Sindusfarma Annual Activity Report 2022

Foreword
Omilton Visconde Junior
President

The year 2023 projects good perspectives for Brazil and the pharmaceutical sector and the hope that we are finally going to be able to overcome historical limitations in the provision of health for the Brazilian population and in the formulation of proposals that untangle the tax knots and relaunch the industry as a strategic vector of economic and social development.

As is known there is no developed country without a strong industry. And the pharmaceutical production chain is at the forefront of any structured process of technological modernization and innovation.

The moment is especially promising when it is verified that science is once again valued by the authorities and the new team at the Brazilian Ministry of Health has qualified professionals able to advance the agenda of improving the sanitary framework and incorporating new technologies.

And Sindusfarma is ready to contribute to this discussion and to implement the ideas that come out from this debate. The entity has approved its Strategic Plan for the next four years – until 2026 –, which is going to allow it to improve its services, its communication channels with its members and its dialogue with the public authorities and the leaders in the Health area, always focusing on defending the sector, strengthening the pharmaceutical market, innovation and mainly promoting access to medicines.

In the year in which it celebrates its 90th anniversary Sindusfarma thus reaffirms itself as a reference in the sector. This is our destiny and our future.



Sindusfarma Annual Activity Report 

Presentation
Nelson Mussolini
Executive President

Dear associates,

Aligned with the recently approved Strategic Plan and continuing the guidelines underway in recent years, the expansion and strengthening of Sindusfarma’s activities in Brasília, together with the Brazilian government and all bodies and leaders of the Executive and Legislative involved with the health and economic regulation of the pharmaceutical sector, was one of the entity’s important initiatives in 2022.

In August the Sindusfarma office in the Brazilian Capital, which had been operating since mid-2021, was officially inaugurated in the ION building with the monthly meeting of the Board of Directors and the “Challenges and Perspectives in Health” Forum which brought together authorities and specialists in a debate mediated by Brazilian journalist Ms. Lígia Formenti.

The opening of the headquarters in Brasília was preceded by the hiring of specialists Mr. Renato Benine in the position of Institutional Relations manager and Ms. Luciana Carrasco to take care of Regulatory Affairs at Anvisa (National Health Surveillance Agency) and in the various public and private organizations, who joined Ms. Marcela Amaral, Pricing and Incorporation manager.

At the same time the presidential election led to the preparation of a document with a diagnosis of the situation of the Brazilian population’s access to medicines and possible solutions to improve and expand it. This document was delivered to all presidential candidates at the time. 

The study, prepared with conceptual support and technical and methodological guidance from consultancy company EY Parthenon, suggests the creation of four major programs: A Health Intelligence Center, an Innovation Acceleration Program, a Pharmaceutical Market Modernization Program and a Judicialization Reduction Task Force. 

Brazilian mainstream media outlets including Correio Braziliense and the UOL web news portal have highlighted Sindusfarma’s proposals to expand access to basic and high-complexity medicines.

Another focus of Sindusfarma in 2022 was to promote innovation in the pharmaceutical segment. The 1st Brazilian Pharmaceutical Innovation Summit, held in Brasília in September, brought together companies, governmental and private institutions, startups and investors in the discussion on the present and future of innovation in the pharmaceutical sector in a joint initiative with the Brazilian Pharmaceutical Innovation Network (RBIF).

Also within the framework of the RBIF, Sindusfarma and Hospital Alemão Oswaldo Cruz signed in February a Technical Cooperation Agreement with the aim of fostering innovation in the pharmaceutical sector by means of sharing information and scientific, technological and regulatory knowledge in the medical and health care fields.

Among the entity’s priority topics the ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) agenda and Diversity have also deserved attention. In May industry executives and specialists shared their experiences in adopting ESG practices at the presentation event for the Lupa de Ouro Award 2022 category: Best ESG Project in the Pharmaceutical Industry delivered in October.

The Diversity Working Group, created in 2021, prepared the “Proposed Guideline for the Advancement of Racial Equity in the Pharmaceutical Sector” approved by the Board of Directors in December. Earlier, in June, the workshop “Diversity and Inclusion in the Corporate Environment – PCDs (Persons with Disabilities) and LGBTQIAP+” was held, among other events.

In the environmental area Sindusfarma has led the sector in the implementation of the Logmed System for Reverse Logistics in Home Medicines for Human Use, Expired or Disused, and their Packaging, which involves 16 entities. According to data from the Environmental Company of the State of São Paulo (Cetesb) released in December the Logmed System has recorded the highest growth rate among all economic segments in the State of São Paulo with an increase of 37,874% in four years.

To celebrate Environment Month and publicize the results already achieved by the Logmed System across the country Sindusfarma held an event in June with the participation of CETESB’s CEO, Ms. Patrícia Iglecias. At the event the lawyer specialized in Environmental Law and Waste Law Fabricio Soler highlighted the goals achieved by the system in less than a year of implementation: 3,600 collection points in drugstores spread across 21 states and the Brazilian Federal District, around 70 million users reached and 53 tons of waste collected and disposed of in an environmentally sound way.

Sindusfarma’s articles were featured in the main communication medias in the country. Newspaper Folha de S.Paulo published in January, on the “Trends/Debates” page, an article by the entity in defense of respect for intellectual property. In September newspaper O Globo published an article by Sindusfarma on the “Opinion” page on the importance of the Aqui Tem Farmácia Popular program.

Authorities and senior members of the Brazilian government attended several Sindusfarma’s events and meetings. At the Sindusfarma Quality Award ceremony in August the Brazilian Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation Mr. Paulo Alvim, Anvisa’s director Mr. Alex Machado Campos and the undersecretary of Advocacy for Competition and Competitiveness of the Ministry of Economy Mr. Andrey Vilas Boas de Freitas participated.

The Lupa de Ouro Award party in October was attended by Mr. Daniel Meirelles Fernandes Pereira, director of Anvisa’s Fifth Board of Directors and Mr. Igor Nogueira Calvet, president of the Brazilian Agency for Industrial Development (ABDI).

The leadership of the Medicines Market Regulation Chamber (CMED) participated in a Sindusfarma’s meeting in March to present the SAMMED 2022 System. At the opening of the event the executive secretary of CMED Mr. Romilson de Almeida Volotão recognized the importance of the pharmaceutical sector in combating the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. “The pharmaceutical sector has saved millions of lives in Brazil along with the public and private health system,” said Volotão. “Without the pharmaceutical industry we would not have the capacity to do what had to be done [to face the pandemic].”

In July the new General Manager of Medicines at Anvisa, Mr. Nélio Aquino, presented the main challenges and perspectives for his area in the coming years in a meeting held by the entity.

At Sindusfarma’s invitation the coordinator of the National Ethics Commission for Research (Conep), Ms. Laís Bonilha, participated in a meeting in June in which she presented the Commission’s work agenda such as the adaptation and updating projects of the Brazil Platform.

The entity also continued vigorously defending the interests of the sector within the scope of the National Committee for Health Technology Incorporation (Conitec) in the public Unified Health System (SUS) and the National Health Council (CNS)

Once again face-to-face the Sindusfarma Games brought together 1,560 athletes from 11 companies competing in 14 sports between August and November. And the traditional Solidarity Campaign, which collects nonperishable food during the competition, totaled 1,700 kg of food that were delivered to 150 families in Parque Santo Antônio in the South Zone of the city of São Paulo in mid-December in a partnership with Brazilian NGO Central Única de Favelas (CUFA).

The construction of Sindusfarma’s new headquarters at the historic address in Vila Olímpia in São Paulo began. The modern seven-story building is expected to be ready by mid-2024. In more spacious and modern facilities the entity is going to be able to improve even more the services offered to its members.

As usual Sindusfarma launched several publications in 2022 with emphasis on the book that tells the story of the Sindusfarma Quality Award and Good Manufacturing Practices in Brazil and in the world as the Award was created in 1997 precisely to serve as a stimulus to permanent pursuit of excellence in the production processes of suppliers and service providers in the pharmaceutical industry.

Finally must be highlighted the thousands of professionals who participated throughout the year in plenary sessions, working groups and commissions organized by the entity and workshops, seminars and lectures of the Sindusfarma Educational Program (PES).

It was another year full of achievements which ended with a new Sindusfarma’s record: 540 associated companies: a concrete and unequivocal demonstration of the confidence that the sector places in the entity’s performance.

This action, the multiplicity of which can be known in detail in this Report, is the result of the dedicated work of the Sindusfarma’s team of professionals who daily help the pharmaceutical industry established in Brazil to save lives.

Best regards,
Nelson Mussolini

 

Sindicato da Indústria de Produtos Farmacêuticos

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