AN EYE ON BRAZIL: Boiron starts trading medicines in the country

By Célia Piovan

Boiron, a French company, whose headquarter is in Lyon, has its major units in France, Italy, Spain, the United States, Canada, Russia and Poland. According to the director in Brazil, Ricardo Matos Ferreira, Brazil is on the spotlight at the moment for it is one of the most important countries for Boiron group.
In this edition, Ricardo Ferreira speaks about the trade of medicines, which began in June. Leading the homeopathy medicines market, they intend to have a portfolio with two launches a year, so that within the next five or six years they will already have fifteen specialties in Brazil. He also comments about the importance of the medicines efficacy, clinical research and the population and physicians´ support.

Top Team: How long has Boiron worked in Brazil and what kind of services does it provide here?
Ricardo Ferreira: Boiron has been in Brazil since 2005, however, we started trading medicines this year, in June, to be precise. Almost four years were needed due to bureaucracies and sanitary requirements, which somehow helped us study the pharmaceutical market in Brazil and get to know the prescription and consumption habits concerning medicines, mainly the OTC´s. This year we established a partnership with PharmexxBrazil for medical detailing services. However, our development plans are just about to begin. Next year, we will be expanding our team, mainly the commercial and sales ones, and we will be strongly represented in both major markets, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, by the end of 2010. Our work is exclusively commercial. At the moment, all our medicines are imported from the factories we own in France (4) and Belgium (1).

TT: Is Boiron the leader and the reference in homeopathic medicines? How many do you work with? For what specialties?
RF: Boiron is a French company, whose headquarter is in Lyon, with a long story to tell. It's been more than eighty years dedicated to homeopathy, investigation, medicines manufacturing and the promotion of homeopathy to physicians. Our mission is to make every single physician all over the world make use of homeopathy as a safe and efficient therapeutic option.
We have just launched on the Brazilian market our main and best medicine. The Oscillococcinum, recommended to treat and prevent the flu, which, in Brazil, is a medicine that requires compulsory medical prescription (differently from France and the main world market, where it is considered OTC).
In September we will be launching Sédatif PC, a medicine recommended to treat anxiety and stress, a strong market in Brazil with big demand due to the fast pace of life of the big cities.
Our intention is to gradually launch our medicines in Brazil. In France and in over sixty countries, where we are present, we have over two hundred and fifty homeopathic specialties. In Brazil, we intend to build a portfolio with two launches a year, so that within the next five or six years we will already have fifteen specialties in Brazil.

TT: How efficient are the homeopathic products?
RF: The homeopathic medicines are very efficient. Several studies state the efficacy of our products in various therapeutic areas and pathologies. On the other hand, we can't forget homeopathy has existed for over two hundred years, always bringing excellent results without side effects and adverse reactions, constantly present in allopathic medicine.

TT: Does the company invest in research and studies to show results?
RF: This has been our biggest challenge and investment over the last years. On one hand, we intend to improve our knowledge and find out the mechanisms of extremely high dilutions, explaining the results experienced by several patients and physicians, and, on the other hand, show the therapeutic effects and the importance that homeopathy assures to healthcare.
Since 2005, we have launched over sixty-five medical and clinical studies on research about homeopathy basis, not only about therapeutic outcomes, and clinical research with therapeutic goals. Clinical research will become an area in which we will invest in Brazil, by having a large-scale clinical trial with one of our medicines, beginning at the end of this year.

TT: Have physicians increasingly adopted homeopathy?
RF: Definitely. Physicians find homeopathy a safe and efficient option of treatment for perhaps two reasons. First of all, because allopathic medicines have shown several and serious side effects. There are several cases of medicines and active principles that have been withdrawn from the market all over the world due to healthcare complications. Another reason is the increasing knowledge and studies concerning homeopathy all over the years.
Physicians feel a higher need for finding safe and efficient solutions for several pathologies and complications. This generates clinical options like homeopathy, phytotherapy, etc, offering great results for the daily clinical practice.

TT: One of the most successful strategies has been the medical detailing through PharmexxBrazil professionals. Do you agree with it?
RF: As I have already said, we have started medical detailing work with PharmexxBrazil in several specialties.

The performance of the team has been amazing. We were able to build a great team of sales reps, young and highly motivated, who have to face a quite different mission, as it isn't simple medicine. It is a new concept; it means breaking paradigms and making the Brazilian physicians understand they can have more options to treat several pathologies.
Pharmexx has followed, since the beginning, our coming into the market. Our first meetings took place three years ago, and the success of our team is the result of a wonderful team work performed by Pharmexx. I would say that their strengths are the follow-up of every step of the project, and, mainly, the management of every single detail. Nothing is left behind. And success is build on details.
At the moment our operations are in São Paulo, but we intend to expand throughout Brazil in the next few years. For the beginning of next year Pharmexx will face a new challenge - to build a sales team in Rio de Janeiro

TT: How has Boiron Brazil faced the crisis?
RF: Our situation is a little different, because this is the year of launch and investment for the Brazilian branch. Anyway, we have adapted our strategy due to this new scenario. We were able to postpone some investments for the next year and then prevent from future problems. Concerning Boiron group, our performance has increased in relation to 2008, due to such preventive actions.

TT: The decision of coming into the Brazilian market reflects, somehow, the financial crisis that has affected Europe?
RF: No, it doesn't reflect it at all. In fact, Brazil has always been an old dream for Boiron. I can say that for more than twenty years, every year, someone from Boiron has come to Brazil, attended congresses, talked to opinion makers and followed the development from the regulatory, economical and financial points of view. These were maybe the main two factors that made Boron's presence in Brazil take longer. On one hand, the recent story of Brazil (last twenty/ thirty years), under the economic perspective for foreign companies and investments, and on the other hand, the lack of legislation for homeopathic medicines. Brazil has developed a lot over the last ten/fifteen years, and three years ago Boiron decided that it was the moment to come into the Brazilian market.

TT: What is the position of Brazil in relation to the other units of Boiron worldwide?
RF: Brazil will be, undoubtedly, in the future, one of the most important countries for Boiron group. Nowadays, the biggest Boiron units, besides France are Italy, the USA, Canada, Russia and Poland.

TT: What are the challenges and the opportunities of the company this year?
RF: The challenge is huge. We are a "new" company, despite our eighty years of history. Our biggest challenge however, is to build a concept. We have a great project ahead in terms of change, break of paradigms in the use of homeopathy as a therapeutic option. There is a strong demand, not only for the physicians but, mainly, for the population that look for efficient and safe treatments, without side effects. The market is huge, open, though highly competitive.