latin America.
population? A: Mexico needs to invest more in healthcare. We are
Q: Pfizer Mexico grew by 9 percent in 2017. What drove
working closely with AMIIF to introduce schemes to bring
your performance?
innovative medicines closer to the general population,
A: Our strategy in 2017 included the launch of five innovative
which is a priority. Investing in health has a positive impact
products and a diversified portfolio that allowed us to focus
on productivity and economic growth. The time to invest
on those market segments that grew the most. We launched
is now, as Mexico must take advantage of its demographic
new products in therapeutic areas such as oncology, anti-
bonus. Innovative access models allow the public sector
infection, women’s health, rare diseases, branded generics,
to share the risk. The implementation of these models is
biosimilars and others. In 2018, we are launching seven
almost ready; we are only waiting for the other party, a
more products, including one for women going through
public institution such as IMSS, to be ready. We hope the
menopause, a new self-administered contraceptive, new
first of these models will be implemented in 2018.
oncology therapies and an antibiotic for use in hospitals. We will also launch a few products for our OTC line. We plan
Q: How do you measure success within one of these models?
to introduce those new medicines in the Mexican market
A: It varies completely depending on the model. For
by the second half of 2018.
instance, one of our oncology products guarantees an entire year without progression of the cancer. In this case,
Q: Which of Pfizer’s products are growing the most in the
if the medication is incorporated in an institution’s basic list,
Mexican market?
under a shared-risk model the institution would only pay for
A: The three products that are growing the most are an
the patients in whom the cancer did not advance for a year.
oncology product for metastatic breast cancer, an antibiotic
If several patients do not benefit from this effect and their
and an anti-inflammatory biosimilar that we launched in
cancer progresses, the institution would not pay for their
2017. For Pfizer, the private market is growing more than
treatment. Under current schemes, institutions pay for all
the public, where sales grew by 2 percent in 2017. While
treatments whether they work or not. These schemes are
the private market grew between 6 and 7 percent, which
already being used successfully in other countries.
reflected growth in both volume and prices. Q: How should the internal regulation of Mexico be
Pfizer is a US-based global pharmaceutical company present
improved to ensure the application of IP protection?
in over 180 countries with a strong research focus. It works in a
A: COFEPRIS, IMPI and pharmaceutical associations are
variety of therapeutic areas, including oncology, cardiovascular
already working to ensure that all information is available
health, vaccines, ophthalmology and infectious diseases
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