The latest from Mexican pharma, including government talks with Indian authorities to provide low-cost medicines, a new distribution pilot program led by the military, the authorization of two Lilly monoclonal antibodies to treat COVID-19 and Bayer’s LatAm general manager comments on providing regional doctors with “the Netflix of medical information”
Mexico looks to India for cheaper medicines
https://www.informador.mx/economia/Mexico-podra-tener-medicamentos-mas-baratos-20211211-0034.html
The Indian embassy has held talks with Mexico’s Ministry of Finance, Cofepris, IMSS and ISSSTE for the shipment of pharmaceutical products. “Our intention is to put the pharmaceutical products of India so that Mexico can have access to low-cost medicines … We are willing to send any type of medicine that Mexico requires,” said Juhi Rai, business manager of the Indian embassy in Mexico.
With more than 20 pharmaceutical companies of Indian origin installed in the national territory, Mexico is the main consumer of Indian medicines in Latin America.
Armed Forces begin drug distribution pilot program in Mexico
The plan was launched in the state of Nayarit and the president described it as “a trial” to evaluate its operation. The intention is to streamline the distribution process and avoid both intermediaries and corruption.
President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador insisted that in past governments there was a small group of companies that had taken over both the sale of drugs and their distribution in the public sector. He mentioned that the distribution of medicines went through two processes: the transfer of products from Mexico City to the states, and then from the states to hospitals and health units.
Mexico authorizes emergency use of two drugs against COVID-19 by Eli Lilly from the US
https://businessinsider.mx/mexico-uso-emergencia-medicamentos-COVID-19-eli-lilly-eu_salud/
Cofepris announced on Wednesday the approval for emergency use of two injectable drugs from the pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly and Company to treat patients with COVID-19.
The permission was granted for the treatment of mild to moderate coronavirus disease in adults and over 12 years of age and over 40 kilograms of weight, who present very high-risk comorbidities that are not controlled, said Cofepris.
Eli Lilly and Company’s COVID-19 drugs that were approved are bamlanivimab and etesevimab.
Lithium, with options to grow in Mexico
The pharmaceutical industry is interested in being part of the lithium business that the federal government wants to detonate in Mexico, as this mineral is used in drugs that treat psychiatric disorders, said representatives of the sector.
Lithium carbonate is the active ingredient in medications that control bipolar disorder and depression, conditions that affect around 20.4 million people in Mexico, according to figures from the National Institute of Neurology and Neurosurgery, UNAM.
Juan De Villafranca, executive director of the Mexican Association of Pharmaceutical Laboratories (Amelaf), affirmed that the take-off of the national lithium industry opens an opportunity to detonate the mass production of these drugs in the country, and even sell them abroad.
Visual health as a contribution to the sustainable development program
In Mexico, the figures show that 2,237,000 people have visual impairments, of which 80 percent have some degree of astigmatism and 24.8 percent suffer from myopia. Moreover, 54 percent of patients diagnosed with diabetes have decreased vision.
Bayer LatAm head: providing doctors in the region “the Netflix of medical information”
In an interview with El Economista, Adib Jacob assures that Latin American doctors are modern and eager to adopt new therapies, instead of “waiting and waiting”, and must do it hand in hand with robust scientific data.
Jacob assures that technology could give LatAm that push and for this, terms such as “digital health” have emerged. He describes it as a pillar of modern healthcare, combining conventional approaches – such as going to the doctor’s office, conducting studies and measurements – with digital technologies that optimize healthcare and monitoring, in addition to humanizing care and focusing more on the patient, not on their illness.
