After two successful editions in Brazil, CPhI South America , South America’s premier pharma event and UBM International Media’s leading cluster of pharmaceutical ingredients and services events will make their debut in Argentina at La Rural, Hall Ocre, Buenos Aires, from August 17 to 19.
Focused on the intermediates and APIs markets, CPhI South America is joined for the first time by ICSE, a dedicated pavilion for contract services and clinical trials plus an integrated BioPh trail, aimed at those who provide biosolutions for the pharmaceutical industry, underlining the importance and vitality of these sectors within the South American market. Last years’ events attracted almost 5,000 visitors and UBM is confident that 2010 will see a 10 per cent increase on this figure.
“Following two extremely successful years in Brazil, we are excited to bring the event to Argentina for the first time,” says Eliane van Doom, UBM International Media’s Group Director for Pharma. With over 200 exhibitors from 16 countries, CPhI South America offers excellent networking and new business opportunities for all participating exhibitors and visitors.
CPhi South America 2010, will undoubtedly bring a wealth of opportunities to the pharmaceutical industry. With a rapidly emerging market second only to China and a growth rate exceeding that of the global average, South America continues to promote an attractive business arena to many Western firms.
With a 15.3 per cent year-on-year growth rate South America belongs to one of the world's fastest growing pharma markets, expected to be worth $51.3 billion in 2014. And with new patent legislation recently adopted by most countries in the region, plus a growing appetite for investing in generic drugs, CPhI South America is the catalyst that brings the entire industry together.
Having bounced back from the recent economic crises, Latin American economies are generally stable, while their geographic location and low-cost manufacturing base make the continent ideal for investment. In a market environment where new patent legislation has recently been adopted by most countries in the region and with a growing appetite for generic drugs, CPhI South America provides a unique gathering point for the continent’s pharmaceutical industry.
Access to medicines in the public sector in this region has increased, particularly among the least well-off population, with initiatives such as Remediar in Argentina, PAC Saúde in Brazil, Auge in Chile, Seguro Popular in Mexico and Barrio Adentro in Venezuela. Governments are using their bargaining power to negotiate - and centralise - drug purchases in an effort to contain costs. Overall, public drug expenditure in the region will continue to rise, as there is a considerable level of unfulfilled demand.
The events benefit from the support of key Argentinean trade associations CILFA, COOPERALA and Camara Argentina de Productos Quimicos, as well as South American associations ABIFINA, ABRIFAR, ABIQUIF and Associquim Sincoquim.
The ‘Match & Meet’ programme, developed especially for CPhI South America, pairs the needs of distributors, buyers and sellers with one another to facilitate face to face networking opportunities. International representatives seeking to sell, buy, distribute or represent companies will have the perfect platform to meet with interested partners, close commercial agreements and network. This year's Match & Meet sessions will have dedicated themes on each of the three days. Day one will focus on APIs,day two highlights excipients and day three covers ‘finished dosage.’
The event will benefit a participant in the form of new business partnerships, new distribution routes and one-to-one relationships with senior pharmaceutical manufacturing professionals in this rapidly emerging market.
CEOs & top executives, purchase executive, manufacturing engineers of pharmaceutical companies, R&D professionals, pharma machinery suppliers & distributors, pharma consultants, scientists, government experts are the target audience.
The profile for exhibit includes suppliers of turnkey pharma plants, machinery & equipment for treatment of pharma raw materials, analytical instruments & lab reagents, testing instruments, microscopes, weighing machines, tableting & capsulation unit, packaging materials, glassware, pharma publications.
Manufacturers of active pharmaceutical ingredients, intermediates, excipients and natural extracts as well as experts in custom manufacturing and marketing services will also be participating in the event.
Returning for its second year as an integral element within CPhI South America, the BioPh trail brings together key players, to drive forward the biopharma industry and aims to provide a fresh focus on biotech as the innovation driver for the whole pharmaceutical community. Also taking place during CPhI South America, the Pharmaceutical Forum will host a total of 10 keynote sessions spanning a variety of topics. Featured speakers include Myriam Tevez, Director General of Foreign Trade for the City of Buenos Aires Ministry of Economic Development, and Ruben Rico, renowned author of over a dozen books about marketing and marketing for exportation.
Leading Indian players in the APIs and finished formulations like Bal Pharma and the biotech major, Biocon Ltd are making concerted efforts to increase presence in the Latin American region.
With the global pharma and healthcare markets going through rapid transformation, Bal Pharma is looking at various options to pick up the opportunities in these markets says Archana Mitra, vice president, international marketing, Bal Pharma.
The company has entered into Chile with a couple of generics which are essentially antibiotics. In Brazil, it has identified a partner with which it will seek ANVISA registration.
“There is considerable scope for APIs going by the extensive manufacturing of generics which is going on in the region”, opines Archana Mitra.
Says Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, chairman and managing director, Biocon Ltd, “markets of Latin America which is part of the BRIC nations is a big bet for us. The outlook for the bio-pharma sector is good because of the promising prospects here. Though there are tremendous opportunities, it is going to be tough and challenging and only a few companies may avail of the opportunities. Most of the bio-pharma business will be targeting countries in Latin America, South East Asia and Middle East besides the North Africa region. We are looking at the BRIC economies as a whole. We are being aggressive and want to grow our formulation business. In the case of branded formulations too, we would also need to enhance sales. This is where we are looking at the emerging markets and Latam as key areas of promising prospects”.
Biocon has an extensive presence in Latin America and is growing in specific countries. Biocon has been selling products in Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay, Colombia, Peru and Central American countries. It will soon be expanding its footprint into Venezuela” said Akash Puranik, vice president, marketing, Biocon Ltd
The business environment in Latin America is extremely encouraging. There is a lot of scope for the biotech products coming out of the Biocon’s robust research pipeline. The market being quality conscious, our key strength lies is the quality of the products marketed, he said.
The strength of the Indian biotech companies in the research and development can form a significant synergy with the Latin American manufacturing and marketing set up to form a mutual beneficial business model, he added.
A visible trend is that the markets in Latin America are getting more regulated. The focus on quality and systems are gaining importance. The big markets like Brazil are highly regulated. The smaller markets are highly competitive and the niche products are well received, he said.
The Argentine pharmacy sector, traditionally dominated by branded products, has showed impressive double-digit growth in recent years . In comparison with other Latin American markets, local pharmaceutical production is strong.
There are over 100 manufacturing plants in Argentina, most of which are owned by local producers. The industry employs nearly 30,000 people directly. Over three-quarters of the producers are located in the city and the province of Buenos Aires. In order to maximise their export opportunities, local producers are strengthening their manufacturing capabilities, increasing their export destinations and diversifying their product offering.
The pharmaceutical industry in Argentina has markedly evolved in the last few years, following the economic crisis that hit the country in 2002. The domestic pharmaceutical market is slowly recovering, and is expected to maintain an upward trend in the years to come, driven by the economic recovery and the greater purchasing power of the population.