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Interview
"The regulatory structures have been the same for ten years"
In 2008, Ricardo Ferreira had a proposal, or better, a "challenge" as he likes to say. "I worked in Portugal and an opportunity came up - to set up operations in Boiron do Brasil", says the executive, who holds a specialization in marketing and international business.
During an exclusive interview to Top Team, Ferreira, who has already worked for the Portuguese laboratory Edol and the American Bausch & Lomb, analyzes the regulatory structures and talks about its growth: "our expectancy is to be among the five higher revenue countries of the company".
Check out the main parts of the interview:
How has Boiron expanded its action in Brazil over the last Five years?
Commercially speaking, our operation has been very successful. We´ve had two main growth axes: the pediatricians who have increasingly prescribed our products; and a great PDV start. We have rapidly set Boiron´s medicines in the main drugstores of the country.
At the moment, which are the main challenges for Boiron?
We have both regulatory and logistic challenges. Brazil has grown considerably over the last five years, due to new companies. However, we find a great difficulty to transport medicines. Besides, federal and state regulatory structures like Anvisa and Covisa, have been the same for the last ten years. It means the same structures have been used for a higher number of medicines. Consequently, in August, there Will be three years we´ve been waiting for the registration of some medicines.
Would agility in the registration processes of drugs help Boiron grow in Brazil?
Absolutely. With more drugs in the market our sales would grow and consequently boost the company´s growth. Besides, we could invest in more hiring staff and generate more jobs. As a consequence, we would pay more taxes and help the country grow. However, the regulatory structures in Brazil hold the growth of the pharmaceutical industry and the country back.
Even with these challenges, did Boiron grow in 2012?
In 2012, Boiron branch in Brazil grew 70% when compared to the previous year. In terms of percentage, it was the subsidiary that has mostly grown in the world. We are still far from countries with the highest revenues for the company, though. This list is led by France and followed by the United States, Russia, Italy and Spain.
In Europe, do you also have to wait so long to get the registration of the new medicines?
In Europe, the regulatory structures are much more organized and structured. There is, for instance, a clear and objective interpretation of the legislation. A laboratory would hardly take three years to register a medicine, mainly homeopathy.
To wrap up, what kind of support does the Head Office offer to the Brazilian subsidiary?
We expect to be among the five countries with the highest revenue for the company. Such target depends on some factors, like the registration of new medicines and increase in sales. Despite this delay we still have the total support from the head office, who believes in the growing potential of Brazil.
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